Cimani and Kerry are the winners of the Engagement Session prize for the MunaLuchi 200K Giveaway – celebrating the passing of 200,000 Instagram followers @MunaLuchiBride. Their engagement session, captured by Andre Brown Photography, features the loving couple exploring the scenery of beautiful midtown Atlanta. Cimani and Kerry look forward to “joining together in a space full of love” as husband and wife in the company of their family and friends.
Read all about Cimani & Kerry’s love story, from how they met as co-workers in the hotel industry, to the romantic Masquerade-themed surprise proposal!
Bride & Groom-to-be: Cimani & Kerry
Wedding date: 03/31/2018
Location of Engagement shoot: Midtown Atlanta
Tell us how you met and all about the proposal. We both work in the hotel industry and at the time I had just started my first job in a hotel after starting my Masters Program in Hospitality Management. Being a new girl at work I met many faces and interacted with the new team daily, as I began to get to know the team there was one special person missing from the welcome wagon. One day as I was walking from the time-clock I saw a guy working in the storeroom, as I walked by I thought to myself I’ve never seen him before. Later that day the same guy was working in the front office department, the same department where I worked, but all at once it was like I saw him for the first time although by this point we would have passed each other a dozen times since my first few weeks. Our love story would have it that a week later he began to come to the my phone operator station frequently and make smalltalk on his breaks. Ms. Mary, the matriarch of the phone operator office encouraged me, saying he was a sweet guy and that I should give him a chance – and I’m happy to say I followed her advice against my usual practice not to date coworkers. In between the guest calls and smiles he somehow managed to make the move to exchange numbers by asking to place his number in my phone. Now being the more southern traditional girl that I am, a few days went by and he hadn’t reached out so I went back to business as usual. That same week he encounters me in the break room and inquired why we haven’t talked? I replied back , you have my number, you never used it. Well needless to say after that day we talked every day since. On March 31, 2014 we had our first date and never looked back.
The proposal: The week of our engagement was a very busy week for me at work, I was preparing to host a 700 person gala that weekend and had final details and appointments to finish before taking some vacation time for the Thanksgiving Holiday. To give a little more insight a few weeks prior, my Director mentioned to me and a few coworkers that there was an event that she needed us to attend for the company in the coming weeks for young leaders. As the week approached my coworkers told me about the Masquerade theme, date and time of the event. As I was the only young lady attending amongst my male coworkers who I asked around about the attire for the event. They stated that everyone attending the event would be dressing in evening attire and that the event was a very high-end dinner party. The ladies in the office encouraged me to go all out. I purchased a new dress, made a hair appointment and went full glam for the event.
November 16, 2017, the night of “the event” approaches and needless to say I was quite overwhelmed. I was the youngest manager on my team and was really looking forward to networking at this Young Leaders Dinner. As we arrive to the venue my coworkers and I map out a plan on how we will network throughout the room. As we enter the room, we were escorted by the greeter – the room is very dim and everyone is wearing the mask provided by the venue for guests to match the masquerade theme. As we make our way to the buffet, a presenter asks for the crowd’s attention and states they have a small presentation. We all cast our eyes to the monitor and I begin to see pictures of our relationship. At that moment I knew instantly that this was not a work event.
Of course by this point the tears are rolling through my mask as I am watching memories of us over the years all ending with extra special videos of family, friends and relatives. After the video ends a person taps me and it was one of my dearest friends from college who lives in Maryland. I hug her tight and say “I can’t believe you’re here.” As I’m still in shock and awe I am finally turning around to see more of the room with more familiar faces including my parents, his parents, and all of our family and friends masked in this very dim room. As I turn back to my friend she guides me to Kerry and he pulls me toward the window where you can see the most beautiful city view of Atlanta. Then and there he proposed with all our family and friends overlooking our favorite view. As I said yes I look back at our view after sobbing in his arms from pure shock of this surprise. In that moment I was so grateful for all the effort and plans he put into making this day special and incorporating all the people we love near and far.
What did you do on your first date? Our first date was to the movies to see “Need for Speed.” I wasn’t aware at the time but Kerry is a huge car fanatic. As we walked to the car to say goodnight he offered to warm up my car before we went our separate ways. After standing outside the car for about 30 minutes in the freezing weather, we both found ourselves in deep conversation about our goals and dreams in life. Right around the 3rd lap of the security parking lot cruiser and the abrupt darkness from all the lights in the lot going completely black, we decided to continue our talk at a nearby location, it was so late that the only place open was the nearby gas station. While inside we both selected ice-cream although it was freezing outside. We still couldn’t seem to part with one another after finishing the ice-cream and Kerry offered to take a little drive. As we drove we looked around at the homes in the nearby subdivision, and we both talked about our dreams of one day owning a beautiful home. For at least 2 hours after the movie ended we just drove and talked, just me, him and the ice-cream on that cold March day.
What’s your favorite thing to do as a couple? Both Kerry and I love exploring together – taking time to reflect and create new memories. Early on in our relationship we created a short term and long term list of places and things we wanted to try together. Three years later we are constantly adding and crossing items off our list. When we first started it was a small list of things to do such as visit a local strawberry patch or travel to a nearby city. Now the list has evolved into many International trips and bucket list items. For us it’s not about how far we go but how much fun we have together.
Tell us what you’re looking forward to most on the wedding day. Kerry and I can both agree that our union is quite an exciting time for our families and we truly look forward to joining together in a space full of love at one place and one time to have our special day. One thing that is truly most important to both Kerry and I is to ensure our wedding represents who we are as a couple, we believe that this moment will be captured best at our ceremony. Kerry and I truly look forward to that special magic that happens as I walk down the aisle, even after all the planning and the fun that is one moment we both never want to forget.
Vendors:
Photography – Andre Brown Photography
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