Becoming Beauplan

Some of our favorite kiddos!

What you’re about to read might make your head spin. It might seem unbelievable. Trust me, I couldn’t make this up if I tried. The road to Wood and I’s wedding was nothing short of an adventure. We got married a week ago and it’s taken me all of that time to even process how we made it to “I Do.”

Our wedding from the get go wasn’t going to be “traditional” per say. As a Haitian, having a Caribbean beach wedding is definitely not the norm and I guess for an American it’s not either. On both sides it feels a little big extravagant or as Haitians would call it, “bougie.” We never viewed it as that or had that in mind as our goal. Choosing a location at the beach is just what made sense to us. It was the happy medium and the perfect background for two families from separate cultures coming together as one. Our desire has always been simple. 

In the end, simple is what we achieved, but the road getting there was much more complicated. After getting engaged in April, we began starting to plan our fall wedding. ((Wood thought that our first meeting with the beach venue was far too early, but realized that it really wasn’t)) Details seemed to fall into place. The to-do list was created and it was my goal not to become a bridezilla and to have all of our major (and not major) details taken care of well in advance so we could really enjoy the time my family and friends got to be in country.

I guess the joke’s on me because I think at the end of the day we ended up with 15 hours of time together and several of those hours were spent sleeping. Are you intrigued yet?

About five or six weeks ago, we were notified that due the instability of the country, our venue was having to close its doors for a time. They gave us ample time to cancel our reservation, get a full refund, and have time to essentially plan a new wedding. We knew the potentials when the country started to get a little bit volatile and made the call to go ahead and begin planning a wedding here in our town of Gonaives. 

We called on our godparents for the wedding — every wedding in Haiti has a set — and got to work scouting out new places. We settled on one of the two or three restaurants in town where Wood and I have gone on many a date and is also where Wood proposed. It’s a place that does hold a special place in our heart. Because the theme of our wedding was simple, many of the details that we planned for the beach could work here. We just had to finalize everything. 

Meanwhile, the country of Haiti was entering into it’s 6th and 7th weeks of political unrest and second month of inconsistent fuel distribution. This added a layer of contingencies that we needed to have in place. With the possibility of having to make the near impossible call that things would be too insecure for my family to travel, we made the decision to shorten their time on the ground to create more security in regards to their travel in and out of the country. We went from five days to three. This change also created a change in the actual date of our wedding. Because we revised for family to travel over the weekend, our Tuesday wedding was moved to Sunday. We also made the decision to reduce our guest list. Can we talk about already big changes? 

Planning continued and I arranged travel for my family to get from Port au Prince, where they would fly into, to Gonaives, where I live. The only way to do so right now is by charter plane. The main national highway hasn’t been constantly open all the way from PAP to Gonaives in almost two months due to roadblocks. Because charter planes are one of the only ways to travel the country right now, many of the private pilots and companies are booked up. For a time, three of my family members were on standby based on whether or not I could find a plane(s) to carry them all. Praise the Lord because I found a plane big enough to carry all of them.

Moses decided that he needed to sit with
us for dinner. I won't lie...it was one
of my favorite things about our
special day. 

Through this time there was also a back and forth of exactly where part of my family was going to stay due to power issues. Many businesses are having to limit the time their generators can run because of fuel shortages. First they were at the hotel where we were getting married, then they were going to stay at my old house, then they were back to the hotel! Are you exhausted yet?

For about a day, I think that we had it under control. Then we were back to the revisions! Along the way, one of my bridesmaids had to make the decision to stay in America. It’s a tough call and one that I completely understand. She was there in spirit and I had four people stand with me instead of five. 

Changes to the menu were made..this was actually a revision that I expected. 

I’m sure there are more minor things that I’m forgetting, but that would just be par for the course of a wedding, right?

Wedding weekend had arrived. Bags had been packed and Wood and I had started to move our belongings into our new home. With the time change, my sleep cycle had been really messed up, plus the nerves and anxieties of getting married. So, on the Saturday when my family was traveling in, I was wide awake in the early hours of the morning. We got news that their flight had been delayed. The only person this didn’t affect was my brother because he was flying from Memphis and meeting everyone in Miami. Their connection in Miami was already tight. The flight ended up getting delayed the length of time they had for a connection. Because of a SINK. 

I was immediately springing to action (well, my dear friend Julie, was helping me with all of this because I was so emotional) to try and figure out what our back up plans were. Were there other flights? Could the flight in Miami be held? How could we still get them to Haiti on this day? Were we going to have to change plans for our wedding day? My parents, two grandmas, cousin and aunt did not make their plane in Miami to get to Port. So then, we’re left with the decision about what to do with my brother. He is unaffected in all of this. 

So imagine, that you’re literally standing at the gate of your flight waiting for someone to tell you whether or not to get on the plane. That was Cody. I decided that in all of this if he could still make it to Gonaives on Saturday, it would make me feel that much better. Wood’s family would get to spend time with at least someone and I would have someone there for the duration of the weekend. So, we started calling pilots trying to see if there was smaller plane available. I’m on the phone with Cody and Julie is on the phone with a pilot, waiting for confirmation. We get confirmation and I tell Cody to GET ON THE PLANE! I immediately set out revise the original transportation plan for my family and create a plan for meeting Cody at the airstrip. 

