On the 12th of April 2008, Miss Jennifer Marie Cloud of Monroe

Tag : Washed Fabric

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

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

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

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

The Maid of honor was Miss Julienne Cloud, the brides sister. Thebridesmaids were Miss Christine White, Miss Lyndsey Breard, Mrs.Traci Cline and Mrs. Leigh Wagner.

The worship team, from Kansas Citys IHOP, played for over an hourbefore the wedding so others could worship as God came and washedover the crowd ~ a spirit of bridal intimacy was surely presentfrom our Bridegroom King. We invited all the heavenly hosts ofheaven and of course, King Jesus Himself, for it wouldn't truly bea blessed wedding without them in attendance. I am sure all theangels in heaven took a moment in time to come and rejoice with usall at the foreshadowing of the great marriage feast to come whenwe will all be together again, as we celebrate as the bride ofChrist and our Beloved Jesus as the Groom.

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

The wedding tent was draped with white fabric on the ceilingblowing gently in the wind. The Rev. Michael Tharpe celebrated themarriage under a flowered gazebo with twinkle lights. The parents,Dr. and Mrs. Peter Carstens and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. DuaneCloud and Mrs. Pat Wagner, were ushered in to the song FragrantOffering, sung by Michelle Tharpe.

The three flower girls, Misses Michaela Tharpe, Danna Walker, andSarah Wagner, came dancing down the aisle to the song "Untame MyHeart" ~ it was glorious. They truly worshipped the Lord withchildlike innocence around the gazebo while tossing yellow flowerpetals with sweet abandoned beauty.

The groomsmen ushered in the bridesmaids to the theme from "EverAfter" in their black tuxedos with gold vests and ties, and theroyal blue bridesmaid's dresses were lovely and classy ~ simplyelegant.

As the music swelled and the curtains were pulled back ~ everyonestood and gazed upon the bride, in her spectacular dropped waist,ivory, satin, Allure wedding gown, embroidered with crystals on achiffon overlay.

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

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

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

Gibbethon, a groomsmen, sang the processional in Afrikaans ~ "ComeJesus, 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 allgiven angel wings and I saw some of the adults wearing them too, socute. There were fireflies twinkling, fire-pits roaring and waterfountains bubbling. The whole park seemed to come alive withtwinkle lights and lanterns, tropical plants, tents, a photo boothand cabanas.

In the American Legion Hall, there hung golden South Africanlanterns swagged over a tall display of fruit and flowers in thecenter of the room. There was old style jazz music in the jazztent, and delicious food under a pavilion. It was a magicalreception hidden in fantasy and mystery.

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

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

The bride and groom drove away in a sapphire blue convertible afterexiting through a double row of sparklers to cheers and hugs fromall.

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