RIGHT TIME RIGHT PLACE

Two band geeks make beautiful music as duet

Dorian Sims was crying so much on her wedding day that she couldn’t finish her vows. She says her bridegroom, Van Sims, “took his big old hand and his big old thumb and he just gently wiped the tears off my eyes.”
Dorian Sims was crying so much on her wedding day that she couldn’t finish her vows. She says her bridegroom, Van Sims, “took his big old hand and his big old thumb and he just gently wiped the tears off my eyes.”

Dorian Toney and Van Sims marched in formation for years before falling in step together.

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Dorian Toney was browsing through her cousin’s band camp photos and spotted one of herself and Van Sims in a group. Despite their many connections, they had not met.

"We were both huge, complete band geeks and a lot of the band camps and band competitions were held in Monticello and we both went to those things," says Dorian, who started playing the tenor saxophone as a middle-schooler in Lake Village.

The first time I saw my future spouse

She says: “I was like, ‘Wow, he’s handsome.’”

He says: “I was speechless, and that’s something that’s unusual for me.”

On our wedding day

She says: “I was crying so much I couldn’t finish my vows. He took his big old hand and his big old thumb and he just gently wiped the tears off my eyes. Everybody, the entire church, went, ‘Awww.’”

He says: “I was overwhelmed by her happiness. She was so purely joyful and happy.”

My advice for a long happy marriage

She says: “We work to stay friends. Oh, and we laugh. You have to have a friendship, and you have to know that marriage is not always going to be a skip through the meadows. You have to work hard and you have to work towards it every day.”

He says: “Be understanding and communicate with each other.”

Van, who is from Selma, near Monticello, started playing the trombone around the same age and continued until he graduated from high school in 1998, a year ahead of Dorian.

By then, Van had met most of Dorian's band friends -- including her cousin, Myia -- and she had met most of his. She attended classes at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and met many of Van's high school friends, as well.

Years later, Dorian was browsing through Myia's band camp photos and spotted one of herself and Van in a group.

"I knew quite a few of the people in that picture," Dorian says.

But she didn't know Van. Somehow, despite their many connections, they had not met.

Over the years, Van often saw Myia, who in 2006 mentioned him as someone Dorian might like to date.

"I didn't know who he was," Dorian says.

"She said, 'How is it possible that you don't know him?'" adds Dorian, who by then was working for the Department of Human Services in Monticello.

Dorian took it upon herself to look Van up on social media.

"She threw me a line," Van says. "She commented on one of my pictures, telling me that she thought I looked like someone she knew."

He replied, and they chatted for a while before exchanging phone numbers. They arranged to meet on the Friday evening going into the holiday weekend celebrating George Washington's birthday.

Icy weather was forecast for that day, though, and Van opted to head home to Conway rather than risk getting stranded in Little Rock.

Snow was supposed to start early that evening, Dorian remembers, but nothing had happened by 8 p.m. or so, and she decided to drive from Little Rock to Conway to stay with Myia. She let Van know her plan, and he invited her to come over and watch a movie.

"I was like, 'I don't really know you that well, to be coming to your apartment,'" she says.

Many of her friends and family knew him, though, so she decided to go, not exactly throwing caution to the wind since she texted his name and address and a description of his truck to several of them before she headed over -- just in case.

Van came out to meet her when she arrived.

"He looked up, and I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, he's absolutely gorgeous,'" she says. She remembers exactly how he looked -- the gray skull cap, the green suede jacket, white polo shirt and white shoes.

They spent the next couple of hours chatting while some movie played on the TV screen. When the credits rolled, Dorian got up to leave.

"He helped me get my jacket on and walked me to the door, and he opened the door and, oh my goodness, there were two feet of snow outside," Dorian says.

He encouraged her to stay, and they talked the night away.

"He was a complete gentleman the entire time," she says.

The next morning, he managed to get his truck out of the parking lot and he drove her to her cousin's house, not far away. That night they went bowling.

"We made a wager on a bowling game," he says. The winner was to get a kiss. "I think that was the best game I had ever bowled."

Dorian gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, and the next day he saw her off as she headed home.

Dorian and Van made countless trips back and forth between Monticello and Conway, and by September, she had moved to Conway to be near him.

"You know how, when we make plans, God laughs?" Dorian says.

They intended to marry after Van finished his criminal justice degree at ITT Technical Institute, but their daughter, Niya, was born before that happened.

Van proposed on March 12, 2009, late one night after he finished his shift with the Pulaski County sheriff's office. The baby was sleeping and Dorian was relaxing on the couch when Van dropped to one knee.

"He said 'I love you, I thank you for giving me our daughter, I thank you for loving me.' It was the most sincere and heartfelt proposal. I was like, 'I love you, yes, absolutely,'" Dorian says.

They were married on July 25, 2009, in St. Peter's Rock Church in Dumas.

One guest fainted at their reception and another started a fire with a napkin in a tealight, but the newlyweds didn't let the incidents spoil their day, being content to be in each other's presence.

Van and Dorian moved to Little Rock about five years ago. They love telling their story.

"I've got the biggest smile on my face while I'm reminiscing about this," Van says. "These are special memories."

If you have an interesting how-we-met story or if you know someone who does, please call (501) 425-7228 or email:

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High Profile on 05/29/2016

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