Autumn Reeser’s meet-cute with writer-director Jesse Warren reads like a Hallmark script. They were introduced by a mutual friend at a film screening in 2000 while they were both attending UCLA. There was a spark, but it would take Warren two years to ask said friend for Reeser’s number, at which point his buddy cheekily gave it to him inside an engagement ring box. That move proved to be foretelling, as the couple tied the knot in 2009 in a romantic ceremony underneath a 200-year-old oak tree at California’s Ojai Valley Inn. “It was an incredible day, filled with so much love and joy,” Reeser gushed to People after the nuptials. “It surpassed all my expectations.”
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The pair soon grew their family — Finneus James was born in 2011, followed by Dashiell Ford in 2013 — but it wasn’t meant to be. Reeser filed for divorce in 2014. While her rep assured Us Weekly the split was “completely amicable,” the reality was a bit messier. While the actor hasn’t spoken about their issues outright, she did hint at them in 2022 when Style Girlfriend asked about the top relationship lesson she hopes to teach her sons. “Mutual respect is key,” Reeser said. “Nobody gets along all the time, so the way you treat each other in times of anger and stress is incredibly important.” As it turns out, the Hallmark star gave up much of what she wanted to make her union work before she finally realized that just wasn’t fair.
