Mayor Kasim Reed is getting married and becoming a father
Champagne and cigars at City Hall!
- Joeff Davis/CL File
- Mazel tov!
Mayor Kasim Reed ended months - hell, years - of speculation about his lovelife by popping the question over the weekend to longtime girlfriend Sarah-Elizabeth Langford. Langford, the daughter of Atlanta attorney Susan Langford and late State Sen. Arthur Langford, is an affordable housing developer, graduate of Howard University School of Law (also Hizzoner's alma mater), and former beauty queen contestant.
News about the engagement spread yesterday and was first reported by Nassau-based Bahamas Press which spotted the couple dining out. We sent a line earlier today to the mayor's staff for confirmation. Atlanta Magazine's Rich Eldredge, however, was able to get confirmation from an unlikely source (be careful with what you tell your barber):
While reps for the mayor declined to answer media inquiries about the engagement until the official word is sent out later today, one source close to hizzoner was talking. "He sprang it on me as he got up out of my chair," Reed's barber Rick Walker told Atlanta magazine. The mayor booked a post-vacation haircut at Rick's Barber & Beauty Sunday and kept mum about his big news until he was headed out the door. "He pulled up the pictures to show me," Walker said. "He looked very happy. I cut his hair just before he left last week and had no idea he was going to propose. I just made sure he was looking good for his trip."
Reed's office later released a statement:
"I want to announce the wonderful news that I proposed to Sarah-Elizabeth Langford over the weekend. I could not feel more blessed that she agreed to marry me, and we look forward to building a family together in the greatest city in America. I am honored to have our friends and family share this special moment with us and I ask that our privacy is respected as we celebrate this personal occasion."
And if you're buying the couple a wedding gift, you might also want to throw in a gift certificate at Babies R' Us: Langford is also expecting the couple's first child.