As a little girl, when dreaming of my wedding day I always pictured my hair straight. The idea of embracing my natural curls was never a reality for me. I felt like my curly hair wasn’t beautiful enough or elegant enough to match the beauty of my wedding dress. When looking at bridal magazines or romance movies, the leading lady had silky, beautiful hair so in my mind that is what beautiful was. My hair wasn’t going to cut it.

When it comes to the wedding industry and wedding workshops, I noticed the lack of women of color being represented. Not only is there a lack of women of color representation but there’s a lack of women of color embracing their natural curl pattern. So I had this idea… A styled bridal photoshoot with only women of color with the majority of the women embracing natural hair styles.

I brought this idea to the BEST WEDDING PLANNER IN NEW YORK, Lindsey Kleidman of Wildflower Events + Design and she dreamt up the Earth, Wind + Fire concept with each model representing one of the elements. Honestly, I would’ve never thought of this idea on my own and that is why it’s so crucial to hire a wedding planner. To all my upcoming brides, the dreams you have for your wedding day can come to life in ways you never expected when you get a wedding planner on board. I’m currently planning my own wedding celebration and hiring a wedding planner was NEVER on my radar until I worked with Lindsey. Now I see how important it is to have a wedding planner so that I can not only have peace of mind planning my wedding day but peace of mind the day of. Why have to worry setting up your decor the day of your wedding day when instead you can spend time with your closest gal pals, drinking champagne and soaking in the best day of your life.

Not only did Lindsey come up the Earth, Wind + Fire concept but she reached out to make up artists, florists, and wedding boutiques she knew would be able to bring this idea to life. She’s connected to so many other vendors and you can trust her to choose only the best for your wedding day.

I really can’t say enough about the team we had this day. Liza Ray is a gem and Stephanie is a magician with florals. I mean seriously look at the makeup on these ladies and look at these amazing floral installments! Like how!?

I’m so happy to have worked with these ladies and highly recommend them to any and every bride in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area! I’ve listed their Instagram handles so you can stalk them little more… you know you want to!!

Design + Wedding Planner: Lindsey (@wildflowereventsdesign)

Makeup: Liza (@liza_ray)

Florals: Stephanie (@earthblossomflowers)

Wedding Gowns: Wild Blooms Bridal (@wildbloomsbridal)

Models: Earth/Chinara (@chinarastroman_) Wind/Asia (@asiaacakes) Fire/Dyiamond (@dyi.tiana)