DEL.ICIO.USAJC Wedding Guide
Published on: 03/04/08
When Hiari Imara went dancing with her sister and brother-in-law in February 2006, she wasn't looking to meet anyone.
But as she was grooving to the calypso and reggae tunes that night, a tall, handsome man strode to her table and asked her to dance. Imara thought that Alpha Jabbie was a nice guy — with a nice smile.
 Saidou Photography | ||
| Alpha Jabbie and Hiari Imara were married Nov. 10 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Atlanta. | ||
 Saidou Photography | ||
| The couple's mothers, Saburi Imara (left) and Khadija Jabbie wore traditional African garments. | ||
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He told her he was a native of Sierra Leone in West Africa. He was well-traveled and had an appreciation for music from other cultures, so she asked him if he knew of any good African music venues in Atlanta. He said he knew of a place and handed her his business card.
She called him a few weeks later. They talked for two hours.
"I found him easy to talk to, and we found we had a lot in common," she said.
They met for lunch for their first date in March. By summer, Jabbie proposed. Imara was starting to to feel that he may be the one, but she said she wanted to take some time to think about it. By October, she had made up her mind.
"I called him up and told him that I would definitely marry him," Hiari recalled. "So he called his relatives."
They had an engagement ceremony in January 2007 to bless the commitment. Then she got busy planning the wedding. Her first task was to reserve the venues.
She selected the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in College Park, which could accommodate their 220 guests. The hotel near the airport was convenient for out-of-town guests and not too far from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Atlanta, where they had the ceremony.
Next, she started working to line up a videographer, a florist, a photographer, entertainment and a seamstress. She bought her lace, mermaid-style dress at Splendid Things Bridal at Camp Creek Marketplace in East Point.
"A lot I did on my own," she said. "My husband found the photographer, DJ and limo."
With so much to do, Hiari and Alpha decided in July to hire a wedding coordinator, Mary Scott of A Royal Affair.
"By the time I got her, I'd done a lot of the work. So she coordinated the wedding from the rehearsal dinner on," Hiari said.
The wedding colors were gold and maroon. The African attire for the groomsmen and ring bearers was made overseas; she hired a seamstress from West Africa to make the bridesmaids' and flower girls' dresses from a gold-and-maroon African fabric.
She placed maroon, gold and peach rose petals on the tables and around the cake at the reception.
"Everything worked out in the end. We had the limo. The food was delicious. Everyone was dressed up and looking good in their African clothes and their American clothes, and they had a good time," she said. "It turned out nice. It was a lot of money, but worth it."
Although they went over budget, Hiari said she would advise against skimping on photography.
"If you're going to spend money anywhere, spend it on pictures because it's the only thing you'll have that captures the day of the wedding, and it goes by so fast," she said. "I don't remember a lot of the day. I was nervous and excited. So the pictures help me to recall what happened on that special day."
The newlyweds went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, for their honeymoon. Finally, she could relax.
"It was great, the best part for me," Hiari said. "I didn't have to work. I could lie on the beach and have someone bring me food."
The Jabbies are settling into a new life as a blended family that includes her 11-year-old daughter, Kidist, and his 13-year-old son, Ibrahim, from their previous marriages. "They are getting along for the most part, co-existing nicely," she said. "It's not always easy, but we're strong and we'll make it."
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