Exclusive: 9-1-1: Lone Star's Ronen Rubinstein weds Jessica Parker Kennedy in intimate farm wedding
9-1-1: Lone Star actor Ronen Rubinstein has married his longtime girlfriend, TV star Jessica Parker Kennedy.
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The pair celebrated their union with a small wedding, which followed Jewish tradition, on a family farm in Calgary, Canada, and HELLO! has the exclusive photos from the day and all of the details. "I definitely married my best friend and my favorite person in the whole wide world," Ronen shared, as he spoke about his wedding for the first time.
The actor admitted he was "inconsolable" throughout the intimate ceremony which was attended by only 30 guests. Their wedding was a whirlwind as it took place on 14th August, only two months after Ronen, 28, proposed to Jessica, 38, in Portofino, Italy; "We wanted to be married so badly," said Jessica, with the bride wearing a dress from department store Macy's and roping in her cousins to help plan the entire day.
Ronen and Jessica began dating in 2017 and they had a private relationship for years before Lone Star's success catapulted him into the spotlight.
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The actor, who came out as bisexual in 2021, revealed he is keen for their marriage to be a "positive and beautiful light" in a world where prejudice, especially against bisexual men, remains rife.
Speaking to HELLO! from their home outside of Los Angeles, they are now ready to share all the details from their magical day...
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When and how did the proposal happen?
Ronen: "There is a very famous hotel in Portofino where they shot La Dolce Vita, it's one of the most historic, most beautiful hotels, and I thought, ‘What better place to propose to the love of my life than this place?’ We went to the famous pool restaurant which I had rented out with one table decorated with candles and roses.”
Jessica: "I was like, ‘Look, someone did a special table for somebody, that's so nice!’"
Ronen: "Then I had to look over and say, ‘That's where we're sitting.’ She was completely shocked. The champagne came out and within two minutes I knew I couldn't wait any longer. I've been waiting for this moment for so long. I immediately got down on one knee and I could barely squeak out the first couple of words and I just started hysterically crying."
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The pair had their rings designed by Vrai (Photography: LeRoy Parker)
How had the conversations around Ronen's bisexuality - and Jessica's encouragement to come out - strengthened your relationship?
Jessica: "Really early on in our relationship Ronen would make comments when we would watch actors, and it then became a bigger conversation of, ‘What am I?’ Not everything needs a title but at the same time there is something empowering about being able to ‘know thyself’.
"I also wanted to make sure he felt like he could talk about it confidently and openly, certainly with me first and foremost for our relationship."
Ronen: "Bisexuality was a newer term for me. Growing up the way I did, I didn't hear that word. Friends would have literally kicked my a** if I had said anything.
"I spend every day of my life with Jess so [her confidence in us was] reassuring because I’ve heard countless stories where coming out actually ends relationships. There's still so much prejudice against bisexual men, especially bisexual men that are in committed relationships with a female.
"I think we are a beautiful example of a strong, solid, confident relationship, and it shows people this is actually possible. There's not that many public examples of this type of relationship and it’s an example of something that should be shown in a positive and beautiful light."
They wed under a chuppah (Photography: LeRoy Parker)
Jessica: "It was the best for us; it's so much fun. Ronen is my best friend and it’s fun talking about boys with my husband. That's not for everybody but for us it's very fun. My whole goal is making sure Ronen felt safe in our relationship to be able to express himself in the way that he felt the most comfortable with and the way that he identified.
"The only thing I was ever concerned about with Ronen going public was if people were going to be awful because he was with a female. We both had to say, ‘You're bisexual. It is either or.’ But people have been amazing."
Ronen: "When I say best fans in the world, like, I mean it. I only expect amazing stuff from this marriage announcement."
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How did you decide on the venue in Calgary?
Jessica: "We wanted to be married so badly and we didn't really know when, how, where and why and in the end we planned it really quickly. My cousin has lots of acres of land just outside of Calgary with horses and cows and it's a gorgeous property, and he was very kind and he said yes when I asked him if we could get married there."
Ronen and Jessica met in 2017 (Photography: LeRoy Parker)
How did you decide on your dress and suit?
Jessica: "The dress was really an afterthought; I actually got it at Macy's. It didn't have a price tag on, it just happened to be my size and I really love the 3D trend and my dress has these leaves and it was very whimsy - and we love whimsical things - so I bought it, and it definitely matched that farm chic vibe."
Ronen: "And you looked like an angel. I wore Double RL and Purple Label Ralph Lauren, and I dressed myself."
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Did you do a pre-wedding reveal?
Jessica: “I had my dress on and was ready to go down the aisle but my rabbi said: ‘We need to do the Jewish contract first.’ It is a really tiny ceremony where you sign the ketubah, the Jewish contract, so I took my wedding dress off, threw my sweatpants on and a heavy metal band T-shirt, and that's what I got married in for my Jewish wedding.
"Then I went back into the house and put my dress back on, so the first time Ronen saw the dress was when I walked down the aisle, even though we technically were 'Jewish married’ in my sweatpants!"
Their Canadian wedding was attended by 30 guests (Photography: LeRoy Parker)
Ronen, what was your first thought when you saw her?
