When beauty maven and co-founder of Black Girl Fly Mag, Courtney Danielle launched her blog, Curls and Couture, she was very intentional about the kind of content she would share.
In fact, as her social media following grew, she had no idea that her dedicated audience of now over 91,000 followers would be at all interested in her personal life and relationship with her new fiancé, Tyrone Bryant.
But when she did open up about their relationship and share photos of Bryant on special occasions and holidays, the blogger saw a genuine and positive response and she hasn’t stopped sharing the love since.
In March, Bryant popped the question to the native New Yorker and her fans flocked to the comments section to share their excitement. While the couple is still planning their road to the altar, their love story thus far has been one built on the solid ground of friendship.
Read their love story—which involves Greek life and a long distance relationship—to see why they are our couple crush of the week.
1. What made you decide to share your love with the gram?
That’s such an interesting question because until recently I was pretty private with our relationship especially compared to Ty. He has always been more open with sharing our relationship on the gram. Not necessarily experiences but just posting pictures of me and us together. He always jokes that I am half of his photos and videos on Instagram, which is true. I would only show him on my page for special occasions and vacations and usually wouldn’t tag him. Being that I have a large following, I wanted to protect my relationship and maintain a certain level or privacy because it is very precious to me. It wasn’t until this last year and a half that I started sharing our relationship more. I realized how much people loved seeing us together and how hard it became to not post him because he is such a large part of my life.
2. What do your followers love most about your love story? What do you feel inspires them?
We thought on this question for a while and both came to the same answer, we aren’t really sure what people love most about our love story. One of the main ways we showcase each other is when we work together and create content. Even though sometimes it can be tough to work together when we do, the dynamic is amazing and that genuinely shows through our work. We have also been together for six years and although for a long time people were only getting glimpses of him on my page it’s as if they have watched us grow together… When we got engaged I was so surprised at how many people commented, “we’ve been waiting for this.” I was overwhelmed with how happy people who I didn’t know were for us.
3. Is there anything you’ve decided together NOT to share? Why?
One thing we’ve always been in agreement on is not sharing our personal matters on social media. Every couple has their ups and downs but we have decided to keep those moments in house and not put ALL of our business on social media. As I start to share more about us and our relationship on my social media, I always run my ideas and thoughts by him because although it’s my platform, it’s our story. So he has to be comfortable with the things I share and vice versa.
4. Share one of your most liked photos together and a funny story behind the photo!
One of our most liked photos is the Wakanda inspired wedding we were a part of. It was funny he and I had been speaking about creating Black Panther-inspired content and less than a month after he proposed, we were playing a bride and groom. We did everything from getting a wedding dress made to putting rings on each other. It was odd and exciting all at the same time. Neither one of us had really processed that we were getting married and now we were acting out our wedding. That project helped us in figuring out some aspects we would be including in the real ceremony though!
5. How did you meet and fall in love?
Ty and I met at a Greek party in college. It was right after we both crossed, I’m a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc and he’s a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. For whatever reason, I thought he was someone else and I kept calling him that person’s name. He says he went along with it until it was too late and the rest is history haha. We ended up becoming really good friends before we started dating. Our very first Valentine’s Day together, he came over late with a huge card, I still have it and I remember crying and just thinking how much I loved him and I wanted to spend my life with him.
6. What’s the glue that makes your love stick?
Definitely keeping God at the center of our relationship helps our love stick and the fact that we are best friends. We can be traveling on the most exciting adventure or just curled up on the couch relaxing but we really enjoy being in each other’s presence.
7. Pass on the love: Who’s your IG couple crush and why?
My friend Thao (@thewayofthao) and her husband (@haus_of_el). I really love that they are both creatives and work together but God is also the core of their relationship. They are always dropping me gems and are extremely fun and inspiring to be around and watch on the ‘gram. Ciara and Russell Wilson are my celebrity couple crush. I love their dynamic together.
8. What do you believe is unique/most inspiring about your love story?
The most inspiring thing about our love story is how far we have come. I think anyone in a long-term relationship can relate to being able to persevere through the natural highs and lows of any relationship but Ty and I didn’t even think we would even be in a relationship! We were friends but had no intention of being together. He always laughs at me because years ago I said he wasn’t my type and I wasn’t going to marry a Que, look at me now! He also said he would never date me and now look who has the ring! We didn’t have a love at first sight type of story, but our friendship is really the foundation of our love.
9. If your love story was an Instagram caption, what would it be?
Friendship is the foundation of every relationship and it’s even better when your best friend is the love of your life.