Danielle Brooks, the actress best known for her role as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson on the Netflix hit series, Orange is the New Black, recently announced her marriage to fiancé Dennis Gelin.
The couple, who live in Brooklyn, New York, were wed at the historic Alfred DuPont Building in Miami, according to People. Their 2-year-old daughter, Freeya Carel, was the flower girl.
Brooks had two wedding dresses. The first — a ballgown that transformed to a bodycon dress and a pants look — was designed by her friend, Christian Siriano. The second dress, which Brooks wore during the ceremony, was designed by Oluwagbemisola Okunlola, a Black London-based designer. It featured intricate white lace over a bodice closely matching the Tony Award-nominated actress’ skin color, creating a sheer look.
“It was very important to me to find a Black wedding dress designer. When I tell you I hit jackpot finding @alonuko_bespoke, I hit jackpot,” Brooks said in sharing the photos on Instagram Thursday.
“We thought it would be best to do a first-look reveal so that we could go ahead with bridal party pictures and not hold up our guests after the ceremony,” Brooks told Vogue. “I decided to wear Christian Siriano for the reveal. We have been friends ever since my career first began.”
She thanked Siriano on Instagram, writing, “Words can’t express how grateful I am to have a friend like you. You’ve held me down from one of my first carpets to the most important day of my life! I love you and appreciate your friendship! Thank you for my 3 in 1 dress! Love you @csiriano.”
Project Runway winner Siriano has been dressing Brooks for red carpet appearances for years, including the 2019 Orange Is the New Black finale event.
In an interview with Vogue, Brooks said she and Gelin met when he came to her home for a party. The two ultimately exchanged numbers and spoke for hours the next day. After their lengthy conversation, Brooks said she received a floral bouquet at her door.
“My heart started to flutter,” she admitted. “I could feel it. At that moment, I said to myself, ‘If this card says ‘From Dennis,’ I have found my husband.’ Sure enough, I opened the card, and it said, ‘To Danielle, Thank you for an amazing night. See you soon. Dennis.’ This man had gone above and beyond. He had flowers delivered to my house, and we hadn’t known each other for more than 24 hours. In that moment, I knew this was a man who was going to always love and appreciate me.”
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