One of the things that I dream of doing is travel the world…. I mean they say, “It’s a small world”, but to me, it’s SO BIG at the same time. Traveling has not become a priority of mine until about 3 years ago. I was pretty much a homebody and didn’t really feel a great need to see everything. My first love language is quality time, so I love spending time and making memories with my family and friends, but I didn’t feel a need to do that while traveling per say. Anyways, but as I was approaching 40, I started feeling this sense of urgency that I never felt before. As our kids began to grow up more and more, I wanted to show them more things. Disney World however has been our annual tradition since 2012 and no one will stop me from that! LOL But, in April of 2018 (last year), Craig took me to Europe, and it was my first time there! Craig has been to many places around the world, but for me, not so much. It opened my eyes to what I’ve been missing out on! After that, I got this thing called the “travel bug” and since then, I’ve been making bucket lists for the family and making traveling and experience a priority in our lives.
BUT! Through our business, I feel like I travel to a different country almost every weekend when I’m just going down the street or traveling only about 45 minutes to our weddings. We have a very multicultural clientele, and that is something we hold very valuable in our business. Racial reconciliation is one of the pillars of our family, so we intentionally live that out in our lives personally and professionally. So through our weddings, we get to experience all sorts of cultures, and we LOVE it! We have shot I think just about every culture, but what’s so cool about our world is that I know there’s more! I personally am totally and utterly fascinated by culture and traditions. Learning about them is the most fun thing to me, but the greatest reason why I love it is because when you learn about cultures, you learn to understand and love more. I believe that in America, we have a unique opportunity unlike any other country to learn about the world right here in our home.
Well, Freud and Natacha are Haitians, and because we have done a few Haitian weddings in the past, we knew that this was going to be a fun day! Back in 2010, Craig went to Haiti one week after their horrific earthquake happened to document what was going on along with our church’s missions team who helped with the devastation there. It was a very special trip that took a lot of risk in many ways, but God’s grace was upon the team. Since then, Haiti had a special place in Craig’s heart. He has many stories from that experience, and we love the Haitian people very much. For me personally, I love how this group of folks are so welcoming. They remind me of Koreans in that they always make sure that you ate. Now, I don't know about you, but I can tend to get hangry very easily, so food is very important to me. Hunger is a feeling I can not endure. I love how they have such a tight community with one another. They always have each other’s back and really know how to laugh and cry together. We have made a few friendships in this group, and it’s just been an honor getting to know them. And when Haitians celebrate, they celebrate BIG! So, their weddings are very large. This wedding in particular had a guest of 400 and in America, that’s a large guest number! They also worship God so whole heartedly and wow… when they sing, it’s really an anthem to the Lord. I get chills after chills after chills when they harmonize the most gorgeous hymnal in French. Which brings me to another reason why I love Haitians…. the fact that they speak French! It really is such a romantic language… it doesn’t matter what they say, it sounds so beautiful! I bet hearing Haitians argue would sound beautiful too! Some parts of the ceremony and reception were in French, and I could just sit there and hear them speak all day and night even though I don’t know what they’re saying!
There were many things that were amazing at this wedding, but the highlight and one moment I will never forget was when Freud got down on one knee during the ceremony and prayed for Natacha and their marriage. I have never seen a man do that. It was as if it was just him, his bride and the Lord. It was a beautiful sight, and God’s presence and His glory were really upon them. Wow! What a way to begin this thing called marriage! Marriage is not easy. In fact, it’s something we all desire, but it’s one of the hardest thing to be successful in, but through all the thick and thin, if you have Christ as the center, you will not just survive it, but thrive and I believe that for this couple. Natacha + Freud, it’s been a pleasure… a pleasure getting to know you and becoming friends with you. Freud, we have never seen such a big and bright smile on a groom’s face before! You were so happy and rightly so! We had such a great time at your wedding. Thank you for being incredible to work with and willing to share this special moment of your life with us. We are so grateful! We hope you love all of your wedding photos…
With much love,
Craig + Unchong
