12 natural black wedding hairstyles for the offbeat and on-point #Fashion#couples of color#hairstyle#long-haired groom#natural hair#superficial snack April 11 2013 | Offbeat Editors offbeatbride Photo courtesy of Essence Once you start searching, there are so many rad examples of wild and elegant natural black wedding hairstyles. Seriously, check just this link as an example. Drool-worthy, amiright? I did some hand-picking of my favorites in this third edition of ass-kicking natural black hair. Yep, there are two previous editions, in case you missed them. Let's take a gander at what we've got this time. Spoiler alert: it's brides totally owning their kinks, locs, twist-outs, and curls. And then share your plans for a natural wedding style in the comments, because I know that it's the JAM for some of you. Photo by Rad + In Love via Urban Bush Babes. Okay so, I'm kind of digging this whole scene: crocheted shawl, best cleavage ever, and of course, the full fabulousness of the mane. Pretty people are pretty. Photo courtesy of Tare The little white flower is totally working here, but it's the voluminous tiny twists bringing it home. Photo courtesy of Blackgirllonghair.com Kinda retro, uber gorgeous, DO WANT. Oh, and can you say ultra perfect makeup, too? Jeez. Photo by Sweissbach Photography Ugh, I'm kicked in the teeth with sweetness from this pair. Her short style is amazing with the clean lines of that dress, but I'm also sneaking peeks at Cutie McGroomface over there and his ponytail. Oh, sorry, got distracted. Photo courtesy of Naturally Nicky I'm getting a come-hither vibe here. Anyone else? Oh, you already went there? Figures. The lady knows the value of a twist-out updo. Photo courtesy of Munaluchi Bride Ooh, tiny twist-outs in a half updo! I love the barrette, too. Photo courtesy of Munaluchi Bride Are you loving this mysterious birdcage look? That is chic as hell. Photo by Christa Elyce Photography via Bridal Musings. This bride's 'fro looks like it's glowing with that tip color. It doesn't even need the sunshine I spy on her shoulder to glow. Also, sexy neck snog? Yes, please. Photo by Sophia Barrett Studios Dude, is it getting hot in here, or what? It's like I did this on purpose! Hehehe. Photo by Lance Thurman via Blackgirllonghair.com Okay, I know we're talking about hair here (and her side-swept curls rock), but that dramatic headpiece is killing me. I'm dead. Photo courtesy of Maison LaFleur Related Post Natural Black hairstyles to inspire you to put down the creamy crack We found some really cute wedding styles for natural hair on Pinterest and then it just snowballed and we ended up with lots of examples!... Read more If you didn't know, this is Ingrid LaFleur, a Detroit-native art critic and curator. She definitely has that full, sexy kind of hair that I just want to see paired with a wedding dress. Thankfully, we can pretty much get the gist with her outfit. Want even more natural hair inspiration? Check out our archive of natural hair weddings! Reporter Name * Reporter Email * Original text Enter the original text here. Edited text* Enter your suggested copyedit here. Notes You can add a note for the editor here. * Required information. Fix Typo PREVIOUS A capelet, cootie catchers, and a giant doughnut at this Georgia wedding NEXT Ashley & Josh's home-brewed prison wedding with a rap video Show/Hide comments [ 35 ] This post totally owns me. No, seriously. *bookmarking* Reply yes you are absolutely Right….!!!! Reply Oh goodness, definitely gorgeous. Combined with the simpler, streamlined dresses? Oh yes please. I hate how frilly and fussy the white-centric WIC is, because these women are SO beautiful and deserve to be recognized as well. Reply **Thank you** OBB! Refreshing content as always!! Reply Absoluteley beautifullllllllllllllllllllllllllll <3 Reply Pretty people ARE pretty! 🙂 These are stunning. Thank you for sharing them. Reply Pretty people are pretty – and jealous (straight-haired) white girl is jealous! I am loving the sh*t out of these. The little-white-flower one and the one with the crystal embellishment on cornrows: omg. DYING. Reply Absolutely gorgeous examples. I love the touches of rhinestone sparkle. Reply quick correction those arent tiny locs that is actually called a twist out. Reply Ooh, thanks for the heads up. Fixed! Reply It's actually been pretty difficult for me to find a natural hair style for my wedding since they are woefully underrepresented in many wedding related media and a lot of the focus is on longer haired naturals with a looser curl texture. I've also seen the same 3 hair styles that are close to my texture and length. I'm at the stage where I'm really concerned about how to pull together my wedding look. Reply Hmm, have you gone in person to hair dressers that specialize in natural black hair? They tend to have the hugest selection of "look books", as well advice and ideas. You could also check out the websites of the vendors who exhibit at the Natural Hair and Beauty Expo (I believe there are a few, but the one I'm thinking of takes place in Atlanta). You may well be able to find inspiration there. You could also check out their catwalk shows and live demonstrations. There's also a magazine called "Natural Hair" (or something like that, I've seen it near the checkout counter at supermarkets)…maybe check that out? As well as googling the red carpet looks of celebrities who have/had natural hair to see if their styles offer inspiration? Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu etc? In addition, try searching for natural hair styles/ideas/hairdressers on YouTube – you may be surprised! There are also a number of FB fan pages that extol the virtues on natural hair that often post inspiration photos . I've never processed my hair and am not really a follower of the industry … but it does seem that natural hair has become vvv mainstream over the past 10 or so years (which is awesome, don't get me wrong!). There really are a ton of resources… You just have to look in the right places. Good luck 🙂 Reply Thanks for the luck. So far, I've had little of it. Although I'm in an actual city that has a fair number of natural people, I've not had much success with salons. Most of my natural friends have headed straight for locs or are still wearing wigs :-s I've a few salons that I'm going to branch out and try, and I've made it clear that I'm NOT straightening or putting extensions in for my wedding. I've been involved in the natural hair scene for the last 7 years and happily follow the few youtube channels for my hair type and hair forums. I think it's just frustrating that for my hair length/texture, there isn't much out there that I haven't already worn in my everyday look. It kinda takes the wind out of my sails when I'm looking for something more glamourous. Reply I love love love natural black hair. I'm Mexican so all I have is super straight hair that won't stay in curls for longer than an hour. Reply These are gorgeous. I have super-curly hair and have been trying to decide between a blow-out and natural. The Ingrid LaFleur pic has given me life. LIFE. Reply I have naturally (very) curly white-gal hair, but I would DIE for hair like Ingrid LaFleur's. I absolutely love it. I think I'm even going grey in the same area as her… I call it my "Stacy London." Reply These are absolutely gorgeous. I wish my fine, straight, white-girl hair were capable of some of these styles! Reply These are all unbelievably stunning. Reply I literally JUST pinned like half of these last night. It's incredibly difficult to find glamorous hairstyles for textured hair. Reply I feel kind of stupid right now. I am half caucasian and half native american. When I read natural black hair… I didnt realize that it meant black, as in the race. I thought it meant black as in the color of hair. Which I have… Oh, silly me. Reply This is awesome! I actually have some of these on my pinterest page, but I love you for showing this! My hair is natural and has been for about 14 years now, and it has always been difficult to find more formal styles for special events. I'm getting married next year, so this REALLY helps! Reply The reference to 'natural' hair is a cultural response to our natural hair having been historically denigrated in the face of European standards of beauty. The word 'natural' promotes our acceptance of our natural texture (- it isn't really for the appropriation of other cultures. For people of European descent, perhaps 'curly hairstyles' is the better search term). Reply Although I'm white with red hair, these posts are pretty useful to me. Although, I think I prefer the term "textured hair" to "natural hair," since it implies straight is unnatural, which of course isn't necessarily true. Anyways, I've actually considered using hair products that are marketed to black women, since the mainstream stuff isn't enough to keep my frizzy hair from sticking straight up. I'd love to see more variety in hairstyle suggestions, ranging from thick and long, to short cuts. Skin tone, I'm frequently represented, but I don't see a lot of hairstyles for how I wear my hair, which is with very little product. Reply I've known white women with textured or very curly hair who have had great results with hair care products made for black women. Give it a try! Reply This! almost a year late to the comment party, but I swear by the products from Miss Jessie's. Her Creme de la Creme conditioner? AMAZEBALLS. Also, Pillow Soft Curls as a styling product – it's my daily do. I love these curl pics, and there is a natural hair expo in Denver in June this year. A friend of mine's been promoting it