The rest of my family was not going to make it into the country until the next afternoon, arriving at the same time they should have on Saturday. This affected our wedding time. My family would be hitting the ground in Port au Prince an hour before our wedding was supposed to start. So, we jump into action, making contact with all of the immediate people this affects…the pastor (Wood’s dad), the photographer, and of course the venue. We changed the time of our wedding to 6:00 in hopes of that allowing at least a little bit of breathing room. 

1 out of 7 is better than 0 out of 7!

Fast forward to Cody arriving that afternoon and we were able to spend some time just chatting and with Wood’s family. We went to church the next morning and were ready to spring into action with decorating and getting ready, anxiously awaiting the arrival of my parents. Due to a full flight schedule, my family was not wheels up in the air to Gonaives until nearly 4:30. It’s a 35ish minute flight to Gonaives. I’ve spent the afternoon decorating, and am to the place where I have to start getting ready, and my parents still weren’t in the air to my town. I was trying really hard to keep it all together. 

At about 5:30 my family arrived. Y’all…I’ve never had a more fitting moment in my life to use the word shock than this moment. I literally didn’t even know what to do with myself. I couldn’t run to greet them. One, because wedding dress. Two, because I needed them to go get dressed. I think I was in a state of almost disbelief that they actually made it. Cody quickly escorted them to where they could get ready and we continued with pre-wedding festivities. 

All things considered, our wedding started around 6:20. That’s pretty good in my opinion. The rest of the evening was a blur. I know many people say that you don’t always really remember a lot about your actual wedding. I remember being really happy and really relieved. We achieved a goal of a simply elegant wedding with the decor and the program. It really was a beautiful moment and one of my biggest dreams came true. Well, two. I got to marry the man of my dreams ((That’s the really important part)) and my daddy made it to walk me down the aisle and for us to have our daddy daughter dance. Our families had the chance to meet each other and we stood and chatted with them. We danced, we took pictures, some people ate cake, and we enjoyed a beautiful moment. 

The kicker of all of this is that my parents were supposed to get on a plane at 8:00 the next morning. Showing up 45 minutes before the wedding, didn’t allow us all of the time that we hoped we would have, but it gave us some time. We spent several hours after the wedding sitting and talking with them and soaking up the fleeting moments that we had. It was a whirlwind, but they made it and I got married. 

Now, if you’re still reading, you really do love me because I know that I don’t tell short stories. Hopefully you feel a little bit like you were on this roller coaster with us. If you’re with me, we’re getting the heart of what this post is about. 

My head has been upside, downside, left side, right side for the last 6 weeks and I’ve taken this last week to try and decompress and make sense of it all. It’s been a lot to take in, mixed with the emotions of political instability and many unknowns. I’ve been feeling pretty weary. My body is tired. I have felt like a weight should be lifted because this one big thing was finally all over, but I haven’t known how to let go. I’m still carrying other things. Today, I was spending an extensive amount of time with the Lord. ((Having your priorities in order matters. Mine maybe haven’t been the last several weeks, and I have no excuse.)) I had taken a break when I saw a dead cockroach being dismembered by a swarm of ants. It’s actually really fascinating to watch and cheap entertainment. 

I watched as those little teeny tiny ants were carrying legs and wings of a cockroach that were three and four times their size. I looked at that and was in awe of what an amazing creature God created. He created these little tiny animals with a strength that they shouldn’t have. He gives them that strength. I was like, “If God gives that kind of strength to a teeny tiny ant, how much MORE strength can He give to me?” Not only where these ants carrying things that they really shouldn’t be able to, they were helping each other to stay on the path back to their colony and to help lift those heavy pieces on to the backs of other ants. God has placed other creatures right alongside us in our lives to help us keep the path and lift the heavy stuff. Wood has been my little ant this week. Our first week marriage may not be exactly what we expected it to be, but we’re in this together. 

There are still heavy things occurring in my life, but today I was reminded that God’s right beside me helping me to carry it all because I shouldn’t be able to do it alone. I can’t do it alone. Be encouraged friends. Look out for those walking the path of life beside you. They are a blessing from the Lord. 

All the love friends,

Caitlin BEAUPLAN

PS - We want to extend a very special thank you to Luke and Julie Brouwer. Without them, I'm not sure we would have gotten everything pulled off to make our wedding a reality. As all of the changes occurred, the whole Brouwer family was given more and more responsibilities. They each had a role -- Julie was a bridesmaid, Luke and Jude were emcees, Micah was our DJ and Chloe made our cake. Luke and Julie also helped calm me down when my family was delayed and helped us to come up with our contingency plans. We do not have enough words to express our gratitude. 

You all blew us away with your support of our "Buy a Box" fundraiser. Because of increasing prices and an additional rent payment, we set out to raise $2500 in one week. We didn't quite get there, but we got pretty doggone close! We raised 62%! The boxes that are in white are still available for purchase. If you are interested in learning how you can purchase a box, let me know! 

Additionally, we are always looking for monthly sponsors. $5 or $10 goes a long way. If you are interested in becoming a monthly donor, you can sign up here at https://tinyurl.com/catigoestohaiti. I'll send you a special Haitian made goodie for becoming a monthly supporter!