Untame My Heart at the American Legion Hall

I have to thank Julie and Carrie for this.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE wedding announcements. The freakier the better. I have added my comments in italics.

ENJOY!


June 29, 2008

On the 12th of April 2008, Miss Jennifer Marie Cloud of Monroe, La. was married to Mr. Francois Carstens of Stellenbosch, South Africa on the grounds of Forsythe Park and the American Legion Hall in Monroe.

The bride and groom shared a secret breakfast where he gave her roses to remember the occasion of the day. All of the bridal party were chauffeured to the wedding in a long white limousine, heightening the expectation of the moment for all. The bride arrived with her father and mother, the Rev. and Mrs. Richard D. Cloud and the maid of honor, Julienne L. Cloud together, sharing their deep affection with each other as they kept the bride hidden until her unveiling before the groom.

Didn't he just give her roses at a secret breakfast?


All of the groomsmen laid hands on Francois and prayed for their best friend before his wedding and the bridesmaids came over to the limo and got in and did the same for Jennifer. What a blessed group of young people they are, no one could have asked for better lifelong friends!

OK, you can "lay on hands" as long as you provide beverages also.

The Best Man was Mr. Tertius Carstens, the groom’s brother. The Groomsmen were Mr. Gibbethon Wynne, Mr. Loujean Philander, Mr. Gunter Titus, and Mr. WP Bloem, all of South Africa. The Usher was Mr. Chris Coleman.

These are white people.

The Maid of honor was Miss Julienne Cloud, the bride’s sister. The bridesmaids were Miss Christine White, Miss Lyndsey Breard, Mrs. Traci Cline and Mrs. Leigh Wagner.

The worship team, from Kansas City’s IHOP, played for over an hour before the wedding so others could worship as God came and washed over the crowd ~ a spirit of bridal intimacy was surely present from our Bridegroom King. We invited all the heavenly hosts of heaven and of course, King Jesus Himself, for it wouldn't truly be a blessed wedding without them in attendance. I am sure all the angels in heaven took a moment in time to come and rejoice with us all at the foreshadowing of the great marriage feast to come when we will all be together again, as we celebrate as the bride of Christ and our Beloved Jesus as the Groom.

Oh...........Come Lord Jesus Come!

Oh, My. There is only so much I can say about the preceeding paragraph. I am only left to assume that Kansas City's IHOP is International House of Prayer and not Pancakes, but I could be wrong. I am almost without words for the rejoycing and foreshadowing of the bride of Christ, except to say CAN I GET AN AMEN!

The wedding tent was draped with white fabric on the ceiling blowing gently in the wind. The Rev. Michael Tharpe celebrated the marriage under a flowered gazebo with twinkle lights. The parents, Dr. and Mrs. Peter Carstens and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Duane Cloud and Mrs. Pat Wagner, were ushered in to the song “Fragrant Offering”, sung by Michelle Tharpe.

The three flower girls, Misses Michaela Tharpe, Danna Walker, and Sarah Wagner, came dancing down the aisle to the song "Untame My Heart" ~ it was glorious. They truly worshipped the Lord with childlike innocence around the gazebo while tossing yellow flower petals with sweet abandoned beauty.

The groomsmen ushered in the bridesmaids to the theme from "Ever After" in their black tuxedos with gold vests and ties, and the royal blue bridesmaid's dresses were lovely and classy ~ simply elegant.

Abandoned Beauty, yep, that's what I think of with Toni Braxton's music. OK, Untame My Heart and the theme from "Ever After"? How old are these kids, 16? It was the theme from "Ice Castles" when I was a teenager, but that was 20 years ago.


As the music swelled and the curtains were pulled back ~ everyone stood and gazed upon the bride, in her spectacular dropped waist, ivory, satin, ‘Allure’ wedding gown, embroidered with crystals on a chiffon overlay.

What a glorious bride she was ~ such a beautiful girl ~ the bride of Christ embodied before us all ~ in purity and holiness ~ she took our breath away. And nothing is as sweet as seeing a groom who is truly in love and enraptured with his bride, weep at the sight of his betrothed, walking regally down the aisle to meet him at the altar.

Folks, Is this sounding like an Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints wedding. Bride of Christ embodied before us.

Scriptures and an excerpt from Francois' love letters were read, then the bride made her way over to the piano and sang to her beloved groom and her Beloved Jesus. It was awesome.

I guess it is safe to assume his love letters didn't say "hey baby, lets get naked and jump in the pond after prayer meeting Wednesday night".

Following this part the bride and groom tied their promise rings of purity together with a ribbon, symbolizing their union on their wedding day ~ now becoming one under Christ. I think this swept up the whole congregation as they prayed touching foreheads and thanked the Lord for His faithfulness ~ what a witness those two are to all who witnessed this blessed event!

Gibbethon, a groomsmen, sang the processional in Afrikaans ~ "Come Jesus, Come”, while the entire bridal party danced up the aisle, rejoicing and hugging, including the grandparents and parents.

Everyone at the reception had their faces painted, African style, with little white dots in intricate designs. The children were all given angel wings and I saw some of the adults wearing them too, so cute. There were fireflies twinkling, fire-pits roaring and water fountains bubbling. The whole park seemed to come alive with twinkle lights and lanterns, tropical plants, tents, a photo booth and cabanas.

I heard that Jesus and the other Brides of Christ really dig photo booths.

In the American Legion Hall, there hung golden South African lanterns swagged over a tall display of fruit and flowers in the center of the room. There was old style jazz music in the jazz tent, and delicious food under a pavilion. It was a magical reception hidden in fantasy and mystery.

The bride's cake was a five-tiered square white cake with white orchids and sugar grapes cascading down the sides. Hanging over the cake were white orchids, floating in the air. The piping on the cake was passages of love poetry taken from the 'Song of Solomon' in the Bible, written both in English and Afrikaans.

The groom’s cake was a circular three-tiered cake in delicious dark chocolate, with white piping that echoed the African face painting. Tuxedo strawberries cascaded down its sides, and the flowers by the groom's cake were pincushion pro-teas, flowers native to the cape in South Africa.

The bride and groom drove away in a sapphire blue convertible after exiting through a double row of sparklers to cheers and hugs from all.

It was a glorious wedding ~ a night to remember ~ and a match made in heaven, as Jennifer and Francois entered in to married life together, under the stars, with all the people they love.