heavily. I'm a strawberry blonde jewish girl, and my curls are deceptively coarse and textured. I've had stylists apologize for underestimating my hair when working with it, so I am definitely leaning toward these sorts of images for inspiration. My stylist curled each and every hair on my head for my e-pics, and it was pretty (and big!) but by the end of the day, it was loose and straighter – I am trying to decide if that works for me. Not sure. Reply "Natural hair" is a term used in the african american community to refer to hair that has not be chemically processed (with relaxers) to be straight. Hence the use of "natural". It's not meant to say that straight hair in general is "unnatural" but that chemically straightened hair is not the person's natural hair state, and when allowed to grown unprocessed it is in its natural form. That's not to say that there's anything "wrong" with chemically straightened hair or that there's anything wrong with using "textured" vs "natural". Just wanted to point out the origin of the terminology; I don't think it's used to offend. Reply It's not implying that straight hair is not a natural state for people of some ethnicities. For people of African decent, curly, kinky, and wild hair is what our hair is like in its natural state. There are also bi-racial and multi-racial women of African decent that also have very curly or kinky hair. Society has basically forced women of color to adhere to a Euro-centric standard of beauty. For many years, black hair in its natural state was looked at as inappropriate and even considered to be ugly. Because of years of harsh chemical processes and also using products that do not promote health for black hair, many black women have suffered from chemical burns, hair loss, and damage to their self esteem because of this. I would suggest that you watch the documentary "Good Hair" produced by Chris Rock for more information about black hair. It is very informative and will give you a better understanding of why people refer to it as "natural". You can try to use some products that are made for black hair, however, depending on the amount of oil your hair secretes, these products may actually weigh your hair down. People of African decent tend to secret less oils from their scalps (sebum), so the products may be more oil based than the products you currently use. Mixed Chicks is a great line of products. You may want to start there and venture out. Reply Hi everyone. I'm Puerto Rican, have very light skin but dark brown curly hair, 3b type curls. I would love to wear my hair naturally curly to my wedding so thanks for the inspiration. It makes me feel more brave to try it. Reply As a natural girl myself, I'm glad to see more and more ladies rocking a natural look for their wedding. A friend of mine was starting to grow dreadlocks at the time of her wedding and was upset when her mom suggested she wear a wig over her own hair. Luckily my friend didn't give in and her hair was pulled into a beautiful dread french twist. My hair is shorter so I can't rock any of the styles in the photos. I'm working with my hairdresser to figure out a style that will work with the birdcage veil I have. I'm pretty comfortable with my stylish as she always does a great job with trimming and twisting my hair, so I'm excited to see how things look in the end. Great post and beautiful pics! Reply nice and gorgeous examples. I love this post … thank u Reply Just BEAUTIFUL!! Reply I love my hair for what it is (straight and can't hold a curl worth a damn), but I can't help but be super envious of these ladies gorgeous locks! And that birdcage with the pink lips and green earrings!? I just about fainted, how fierce. Reply My favorite part of any post made my popular natural hair bloggers or just concerning natural hair is how many white women roll in trying to make a movement and style of beauty specifically made by and for Black women all about them. Even though they have the polar opposite hair texture growing out of their heads (even if its curly. You all really dont know how afro textured hair works) Can you just not grok that something isnt about you? Even hair? That is nothing like yours? Seriously. Yall never wanna come demand a chance to play in the hard parts of Blackness, thats for sure. Reply Lovely!!! She is so cute. Reply so amazing Reply Join the conversation Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Sign me up for your offbeat awesomeness newsletter! 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Oh goodness, definitely gorgeous. Combined with the simpler, streamlined dresses? Oh yes please. I hate how frilly and fussy the white-centric WIC is, because these women are SO beautiful and deserve to be recognized as well. Reply