Ronen: "I just started crying and lost control. I was such a mess that day. One of Jessica’s best friends played an Elvis song on the violin as Jess was walking down the aisle and all of our family were there, and it was just beautiful.
"Jess’ other best friend and her husband also built our chuppah which we stood under so the whole day was so personal and came from everybody's heart and soul. I love how intimate it was. It was a magical day."
Jessica: “Ronen really was inconsolable the entire time."
Ronen: "I could barely get through my vows. I was a hot mess."
Jewish traditions were important to the pair (Photography: LeRoy Parker)
How important was it to make sure you incorporated Jewish traditions in the day?
Jessica: "I was raised with religious beliefs and Ronen, who was born in Israel, wasn't but his Jewish DNA is much higher than mine so culturally it was super important to us. Our rabbi was also my rabbi when I was a teenager. I always said: ‘One day when I get married, I hope Rabbi Howard will be my rabbi.’ He lives in America now so I called him and asked him."
Ronen: 'We also did this beautiful thing called Circling. Usually the bride circles the husband seven times to make room for him in her life, but we both circled each other."
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Who designed your wedding rings and is there any special meaning with them?
Ronen: "I've been working with Vrai for almost two years now as an ambassador. They're the only carbon neutral diamond maker in the whole world. I always knew that if we ever were to get married our rings would be with Vrai and so we were able to custom make the engagement ring as well as the wedding bands.
"It’s nice to know that we can wear these beautiful diamonds that symbolize our wedding but are also responsibly made and have no effect on any people or the planet."
Jessica: "Mine has baguettes and smaller round diamonds, and I think it's important that people know that when you get a lab-made diamond it's clearer, the quality is higher than anything else, and it's a 10th of the price, so you can get an obnoxiously-sized diamond and feel like a princess without having to pay a gazillion dollars."
Ronen: "I also always wanted a thicker ring so I actually have three separate rings because I like to be fabulous as well. You know me, I couldn't just have a classic gold wedding band."
The pair styled themselves for the special day(Photography: LeRoy Parker)
After the ceremony, did you have a dinner reception and party through the night?
Jessica: "Coors Banquet is my favorite beer because I grew up in Calgary and I'm just a cowboy who drinks beer. We drank Coors Banquet and wine and my cousin played some awesome jazz music but we didn't have a first dance or anything because despite being an actor, I'm horrifically shy. Even the idea of getting married in front of my family was horrifying. But we all gave speeches."
Ronen: "And we went and fed the horses and as the sun was setting it started raining and it was magical and then there was a rainbow."
Jessica: "We also had to be on a plane at 6am the next morning! We tried to organize the wedding when absolutely nothing was going on and then I booked Percy Jackson so we had to fly back to LA the very next morning."
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Ronen and Jessica wed on a farm in Calgary (Photography: LeRoy Parker)
With such a small wedding, how did you decide which guests to invite?
Jessica: "We had 30 people, so my family in Calgary, and then Ronen's family - his mom and dad and sister - and we invited a few friends from Los Angeles."
Ronen: "Jessica Shoer, a dear friend of ours, and Alexandra Stamler, and we had Rodrigo Rodarte, the bassist in my band Nights In Stereo.
"Unfortunately my OG guys - Johnny Shoer, Alberto Frezza and Chaise Dennis - couldn't make it."
Jessica's mom walks her down the aisle (Photography: LeRoy Parker)
When you returned to Los Angeles, what was the reaction from friends?
Ronen: "Everyone was happy. I think there were some people that were surprised. When I told people I was engaged, they said: ‘Oh, I guess August 2023 is the wedding.’ I said, ‘No, it's in two months, August 2022.’ Everybody looked at me like I was insane. But people are happy."
What gifts did you receive from friends?
Jessica: "We really wanted people to donate to an organization that I'm heavily involved in called Shizzy's Wildcat Rescue, it’s a big cat sanctuary in North Carolina. I love supporting that cause and so instead of gifts or money we asked for donations."
They asked for donations as gifts (Photography: LeRoy Parker)
Are you planning a honeymoon?
Jessica: "We didn't have time as I started production on Percy Jackson, and Ronen had season four of Lone Star. We will have one but when? We don't know. We're just happy."
Ronen: "I definitely married my best friend and my favorite person in the whole wide world. We've gotten to a point where we hate leaving each other for more than a few minutes, leaving for work at 5am in the morning. I get so sad because I just want to be at home with my girls."
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Have you discussed having children?
Jessica: "I'm 38 so they call my eggs 'geriatric' which is crazy. They use horrible words to terrify you! But it was one of the first things Ronen said to me; I met him when he had just turned 23 and he kept talking about being a dad, which is very unusual for someone who is 23!"
Ronen: "It would be a wonderful thing to be able to do, however and whenever it happens. I have always wanted to be a dad - ever since I was in high school, I always knew I wanted to be a dad."
Why did you decide to wait two months before sharing the news?
Jessica: "Ronen is so much better than I am about being on social media. And he loves sharing. I'm very introverted and I did say, 'Can we have this as ours for a little bit?'"
Ronen: "I'm very out there to the world and I really let the fans in and I've built a tremendous bond with them. But we wanted to hold on to a little bit of privacy, especially for something so intimate and so personal."
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