A good marriage is like a fine wineāit just gets better with age! No one knows this better than Ree Drummond, who has been married to her husband Ladd for over two decades.
But another shining example of marriage goals is If I Only Had Christmas star Candace Cameron Bure and her husband, Valeri Bure. Their epic love story started with a setup by her friend Dave Coulierāa.k.a. Uncle Joey from Full House!āand continues to this day.
Here's everything you should know about Candace's 24-year marriage.
How did Candace and Valeri meet?
The Fuller House actress and Hallmark Christmas queen met her future husband, now 46, at a charity hockey game in 1994.
"Dave Coulier, who played Joey on Full House, is a big hockey fan. He was at a celebrity charity game playing, and he invited the cast down. He pulled me over to the side and said, 'I met this really cute Russian hockey player and I want to introduce you,'" Candace, 44, said on Today. "Val had just come from Moscow, Russia and it turned out he would watch Full House to learn English."
The rest is history!
When did they get married?
Candace, who had just wrapped up Full House after eight seasons, and Val, then a professional ice hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens, had a whirlwind romance. They were engaged within a year, and got married another year later on June 22, 1996. Candace's Full House co-stars John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Bob Saget, Lori Loughlin, Jodie Sweetin, and Andrea Barber all attended the nuptials.
For their 22nd wedding anniversary in 2018, Candace celebrated by sharing adorable photos of the couple on their second date in 1994, on their wedding day in 1996, and during a recent outing.
"There really is something special about growing old together. I love you even more today than I did on our wedding day simply because I KNOW you, 24 years in the making," she wrote. "Weāve refined each other which only happens through sifting out the ugly to get to the beautiful š¹. And while I donāt want the years to rush by, Iām looking forward to many more wrinkles and gray hair together ā¤ļø. Because by then, only through your eyes will you still see me without them. I love you, baby."
How many kids do they have?
Candace and Valeri have a full house of their own! The couple have three children together: daughter Natasha, 22, and sons Lev, 20, and Maksim, 18.
Natasha is following in her mom's footsteps as an actress, and has starred alongside Candace in Hallmark movies like The Heart of Christmas and Switched for Christmas. You may also remember the model/actress/singer from her brief stint on The Voice in 2016. She is certainly a star in the making, just like her mom!
Meanwhile, Lev is taking his career cues from Dad. In 2018, he played ice hockey for the Odessa Jackalopes, a junior team based in Texas. In August, Lev got engaged to fiancƩe Taylor Hutchison after dating for about a year and a half.
Candace told Us Weekly that she can't wait to be "the best mother-in-law in town" āand a "hot grandma!"
Maksim, or Maks, seems to keep a slightly lower profile than his big brother and sister. He also plays competitive hockey, for NorthStar Christian Academy in Alexandria, MN.
Whatās the latest with Candace and Valeri now?
Candace and Valeri are still going strong, but like any longtime couple, they're not without their own unique set of marital challenges. Candace recently opened up to Us Weekly about how her relationship with her husband has evolved during the coronavirus pandemic.
āIt totally tested us but in the best of ways,ā the actress explained. āIāll be honest because we try. We both travel so much. So we were like, āThis might be the most amount of time weāve actually spent together in years. This is either going to make us or break us.ā And you know what? Itās made us.ā
Are these two lucky or what?! ā¤ļø
Tierney McAfee is a freelance writer and Country Living and The Pioneer Woman contributor who covers entertainment, holiday & entertaining, food & drinks, design ideas, DIY, and more.
