Danielle Brooks, well known for her role as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson on Netflix’s smash show Orange is the New Black, recently announced her engagement to Dennis Gelin.
According to People, the pair, who live in Brooklyn, New York, married at the historic Alfred DuPont Building in Miami. Freeya Carel, their 2-year-old daughter, was the flower girl.
Brooks owned two wedding gowns. Her friend Christian Siriano designed the first, a ballgown that morphed into a bodycon dress and a jeans appearance. Brooks’ second gown was designed by Oluwagbemisola Okunlola, a Black London-based designer, and she wore it during the wedding. It featured delicate white lace over a sheer bodice that closely matched the Tony Award-nominated actress’s skin tone.
“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.”
Brooks has been dressed by Project Runway winner Siriano for red carpet appearances for years, including the 2019 Orange Is the New Black conclusion event.
Brooks says she met Gelin when he arrived at her house for a party in an interview with Vogue. The two eventually exchanged phone numbers and spoke for many hours the following day. Brooks claimed she received a beautiful bouquet at her door after their lengthy talk.
“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. At that moment, I knew this was a man who was going to always love and appreciate me.”
