Actress and director Gabourey Sidibe is glowing alongside fiancé Brandon Frankel featured in Brides magazine digital style issue. Their wedding is set for the year 2023.
Isn’t it beautiful that we are now in the future? Did you imagine it to be this way?
The couple met on the dating app Raya and got engaged in October 2020.
Per Essence, the former Empire star did not initially want a big wedding. “The entire time we have been engaged, I’ve always been like, ‘No, we shouldn’t have a wedding,’” Sidibe said in the cover story. “Maybe we’ll throw a barbecue, get married in the bathroom, and then we’ll come out and tell everyone we’re married.”
She said she and Frankel have had a change of heart.
“It cannot be a traditional wedding. Really, it can’t be,” she said. “I don’t want anything done the ‘traditional’ way. Our relationship is very much on our terms and I want it to be fun, like a true party.”
Black Enterprise Reports:
The non-traditional flair that makes Sidibe a unique star is on full display in the photo spread which featured her styled in a colorful African print dress for the cover and other bright color looks for the rest of the shoot shared on Instagram. Sidibe called the shoot a “rehearsal” for their actual wedding.
From the story, Sidibe said, “To me, weddings are very different from marriage and partnership. I think I always, always wanted there to be a partner in my life, [but] I didn’t know what he was going to look like or what he was going to be like at all.”
Frankel is Jewish and Sidibe is of Senegalese descent. The former Empire star said that she wants their wedding and life to reflect their cultures. They intend to have a specially curated menu. “Including my culture [in the wedding] is important to me for sure. I’ve been feeding him some Senegalese food in the last few years—especially in the pandemic,” she said.
“It will be a nice mix of African and Jewish touches. I want his background to absolutely be there because this is a partnership.”
in May 2019 when he uploaded a selfie of the pair on his Instagram account. And the marketing man seemed to make things official later when he shared a more intimate snap captioned, “One of my favorite humans in the world … I’ll stop so y’all don’t throw up over the cuteness.”
In July that same year, Frankel made things even more crystal-clear when he posted a picture of a beaming Sidibe alongside the words, “How can you not love this face? MY SUNSHINE gf.” The Precious actor, however, had chosen to keep schtum about her new relationship on social media until New Year’s Eve.
But it appears as though Sidibe’s resolution for 2020 was to be as gushing as possible about her new man. In the comments section of another Insta photo Frankel had uploaded of the pair on December 31, 2019, she responded, “You’re my favorite love song. You’re the cherry on top of this last decade and the foundation of the next. I’m excited for all the matching hoodies, Mickey/Minnie outfits to Disneyland, and your favorite shirts that somehow become MY favorite shirts. You make me happier than I’ve ever been. I’m so glad we found each other and I’m gonna point and yell “DOG!” for you, when I see one in public forever.”
Talk about a fairytale and believing in yourself. We’re so proud of Gabourey and her accomplishments. She is a light to many women like her.
Increasing your visibility gives women a better opportunity to attract the eyes of better men.
Keep going and believe in yourself. Love is near.
