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PrintAnansa Sims & David Patterson
My Studio 23 Photography
It’s been a memorable 12 months for Anansa Sims. In 2009, Glamour magazine ran a simple photograph of a plus-size model that struck a chord with readers. Because of the overwhelmingly positive response, the magazine gathered seven plus-size models for a nude photo shoot last fall to celebrate what many readers called “true beauty,” and Sims, a model who also earned her MBA nearly three years ago, was invited to participate. Since then, she’s worked with Essence magazine and modeled in advertisements for Vassarette, a lingerie line.
In addition, she took a break from work to marry former Ohio State defensive lineman David Patterson on July 10 at First Congregational Church. A reception followed at the Columbus Athenaeum.
Sims met Patterson two years ago at a party in Atlanta, where they both were living at the time. (Patterson played pro football for the Atlanta Falcons before suffering a career-ending injury in 2008.) He spotted Sims from across the room and approached her, saying he’d been trying to find the courage to say hello all evening. Sims agreed to walk outside with him to talk. Three hours later, employees had to tell them the venue was closed. “So, we went on our first date the next day, our second date the day after . . . and we’ve been together every day since,” she says.
Sims says her husband likes to tell her how nervous he was before popping the question last fall. “It was really sweet. We just laughed and cried together,” she says.
After his injury, Patterson became a State Farm insurance agent. The couple relocated to Columbus last winter, where they started to plan the wedding. They were transferred to Upland, California, a few months later, but decided to keep the wedding in Central Ohio. “I always wanted to get married in a historical church. I fell in love with First Congregational. It was like nothing else would be the same,” says the bride.
The couple had a few well-known names in their wedding party, including Sims’s mother, model Beverly Johnson, as well as Patterson’s former Ohio State teammates Roy Hall and Ashton Youboty. Shaya Bryant-Tabb, oldest sister of Kobe Bryant, and Talani Diggs, wife of RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, both friends of the bride, served as bridesmaids. Sims found her dress at European Bridal in Cincinnati and the couple used the Cake Studio for, well, the cake.
The newlyweds wasted no time starting their honeymoon. (Their flight for Playa del Carmen, Mexico, left at 7 the next morning.) Sims says she and her husband went snorkeling, scuba diving, cliff jumping and ziplining, which is the “scariest thing I’ve ever done.”
Happiness is palpable in the new bride’s voice. “Where I’m weak, he’s strong, and where he’s weak, I’m strong. He brings me out of my shell, which is really nice.” The couple resides in Rancho Cucamonga, California, where Patterson just opened his own insurance agency.
