Similar to how you found me on TikTok, I went to Pinterest and typed in “Black girl wedding hairstyles.” All of them were wigs.
Really?
Yeah—that classic straight updo with a front swoop, or a bun. I actually put a lot of those photos on my wedding mood board and was kind of considering, Do I get a lace front? People were asking me, “Are you going to wear a wig on your wedding day?” Like, that’s what you’re supposed to do. But the more I thought about it, the more I was like, That’s just not me, and I wanted my wedding day to represent me. So did my husband. He was like, “I want you to be yourself. I don’t want you to feel like you have to wear loads of makeup or a wig.”
I started to look at French curl braids because I thought they had more of a wispy bridal look. I found a braider in London, Anike Lawal, and she was incredible. We did a test session a few months before the wedding, and I thought, This is the most me hairstyle I could possibly do. The last thing that pushed me was, when I was researching makeup artists on Instagram, I found one that I really liked, Deji Rachel. There were a lot of Black women on her page wearing their natural hair on their wedding days; one had an Afro. They all looked so stunning.
Looking back on your wedding day, how do you feel about your hair?
I loved it. The day I got married was the hottest day recorded in UK history; it was 40 degrees Celsius [104° F]. So my hair was heavy and hot, but I loved it.
Oh, my gosh!
Yeah, it’s crazy that that was our wedding day. But when I look at the photos, I’m so happy. I look like myself.
You looked beautiful. How did your friends and family react to the look?
I got loads and loads of compliments. And it worked out really well that we went on our honeymoon two days afterward, so I didn’t have to get my hair done again. We went to the Seychelles. When we got back I’d be walking around the London Underground, and so many people stopped me to ask who did my hair. It was a cool story to be like, “These were the braids I wore for my wedding.”