Natural Bride: Erin *Updated*

*A few weeks ago, BGLH intern Erin was married in Chicago and we posted a teaser to her natural bride feature. Here it is in full! Enjoy…*

Where did you and your husband meet?
E: We met totally by chance on June 1st, 2009, at Rodan, which is a lounge in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. It’s a place I would frequent regularly after getting out of work down the street, and it just so happened that one night that a girlfriend and I had to swing by there after dinner to pick up a friend of ours who was a little too tipsy to get home on his own. We decided to head over and pick him up and indulge in a cocktail while we were there, and when we walked up, there was this incredibly handsome guy hanging outside with the buddy of ours that we were meeting along with a few other gents we knew. Despite recognizing a few of the guys he was hanging outside with, because I didn’t know him personally I tried to pay him no mind.

When my girl and I walked inside, I threw my purse and jacket down in a booth and wandered off to the bar to talk the bartender I knew and grab us a drink. Alas, when I came back to where we camped out, there was this handsome dude again, sitting in my seat on top of my jacket no less. And of course my non chalant and sassy ass walked up to him and pretty much told him he didn’t have to buzz off, but he certainly had to at least scoot over and share my seat with me. He was astounded and fascinated by how blunt I was with him, and immediately we were attched at the hip. Four months later we were living together, and two years later, here were are as Mr. & Mrs. Jacobs.

When and where did you get married?
E: We got married on Saturday, June 4th, 2011 in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Chicago is where I was born and raised, with family in the city’s urban north, south and west sides, and though my husband was born in Canada to British immigrants, he has spent the majority of his life here. We both have worked in Wicker Park for many years, and have extremely close ties to some of the key businesses in that neighborhood, so we decided that getting married in that neighborhood would be the most sentimental to us. And as we both live extremely ecclectic lives, we thought the versatile alternative spaces in that area would be best for what we wanted for our “big day”. Additionally, we anticipated our wedding to be gigantic in terms of people in attendance (with about 200+ guests) and with our large scale families and extended families, we wanted spaces that would accommodate everyone.

For our ceremony, we chose my dear friend Anna Cerniglia’s art gallery, Johalla Projects. The space is aboslutely gorgeous, with lofted ceiling, raw wood floors, exposed brick walls and floor to ceiling transit windows overlooking some of Milwaukee Avenue’s most notable ladmark establishments. The ceremony itself only took about fifteen minutes, and after a few champagne toasts and tons of shouting and cheers, all 200 hundred of us headed off to the reception space. The second space we used was a 2,000 square foot loft inhabited by some of the fine gentleman who run and operate UPRISE, which is the premier skate shop that my husband has worked at for the better half of the last decade. This location was also on Milwaukee Ave, just a few short blocks southeast of where our ceremony was, and the party that followed was a blast, to say the least.

How was your big day?
E: Not to toot my own horn, but it was the PARTY OF THE YEAR! It was literally everything I could have asked for and a million times more.

How did you wear your hair?
E: I wore my hair like my personality, large and in charge. I’m at this point pretty notorious for rockin’ a huge blow out fro, so I incorporated my signature look along with a half side of lightning bolt braids, complimented by real tropical orhcids to tie in the tropical rock ’n’ roll pin up theme of the wedding. Thank goodness the rained stopped earlier that day, otherwise my monster hair style would have looked more like a sad deflated half-fro.

What was your process of deciding how to style your hair?
E: Well, I had a few particular styles in mind. I knew regardless of what I was going to wear, my wedding would be vintage inspired, as I work in the vintage clothing business and double as a pin up model & burlesque dancer. But the specific style didn’t come to to me until I found my dress. And once I found the leopard print gown I wanted to wear, or more so, once my dress found me, the hair style immediately came to be. I knew from the get go wanted to keep my hair natural and I wanted a look that was signature to my persona.

How did your family/husband/guests receive your hair at the wedding?
E: Everyone loved it! My husband loves my hair, and has only ever known me as a natural, and he was so pleased once he found out I was wearing my afro that day, as it’s his favorite of all my natural hair experiments. My friends and family all adore my hair and personal style, and were extremely receptive to it. As one of the only naturals in the African American side of my family, my aunties all loved my hair so much that a couple of them even went on to get their own “naturals” for the wedding, which I thought was so flattering and awesome because having this much hair every day, I know how hot and heavy it can get, and for them to go on to get natural sewn-ins on top of their normal hair do’s for the day, I can only imagine how hot they must have been! (Side note, it was about 85 degrees that day, and considering that both of the loft spaces were elevated, it felt even warmer inside)

Is there a blog/webpage where we can find you?
E: Why, of course! I have a vintage lifestyle/pin up/art blog, http://mahaloclub.blogspot.com/, where I show case the art I create, the gallery shows I curate in Chicago, my online vintage business, as well as footage of my burlesque performances and photoshoot spreads. My vintage business is called Psychosurplus Vintage, and you can find my shop online here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/psychosurplus. I’m also on facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1410705047 and all that jazz.