Rebecca Davis
AFA Journal staff writer
Above, Diane Cornelius assists a bride to prepare for her wedding. Photo Sarah Jane Sanders, sarahjanesanders.com
By Rebecca Davis and Kendra White (producer/writer with American Family Studios)
March 2016 – Several years ago, Diane Cornelius, third generation owner of Ruth’s Bridal in Lexington, Kentucky, received a phone call that changed her life forever. On the other end was a local pastor who wanted to know what she did with old bridal gowns that never sold. He was hoping she would be willing to send some of them to a church in Haiti.
Cornelius not only offered to donate the dresses, but to take them to Haiti herself. So she packed Tupperware bins full of dresses, veils, and tiaras, and headed to northwest Haiti. It was the beginning of Raise the Veil, a nonprofit ministry designed to remove the separation Haitian women feel from God and society by giving them the option of marriage.
Most Haitian couples cannot afford to get married because it costs $65 U.S. to obtain a marriage license in their country. Haitians generally earn less than a dollar a day, so marriage is an impossible dream. Purchasing a wedding dress and rings is unfathomable. Thus unwed couples often live together for 20 or 30 years and establish a life together without the blessing of a covenant relationship the way God intended. These couples go to church, learn the truth of God’s Word, and feel convicted about their lifestyle.
“In Haiti, the church is the social structure,” Cornelius explained to AFA Journal. “If you are living with someone but are not legally married, you cannot sing in the choir or be baptized or even sit in the church. You have to sit outside and listen.”
Meeting the women of Haiti opened Cornelius’s eyes to their desperate circumstances. After multiple trips to Haiti and more than 30 years in the wedding industry, she felt God’s call on her life to close her bridal boutique and partner with a Haitian church to provide marriage licenses and weddings for Haitian couples.
“Having been in the industry for my entire life, I knew how to do this. It was in my blood,” Cornelius said.
Cornelius also partners with churches and ministries in the U. S. Together they travel as teams to Haiti to host multiple wedding ceremonies. Many industry professionals such as cake decorators, florists, and photographers have taken part as well as laypersons who volunteer to provide similar services. As a result, Cornelius has now seen hundreds of couples choose the sacred covenant of marriage.
Each bride finds the perfect dress from Cornelius’s collection to borrow for her wedding day and often cries when she looks in the mirror and sees her dream coming true.
In the midst of primping and preparing for the special day, Cornelius likes to ask each bride one question: “Why do you want to get married?” The brides always have the same answer: “Because I want to get out of sin.”
These weddings impact not only the couples involved, but also the entire community with a powerful message about the importance of marriage.
“At every single wedding we’ve ever done, the pastor preaches the gospel,” Cornelius said. “Many in the community have never attended a wedding and are curious about the celebration. These two-hour-long services expose entire villages and communities to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that a bridal salon owner could be used in ministry,” she added. “But everybody has a gift. It’s just whether or not you want to be available to God with that gift.” 
For more information about Raise the Veil, visit raisetheveil.org
