• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Celebrity

Orange Is the New Black's Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli Are Married

The couple tied the knot in an intimate Palm Springs, California, ceremony surrounded by family and friends.
Orange Is the New Black’s Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli Are Married
Martha Stewart Weddings
By Brittany King · Updated October 26, 2020

This story originally appeared on People.

It’s official: Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli are married!

On Saturday afternoon, the Orange Is the New Black star, 29, tied the knot with her longtime partner in an intimate Palm Springs, California, ceremony surrounded by family and friends, PEOPLE can confirm.

As revealed to Martha Stewart Weddings, who were the first to report the news, the nuptials were designed and executed by Beth Helmstetter Events, the confetti-themed bash — based in part on the couple’s desire for a non-traditional event and their mutual affection for Pillsbury Funfetti cake.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.

Wiley’s parents officiated the ceremony, according to the magazine, and their music choice was perfect for pop music fans — their recessional was “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan and their reception entrance jam was Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”

The newly minted spouses were both outfitted by Christian Siriano. Guests dined amid centerpieces of flowers and citrus fruits, garlands, sparkling light strands and mismatched glassware. During the brides’ first dance, a blast of — what else? — confetti enhanced the beautiful moment.

The nuptials’ Palm Springs location was special to the couple, as it was where the OITNB writer popped the question in October with a dazzling yellow-gold engagement ring featuring an asscher-cut diamond.

Wiley previously told PEOPLE that Morelli was more involved in the wedding planning than her.

“I just sort of want to sit back and be like, yeah sure, whatever. Yeah, I don’t care. Yeah yeah yeah,” she said.

Morelli was previously married and split from her husband after she realized she was gay while writing for the hit Netflix series. She penned an essay on Identities.Mic at the time detailing her experience. “I realized I was gay in fall 2012, one of my first days on the set,” she wrote.

“Accordingly, I was nervous about the first love scene I’d written for Alex and Piper,” she explained. “I loved writing it, loved watching a tenderness emerge in their relationship where passion always seemed to be the ruling principle, but by that time, I was so deep in my own self-doubt that I constantly felt like a fraud.”

Morelli told Out magazine in December that although she was open with her husband and they tried couples therapy, the issue was obviously not something fixable within their relationship — and that Wiley became a source of comfort in figuring out her next steps.

“Samira became my outlet, and through that process I fell in love with her,” she said. “But I thought, This will be the one that got away. Being with her felt too good to be true.”

Later, almost two years after she began dating Wiley, Morelli planned to propose right before they headed out for the vacation so they could use the time in Palm Springs to celebrate the engagement.

“I found a ring, they shipped it to me,” Morelli added to Out of their engagement. “I was so nervous and terrified she knew it was coming, but she was so shocked that I couldn’t get her to stop crying.”

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now