1THE FUTURE COUPLE
* BRIDE TO BE NAME: Stephanie Jean-Jacques
* GROOM TO BE NAME: Marc Antoine
THE BIG DAY: Thursday August 17th, 2017
LOCATION: Asbury Park, NJ
SOMETHING ABOUT HIM ( FROM THE BRIDE TO BE)
Marc is an all around man. His diversity really amazes me. He is a renaissance man and his knowledge and capacity in so many different fields is really great. He is a theologian, author, activist, world traveler, dancer, fashionista, athlete, and so much more. Being in a relationship with him has been so much fun! We do so many different things together, I learn so much, and its always an adventure.
SOMETHING ABOUT HER ( FROM THE GROOM TO BE)
Stephanie is very brave and her faith in God throughout this major transition in our lives has been a big encouragement for me. She is always up to step out on faith, and in the face of her fears, she continues to move forward. Her courage inspires me and I thank God so much for a woman who encourages me to keep moving forward. One of the biggest things I have learned from her during this relationship is to keep on fighting, not in spite of my fear, but especially when I am fearful
The Proposal
Chou’s birthday is on April 21st. In 2016 she was planning to throw a big 28th birthday party. At that time I was already living in Haiti for 8 months. Originally the plan was to fly to Orlando to be there to help Chou prep for the party. However, when I decided I wanted to propose on her birthday, I told her that I was no longer going to be able to make it in for the party due to work constraints.
The idea I had was to surprise her at the birthday party. She planned the party with her family and friends. While in Haiti, I contacted my family and friends and told them of my plan and they bought tickets to go to Orlando. Chou was unaware of all of this. All of her family knew my plan and were helping to coordinate, she was the only one who had no idea what was about to happen. So on the night of her party, she comes down the stairs to make the big entrance to officially commence the night. My family, friends and I were waiting outside to get the signal from her cousin so that we could enter. She came down the stairs and started to give her thank you speech to everyone who showed up for the party.
I received the sign to walk in. My family walked in first…mom, dad, sister, brother, cousins and friends. She was super surprised to see them and I could hear her scream behind the wall where I hid. She still had no idea I was there. At that point, the DJ played our song “Love is Waiting” by Brooke Fraser and I walked in. As soon as she heard the song she knew something was up and began to look around. When her eyes fell on me, she immediately started crying and was in total disbelief. I hugged her as she cried and after telling her how much I loved her, I bent down on one knee and asked her to be my wife.
She said yes…
The Planning Process
It has been a real challenge planning this wedding and marriage. The biggest challenge is the distance. He lives in Haiti while I Live in the States. We have had to use a lot of skype calls, facetime, google docs, and phone calls. We have also been blessed to receive a great support and help from family and friends.
Advice
The biggest advice we have for engaged couples is to not make an idol of the wedding day. Invest more in the marriage and less in the wedding day. Choose 3-5 non-negotiables that you want for sure on the wedding day, and don’t stress out about the other minor details. The stress is not worth it. The tears and arguments are not worth it. Do what you want on your wedding day, and not what everyone else wants. JUST ENJOY!
1st Timothy 4 verse 12 “Don’t let anyone look down on you for being young. Instead, make your speech, behavior, love, faith, and purity an example for other believers.”