Pretty people are pretty – and jealous (straight-haired) white girl is jealous! I am loving the sh*t out of these. The little-white-flower one and the one with the crystal embellishment on cornrows: omg. DYING. Reply
It's actually been pretty difficult for me to find a natural hair style for my wedding since they are woefully underrepresented in many wedding related media and a lot of the focus is on longer haired naturals with a looser curl texture. I've also seen the same 3 hair styles that are close to my texture and length. I'm at the stage where I'm really concerned about how to pull together my wedding look. Reply
Hmm, have you gone in person to hair dressers that specialize in natural black hair? They tend to have the hugest selection of "look books", as well advice and ideas. You could also check out the websites of the vendors who exhibit at the Natural Hair and Beauty Expo (I believe there are a few, but the one I'm thinking of takes place in Atlanta). You may well be able to find inspiration there. You could also check out their catwalk shows and live demonstrations. There's also a magazine called "Natural Hair" (or something like that, I've seen it near the checkout counter at supermarkets)…maybe check that out? As well as googling the red carpet looks of celebrities who have/had natural hair to see if their styles offer inspiration? Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu etc? In addition, try searching for natural hair styles/ideas/hairdressers on YouTube – you may be surprised! There are also a number of FB fan pages that extol the virtues on natural hair that often post inspiration photos . I've never processed my hair and am not really a follower of the industry … but it does seem that natural hair has become vvv mainstream over the past 10 or so years (which is awesome, don't get me wrong!). There really are a ton of resources… You just have to look in the right places. Good luck 🙂 Reply
Thanks for the luck. So far, I've had little of it. Although I'm in an actual city that has a fair number of natural people, I've not had much success with salons. Most of my natural friends have headed straight for locs or are still wearing wigs :-s I've a few salons that I'm going to branch out and try, and I've made it clear that I'm NOT straightening or putting extensions in for my wedding. I've been involved in the natural hair scene for the last 7 years and happily follow the few youtube channels for my hair type and hair forums. I think it's just frustrating that for my hair length/texture, there isn't much out there that I haven't already worn in my everyday look. It kinda takes the wind out of my sails when I'm looking for something more glamourous. Reply
I love love love natural black hair. I'm Mexican so all I have is super straight hair that won't stay in curls for longer than an hour. Reply
These are gorgeous. I have super-curly hair and have been trying to decide between a blow-out and natural. The Ingrid LaFleur pic has given me life. LIFE. Reply
I have naturally (very) curly white-gal hair, but I would DIE for hair like Ingrid LaFleur's. I absolutely love it. I think I'm even going grey in the same area as her… I call it my "Stacy London." Reply
These are absolutely gorgeous. I wish my fine, straight, white-girl hair were capable of some of these styles! Reply
I literally JUST pinned like half of these last night. It's incredibly difficult to find glamorous hairstyles for textured hair. Reply
I feel kind of stupid right now. I am half caucasian and half native american. When I read natural black hair… I didnt realize that it meant black, as in the race. I thought it meant black as in the color of hair. Which I have… Oh, silly me. Reply
This is awesome! I actually have some of these on my pinterest page, but I love you for showing this! My hair is natural and has been for about 14 years now, and it has always been difficult to find more formal styles for special events. I'm getting married next year, so this REALLY helps! Reply
The reference to 'natural' hair is a cultural response to our natural hair having been historically denigrated in the face of European standards of beauty. The word 'natural' promotes our acceptance of our natural texture (- it isn't really for the appropriation of other cultures. For people of European descent, perhaps 'curly hairstyles' is the better search term). Reply
Although I'm white with red hair, these posts are pretty useful to me. Although, I think I prefer the term "textured hair" to "natural hair," since it implies straight is unnatural, which of course isn't necessarily true. Anyways, I've actually considered using hair products that are marketed to black women, since the mainstream stuff isn't enough to keep my frizzy hair from sticking straight up. I'd love to see more variety in hairstyle suggestions, ranging from thick and long, to short cuts. Skin tone, I'm frequently represented, but I don't see a lot of hairstyles for how I wear my hair, which is with very little product. Reply
