Notre-Dame hosts rare wedding for carpenter who helped rebuild it • FRANCE 24 English

It’s one of the world’s most symbolic cathedrals and a dream setting for a wedding. In the past, Notredam in Paris has seen kings and emperors come and go, but on Saturday, it was a carpenter tying the knot with his partner. Amidst the crowd visiting the cathedral, Martin and Jade exchanged their vows. The wedding was planned a long time ago during the reconstruction of NRAAM, but having it as a ceremony venue seemed impossible. For 3 years, Martin Lorent worked on rebuilding the roof structure with his fellow workmen. He cut the beams with an axe as they had been 800 years ago. Sometimes working day and night before all the pieces were assembled at the top of the cathedral. So when he asked the Archbishop of Paris for permission to get married at NRAAM, Monscior Erl said yes, but only as a one-off. The result was 500 guests, including many carpenters. At the end of the ceremony, tourists applauded the newly weds while the other carpenters made a guard of honor with their axes in hand. I want to share my love, our love, with the whole world, with everyone who needs it. It’s the happiest day of my life. I don’t think I can say anything else. It’s another beautiful chapter that adds to the story of NRAAM.

An extraordinary wedding was held on Saturday, 25 October, at Notre-Dame de Paris, ten months after the cathedral reopened. In a rare exception, Martin Lorentz, one of the 500 craftsmen who helped restore the cathedral, married his partner Jade inside the historic building. Having spent three years reconstructing the cathedral’s timber frame using traditional methods, Lorentz realised a long-held dream, celebrating the ceremony alongside fellow artisans and hundreds of guests.
#Notre Dame #wedding #France

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32 comments

  4. "Partner" was a great alternative term for a (married) spouse. But it got hijacked, in order that any sexual relationship could be obscured (and thus "legitimised"). "Fiancee" would be approriate here.

  5. It’s a shame they don’t do more private weddings. Churches and Cathedrals should serve the public. This goes to show they can still hold tours even with weddings in progress.

  6. All those who worked on rebuilding it should have the opportunity to benefit from it for whatever family ceremony…weddings, baptisms etc

  12. So very special. In 2000 we visited Paris as a family. It happened to line up with my youngest son being ready for his first Eucharist and he took it at ND Cathedral when we attended mass.

  14. Wow! God bless the groom, and these Grandfather jobs. Carpentry is a special craft and i'm so glad the work was also being recognized.

  24. Probably the last wedding there until the French government converts it to a mosque & outlaws Christians from going inside.

  28. It's a nice gesture, but why only one off? How about the other carpenters or laborers that I'm sure work as hard as the groom?

  32. I love how they cut the beams in the traditional way, with axes. Very cool to see that snippet of how it was done.

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