Tony Award-winner Anika Noni Rose married her beau, Jason Dirden, last October in Los Angeles and managed to keep it relatively secret until this week.
Rose and Dirden first met in 2014 when both were cast in the Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun. Not only did they manage to keep their new marriage under wraps, but very few people knew that they were in a relationship—until now.
“We were friends for a couple of years, actually,” Noni Rose says. “We both went off and did our own things and were disconnected for a while and then swung back.”
Dirden proposed in December 2021. They then had to wait until their schedules allowed the time to plan the event and make it happen. When they found a time that worked for them, they didn’t waste any time. The Princess and the Frog star says that, unlike her Disney character, she did not always dream of a white wedding— or any wedding, for that matter.
“I didn’t grow up dreaming about a wedding,” Noni Rose explained to the outlet. “That just wasn’t me. I know some girls who had dresses picked out at 12.”
Every element of their wedding was carefully thought out. Speaking to the publication, Noni Rose offered up some sage advice.
“My grandma always told me, ‘Every kick is a boost,'” she shared. “Things are going to go wrong, but everything that went ‘wrong’ during our planning was followed by something better. You may find that your ‘plan b’ couldn’t be more perfect. We sure did.”
