BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times
KATRINA AND DAVID DADA
Live: Hueytown
Married: Sept. 5, 2016
Met: September 2015 at their mutual friend Adeola Odutola’s housewarming in Gardendale. The men are frat brothers, and Katrina and Adeola were engineers at Alabama Power.
“I thought I knew all of Adeola’s friends, but got to the party and there were like 30-40 people there and I noticed Katrina immediately,” David recalled. “And about an hour later Adeola asked me to change a song and I went to his phone to do it and Katrina asked me, ‘What are you about to change the song to?’, and now this beautiful woman was talking to me so we made small talk.
Katrina and David began seeing one another in Adeola’s home at future gatherings. Soon after, Adeola hosted meetups for young professionals “and we would fellowship afterward, and we got to know each other at those gatherings…,” Katrina said.
By Adeola’s 2015 New Year’s Eve party, the attraction between David and Katrina had intensified. Eventually, Katrina slid into David’s DM’s on Facebook.
“I was already out having dinner with my line sister and we agreed to meet up at an eatery in Five Points South and we literally shut the place down,” Katrina said. “From that night forward, we’ve literally spent every day together.”
First date: January 2016. They took ballroom dance classes at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Hoover.
“I knew she liked to dance, I knew she had danced in college at Tuskegee on the Golden Essence [basketball dance team], and I thought it would be cool to learn something fun together,” David said. “I can two-step, I can hold my own. I have rhythm and that was a cool experience, I had never done the Waltz or the Rumba, and it was cool to learn.”
“I remember when he approached me with the date, I was freaking out about what to wear because that’s an unconventional first date. … And with the thought that he put behind the date, I could tell there was something different about him. He was really listening to me in those interactions that we had in the past, and he listened to my interests and wanted to make sure that this first attempt was something that I really enjoyed,” Katrina said.
And she got to know another side of him, she said. “David is really reserved, he’s like a scholar, and I got to see a more fun side of him and it was a great way to get to know each other in a different way. He stepped on my toes a couple of times, but it was impressive and it set the foundation that let me know this was someone I could grow and build with.”
The turn: For Katrina, it was late February 2016. “David has a friend who was running for city council in Huntsville and he hosted a fundraiser event here in Birmingham, and David asked me to go with him… and [after the event] on the way to the car he was oddly quiet and I felt like he had something to say but wouldn’t say it… The next day he told me he loved me and I said it back and that was the first time we confessed our love to each other and made it official,” Katrina said.
For David, it was March 2016. David had been praying about what he wanted in a wife since June 2015 after hearing a sermon that said he should be specific in his prayer details. After meeting and dating Katrina, he began to notice that she checked all of the boxes, and after the political fundraiser they attended together, he showed her his prayer list.
“I showed her the prayer because she was the fulfillment of all of those things … and when I shared it with her she looked up at me and said, ‘what are you trying to say?’ and I told her, ‘you embody all of the things I’m looking for and I want to pursue you with that goal [marriage] in mind,” David said.
“I was wondering if that was a proposal, that’s why I looked up at him like, ‘is there anything else you want to say?’” Katrina laughed. “That showed me that he was serious and confirmed that he was different than other guys I had been involved with.”
The proposal: June 11, 2016, at Symphony in the Summer at Railroad Park. David had arranged a surprise engagement party on the rooftop at Southern Kitchen in the Uptown District to celebrate with close friends, family, and their fraternity and sorority brothers and sisters.
“I knew she didn’t want a public proposal, so I had discerned that for the proposal it should just be us, but I knew she’d want to celebrate afterward. So we went to Symphony in the Summer and I proposed to her when we got back to the car. I opened the door, and I got on one knee and asked her to marry me, and she said ‘yes’,” David said.
“He was so quiet that day, and that whole walk to the car he wasn’t talking, similar to how he was the day I knew he was trying to tell me he loved me but didn’t say it. And so, he told me we were going to dinner so I started switching from flats to heels, and when he proposed I literally had one shoe on,” Katrina laughed, “I was like, ‘oh, this is happening.’ He didn’t make a big speech, he got straight to the point and asked me to marry him. And he ended up spilling the beans about the gathering at Southern Kitchen.”
The wedding: At The Bessemer Civic Center, officiated by Pastor Andra Sparks, of 45th Street Baptist Church in East Lake. Their colors were red, white, and black.
Most memorable for the bride were several small moments throughout the day. “I’m all about getting confirmations about stuff and there was one specific moment during the wedding day that let me know David was definitely my person. I’m a daddy’s girl, so for the father-daughter dance, the song I chose was Beyonce’s ‘Daddy’ song, and during the dance, my daddy said, ‘Why you ain’t pick a more upbeat song?’ and I laughed it off,” said Katrina.
She continued, “And David and I choreographed our first dance and David was great about it. I remember us practicing in our apartment. We danced to John Legend’s ‘You And I’, and having a husband that would agree to have a choreographed dance with me, and that [reminded me of] our first date and the dance lessons… And I had a ‘thank you God’ moment because he sent me a person who was very complimentary to me and whom I love a lot.”
Most memorable for the groom was learning from the videographer after the wedding ceremony that the videographer thought he’d lost the footage.
“…and we had to reenact [parts of the] wedding with the pastor, and in the midst of all of that, I was just calm and extremely happy. He ended up having the original footage, but I was just excited that we were married and was being optimistic,” David said.
They honeymooned in Coco Beach, Florida. “We changed hotels because the first one was crap,” Katrina said. “And it was on me because I’m the one who booked the hotel… it gave 4 stars on the website, but gave one star in person.”
Words of wisdom: “Don’t try to make your relationship or marriage like anyone else’s. That’s something we had to grow into early on in our marriage because you get these ideas of gender roles thrown at you throughout your life, and then when you [get married] you try to make what you learned fit into your marriage versus focusing on the two people in the marriage and what works for the two of you. Focus on building your own relationship,” Katrina said.
“Every day is an opportunity to grow, growth is the goal, and I’m not alone in that. I have an amazing partner that I get to grow with and the foundation is set for love. I don’t have to earn approval, I can have flaws and be free to work on things but we accept one another,” David said. “… enjoy the path of growing together. And love them as they grow into the best versions of themselves.”
Happily ever after: The Dada’s attend 45th Street Baptist Church in East Lake where David serves as a deacon, Katrina leads the praise dance ministry, and they both lead their church’s couples ministry. They have two children, a son, David III, 7, and a daughter, Davis, 3.
Katrina, 32, is a Bessemer native and Bessemer City High School grad. She attended Tuskegee University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and works for Ed Farm nonprofit in Birmingham as the senior program manager.
David, 35, is a Pratt City native and Ramsay High School grad. He attended The University of Alabama at Birmingham [UAB] where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in public administration. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and serves as the director of government relations at UAB.
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