I've known white women with textured or very curly hair who have had great results with hair care products made for black women. Give it a try! Reply
This! almost a year late to the comment party, but I swear by the products from Miss Jessie's. Her Creme de la Creme conditioner? AMAZEBALLS. Also, Pillow Soft Curls as a styling product – it's my daily do. I love these curl pics, and there is a natural hair expo in Denver in June this year. A friend of mine's been promoting it heavily. I'm a strawberry blonde jewish girl, and my curls are deceptively coarse and textured. I've had stylists apologize for underestimating my hair when working with it, so I am definitely leaning toward these sorts of images for inspiration. My stylist curled each and every hair on my head for my e-pics, and it was pretty (and big!) but by the end of the day, it was loose and straighter – I am trying to decide if that works for me. Not sure. Reply
"Natural hair" is a term used in the african american community to refer to hair that has not be chemically processed (with relaxers) to be straight. Hence the use of "natural". It's not meant to say that straight hair in general is "unnatural" but that chemically straightened hair is not the person's natural hair state, and when allowed to grown unprocessed it is in its natural form. That's not to say that there's anything "wrong" with chemically straightened hair or that there's anything wrong with using "textured" vs "natural". Just wanted to point out the origin of the terminology; I don't think it's used to offend. Reply
It's not implying that straight hair is not a natural state for people of some ethnicities. For people of African decent, curly, kinky, and wild hair is what our hair is like in its natural state. There are also bi-racial and multi-racial women of African decent that also have very curly or kinky hair. Society has basically forced women of color to adhere to a Euro-centric standard of beauty. For many years, black hair in its natural state was looked at as inappropriate and even considered to be ugly. Because of years of harsh chemical processes and also using products that do not promote health for black hair, many black women have suffered from chemical burns, hair loss, and damage to their self esteem because of this. I would suggest that you watch the documentary "Good Hair" produced by Chris Rock for more information about black hair. It is very informative and will give you a better understanding of why people refer to it as "natural". You can try to use some products that are made for black hair, however, depending on the amount of oil your hair secretes, these products may actually weigh your hair down. People of African decent tend to secret less oils from their scalps (sebum), so the products may be more oil based than the products you currently use. Mixed Chicks is a great line of products. You may want to start there and venture out. Reply
Hi everyone. I'm Puerto Rican, have very light skin but dark brown curly hair, 3b type curls. I would love to wear my hair naturally curly to my wedding so thanks for the inspiration. It makes me feel more brave to try it. Reply
As a natural girl myself, I'm glad to see more and more ladies rocking a natural look for their wedding. A friend of mine was starting to grow dreadlocks at the time of her wedding and was upset when her mom suggested she wear a wig over her own hair. Luckily my friend didn't give in and her hair was pulled into a beautiful dread french twist. My hair is shorter so I can't rock any of the styles in the photos. I'm working with my hairdresser to figure out a style that will work with the birdcage veil I have. I'm pretty comfortable with my stylish as she always does a great job with trimming and twisting my hair, so I'm excited to see how things look in the end. Great post and beautiful pics! Reply
I love my hair for what it is (straight and can't hold a curl worth a damn), but I can't help but be super envious of these ladies gorgeous locks! And that birdcage with the pink lips and green earrings!? I just about fainted, how fierce. Reply
My favorite part of any post made my popular natural hair bloggers or just concerning natural hair is how many white women roll in trying to make a movement and style of beauty specifically made by and for Black women all about them. Even though they have the polar opposite hair texture growing out of their heads (even if its curly. You all really dont know how afro textured hair works) Can you just not grok that something isnt about you? Even hair? That is nothing like yours? Seriously. Yall never wanna come demand a chance to play in the hard parts of Blackness, thats for sure. Reply