Anika Noni Rose and fellow actor Jason Dirden tied the knot in Los Angeles last year, and now the former Disney princess is speaking out about her big day.
They met in 2014 as part of a Broadway production of “A Raisin in the Sun,” PEOPLE reports. Dirden proposed in December 2021 and the actress told the latest issue of Brides magazine that they planned their nuptials in eight weeks. The couple even wrote their own original vows.
“Without consulting each other, we ended up using the same phrase at the end of each [of our vows],” Rose told Brides. “We couldn’t have planned it better.”
Rose and her husband started out as “friends for a couple of years” she said, before deciding to take their relationship to the next level.
“We created this friendship walking 60 blocks from rehearsal to the gym, just talking about life, or about anything really,” Dirden shared with the publication. “It had nothing to do with the play that we were working on. There’s always been that kind of comfort and ease between us.”
“We both went off and did our things and were disconnected for a while and then swung back,” Rose added.
As part of Dirden’s proposal, he played a video recapping their relationship, accompanied by Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me.” Rose surprised Dirden on the day of their wedding with an original cover of the song. The couple chose Rose’s rendition as their first dance song.
“The only other person who knew that this was happening was the DJ,” Rose told Brides. “I saw the moment Jason realized it was me singing. Meanwhile, my family knew it was me from the moment the first beat dropped! Jason was so focused on the dance that it took him about two lines in before he had that ‘Ah’ moment.”
Dirden described the moment as “moving” and “magical.”
“This woman is so silly. She has a four-year-old child living inside of her that will never go away,” he explained. “She loves to prank people, and she has that kind of spontaneous silliness to her that allowed us both to release any type of armor, or any type of defense mechanism, and allowed us to really just be who we are with each other.”
“Euphoria” actor Colman Domingo served as the officiant of the intimate ceremony that was held at the Paramour Estate in Los Angeles on Oct. 16, 2022. For her wedding dress, Rose teamed with London-based designer Gbemi Okunlola of Alonuko Bridal, to create a custom gown.
“When we met, we talked about the story we wanted to tell with the dress,” she told Brides. “[Our vision was] that of a rose coming into full bloom, but without being too fussy. I also didn’t want anything I could wear on a red carpet,” she said.
Rose and Dirden capped off their wedding by riding away on a tandem bike together.
“Neither one of us really planned to end up with somebody in the business,” said Rose, who shared photos from the wedding on her Instagram page. “We have fun. We laugh a lot, which is really, really important. And we don’t talk so much about the business.”
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