Chicago Fire actor Jesse Spencer and his wife Kali Woodruff defied all odds for their romantic wedding on 27 June 2020 - a date they had deliberately chosen to pay tribute to Kali's grandparents' wedding anniversary.
However, what they could not have anticipated was the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the terrible weather, which could easily have derailed their big day.
"Despite a spike in COVID, a venue change, a Saharan dust plume, not to mention a torrential thunderstorm, we made it across the line on our wedding day, and I'm a very lucky man," the Captain Matthew Casey actor told The Daily Telegraph.
The dramatic circumstances did not appear to fluster the couple, who grinned from ear to ear in their glamorous attire in rare wedding photos taken at the beach in her home town of Neptune, Florida.
One showed former Neighbours star Jesse wearing a dark blue three-piece suit and a pink satin tie as he gazed lovingly at his neuroscientist bride.
Kali was a vision in a lacy wedding dress that highlighted her figure, complete with a strapless sweetheart neckline and a long train she held to walk. She wore her brunette hair in a twisted half-up style that shared a peek at her drop earrings and added a bouquet filled with red, pink and orange pops of colour.
Their wedding took place six years after the couple met at a music festival with friends. He proposed in 2019 during a week-long hike in the Peruvian Andes.
Jesse and Kali welcomed their first child in April 2022, six months after he announced he was leaving Chicago Fire after 10 seasons. Speaking about spending more time with family, he said: "Coming up to the 200th, I called [showrunner Derek Haas] and broke him the news that I thought it was time to leave the show. He agreed we should at least get Casey to 200 episodes.
"It was a difficult decision because I’ve loved this show from the start, but there’s other things that I would love to do in the future and there’s some family that I need to take care of. 18 years is a long time. That’s a long stretch."
He added: "My home here with my wife is in Chicago, and I’m still going to be here, I’m just stepping back for right now."
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