‘Barefoot Contessa’ Ina Garten Posts Wedding Throwback Photo on 52nd Anniversary: ‘Still Having So Much Fun!’
Barefoot Contessa star Ina Garten recently celebrated her 52nd wedding anniversary with her husband Jeffrey. The Food Network personality paid tribute to her hubby by posting a vintage photo of their nuptials on Instagram.
Jeffrey and Ina Garten exchanged vows in 1968
Garten was just 15 when she met her husband 1963 while visiting her brother at Dartmouth College. Jeffrey, then 17, was a new student at the college.
“He saw me on the street and then sent me a letter with a photograph of himself in it,” the Barefoot Contessa recalled in 2018, according to People. “I just remember running through the house and going, ‘Mom, Mom, you’ve got to see this picture of this guy. He’s so cute!’”
The two tied the knot on December 22, 1968. In honor of their special day, Garten posted their wedding picture along with a sweet message to her husband.
“Fifty-two years and still having so much fun!” Garten wrote on Instagram. “You gave me a life I could never have dreamed of. Happy Anniversary my love. (What’s up with that cake??)”
‘I just knew he was the one’
Garten apparently could tell right off the bat that she and Jeffrey made a great match.
“I have to say, I just knew he was the one,” she previously told Today Food. “He’s kind, he’s smart, he’s funny, and he takes very good care of me. It’s wonderful.”
Her husband clearly felt the same simpatico, saying of the chef, “We’ve had the good fortune of growing up together in a very compatible way. We’re like two vines that grew and wrapped themselves around one another.”
As for other couples who tend to overthink relationships, Garten recommended some simple requirements when looking for a life partner.
“It’s just the luck of the draw,” the Food Network star explained, according to Today.com. “I think you marry someone who thinks you’re just the most important thing in the world, and you think he’s the most important thing in the world. It’s that simple, isn’t it? People make it so complicated.”
‘Barefoot Contessa’ considers their marriage ‘stress free’
While many couples, especially those in the limelight, struggle with marital strife, Garten looks at her marriage as consistently easygoing.
“Our relationship is just so stress-free, and we have a wonderful time together,” the celebrity chef remarked. “It’s not like we have highs and lows, and we have to work things out.”
The pair chose not to have kids, which Garten noted as giving them more opportunities personally and professionally.
“We have more freedom because we decided not to have children,” the Food Network personality explained. “That’s made a huge difference. Every year for many years we had that conversation. It would keep coming up and we would say, ‘Oh, let’s just wait.’ Eventually, we said, ‘What are we still having this conversation for?’”
The pair have gone through periods of living apart due to their careers, yet always find ways to connect.
“When we’re not together, I’ll send her five or six texts per day,” Jeffrey revealed. “I love looking at her schedule. I can envision where she is and what she’s doing, and it doesn’t feel like we’re apart. If I could be with her seven days a week, 24 hours a day, that would be my ideal.”
Happy anniversary to the happy couple!
