WELCOME FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

The most important gift to us is to have you share our day, but should you wish to contribute in some other way, then a contribution to our honeymoon would be greatly appreciated. To do so, please scroll to the bottom of this page, and under "our registry" you can gift any amount (there is an option to give cash, check and through paypal). All of the funds will be sent to us directly. We will also have a honeymoon fund box set up at our reception, if that is more convenient for you.

To RSVP, please scroll down to the "contact us" section at the bottom of this page. Then just email us the names of who will be in attendance. Can't wait to see you on our big day!

HONEYMOON DETAILS

Two days after our wedding, we will fly to Mackinac Island in northern Michigan. This destination is known as the “jewel of the great lakes” and is home to the renowned Grand Hotel (that is where we will be staying). Wally traveled to this island when he was younger, and has always desired to return there for his honeymoon! We are both looking forward to it!

HER STORY

Wally and I met 13 years ago when we introduced ourselves at church. My family moved to Lafayette the year prior, after evacuating from Hurricane Katrina (my family had already planned to move from New Orleans to Lafayette for my dad’s job, but the storm moved us sooner). Right after moving to Lafayette, we commuted back to New Orleans on weekends for many months to pack up our house and attend our church, White Dove Fellowship. After our house sold and we started to settle into our new lives in Lafayette, we looked for a new church in the area. We visited several churches but just did not connect to them like we did to White Dove. Thankfully, around that time, our pastors felt led to open up a satellite location here.

The night that I met Wally, I remember noticing him in the service and wanting to introduce myself. At some point that evening, I turned around and met him and Ms. Sharon, his mom. At first, he seemed a little nervous, so I don’t think our conversation lasted very long (I do remember being very intrigued by his thick, cajun accent and his unique name).

It wasn’t long after that, Wally started coming over to my house on weekends to play video games with my younger brother, Andrew. Being new to the area, Andrew did not have any friends, so Wally became his gaming buddy, and they soon developed a strong bond. I would sometimes “check up” on them while they playing and get to know Wally a little better. A few months later, after developing interest in one another, we started dating. We were very comfortable with each other and just enjoyed hanging out, and spending time with friends and family. We also served together on the worship team at church (he plays guitar/sings and I play piano/sing).

During that time, I was in college, studying to be a Social Studies teacher and Wally was certified to work on A/C units. We dated for around four years total, through the time that I graduated, and even after, when I started to work on different political campaigns. At that point, it seemed as if our lives were headed in different directions. I had aspirations, and he had aspirations as well, but they just didn’t seem to line up with each other; so we broke up. We see now that we both needed a time of growth individually before we were truly ready to come together as the couple God intended.

During the time that we were apart, we still served together on the worship team, and in youth ministry, etc. It was very strange how much we interacted with each other, and how often he was over at my house, even though we were not together (and at some points, in other relationships). All of my family grew closer and closer to him: he helped my dad with projects, was best friends with my brother-in-law, still played around with Andrew, etc. It was really a crazy dynamic! My friends often commented on how strange it was for him to be so close to my family, especially since it didn’t seem like we would ever get back together.

Truthfully, Wally maintained an interest in me pretty much the whole time we were separated; however, a few years ago, he really surrendered all of his expectations to the Lord, and was finally open to the idea of his future wife not being me. I saw a change in him around this time and was intrigued by his trust in the Lord and his carefree attitude. Some of the walls started to come down in my heart and we slowly became friends again, sharing more than just transactional relations.

Towards the beginning of this year, I had some really candid conversations with my leaders and others about Wally- still kind of resisting the idea of him being a potential boyfriend/future husband. In my prayers and heart though, I always prayed/believed for the Lord’s will. I’ve lived long enough to know that sometimes I/we don’t recognize the packages that good gifts arrive in, but if we trust the Lord, these gifts will exceed any expectation or hopes that we had in the natural!

During these few months, many, many people told me that they were praying for my husband, and for us to connect (Wally also said that many people were praying for his wife). It was almost like the Lord was placing a burden on their hearts for this moment in time

**We are eternally grateful for everyone that prayed**

Finally, after nine years, my heart started to turn...my eyes started to open. As Wally and I served alongside each other, I started to see such amazing compatibility between us. My love and respect for him grew and I just knew that SOMETHING was happening; something was changing. I called my mom one afternoon in March and told her about how surprised I was by these new emotions. She too was surprised, but expressed her support if I were to move forward in this direction. However, there was much apprehension and hesitancy from all of the “what ifs” that bombarded my mind. I did not do anything at that point, but simply asked the Lord to confirm whether or not this was the right thing.

Well, our church conference was the week after, and let’s just say I got a strong prophetic word, confirming that this was indeed the right thing (you can ask me more about this in person). I also got several other confirmations that I needed to move forward in this direction. So without delay, when I returned from the conference, I told Wally at church that I was praying about something, and that he should be praying as well. You could tell that he was a little puzzled by this statement, but was also hopeful that this might have something to do with “us.” Later that night he inquired about what I said to him, but I asked if we could speak privately another time.

The next morning, I texted him and asked if he would like to meet up for coffee that afternoon. Of course, he jumped on the opportunity! After nine years of being apart, I was very, very nervous to meet up with him. We had not had an intimate conversation since we broke up, so I didn’t know if we would even have a connection in that way. He was also very nervous... After he got me coffee, it didn’t take long before we really got the heart of different matters and started to really recognize the care and compatibility that we had for/with each other. We were very much on the same page with all of the various things that were truly important to us, and it was exciting to see the growth that had taken place in both of our lives.

Since that evening, we have pretty much been inseparable. He was already part of my family, but now that bond is even stronger. I truly admire Wally’s incredible patience in holding out for what the Lord had for him. I love his great work ethic and his willingness to serve/lend a helping hand. His stability and predictability add strength and life to me, and his sense of humor and accent keep me constantly amused ;) I so admire his relationship with the Lord, his simple faith, and the blessing that he is to so many. Let’s just say, I have been given an incredible gift!

So, we will just be celebrating 3 months of being back together when we get married on July 5th! It is very quick...but why wait?! The wedding planning has been very fast paced, but we have seen the Lord’s incredible hand of provision at every turn and everything is really coming together amazingly. I am very excited to be #finallychatelain! We can’t wait!!!

We hope you will be able to join us for this special time!

HIS STORY

My first real memory of Sarah was in a small group setting at her parent’s house. I remember asking her mom where she was one day when she wasn’t there. I also remember kind of “making a move” by sitting next to her while she was reading a magazine (during one of the gaming sessions at her house). We started dating not long after and dated for four years. We broke up after we had different views of where we thought our future was headed. I stayed single for 9 years after that and no matter who I dated I couldn’t seem to find someone like her. Someone that loved me for who I was, not for who they wanted me to be. At the end of those nine long years, Sarah’s heart began to change towards me and she began to see me in a different way. We started dating again on April fools day 2019. But this was no joke! I had finally gotten back together with the person I was meant to be with. We have both come along way and grown a lot. Now we are both excited about our future together and what God has for us.

Photo Credit: Jenna Timberlake