Working as a model and in media enlarged Harris's world. In 1958, while in British Guiana (now Guyana) for a major fashion show, she met barrister and politician John Carter of Guyana, who was assigned as her escort for some events. They married in 1959 and had two sons together. She also became stepmother to his two daughters from his first marriage. Carter continued to be influential in supporting education and also became a philanthropist. John Carter was active in his country's independence movement. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1962. in 1966, the year Guyana gained independence, he was knighted and appointed as ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, and high commissioner to Canada. With her husband's knighthood, Carter was known by the title 'Lady Sara Lou'. She served as the official hostess of his embassy postings. Sara Lou Carter traveled with her husband when he was appointed high commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1970, as well as being accredited to France, West Germany, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. When Guyana joined the non-aligned nations, Sir John Carter was posted to China, and accredited also to Japan and North Korea. They returned to the Caribbean in 1981, when Sir John was high commissioner to Jamaica. He and Lady Sara Lou Carter retired to Washington, DC in 1983. Sir John Carter died in June 2005.