Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard Just Hit 13 Years of Marriage, and Their $150 Courthouse Wedding Story Keeps Getting Better
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard Just Hit 13 Years of Marriage, and Their $150 Courthouse Wedding Story Keeps Getting Better
Most Hollywood marriages do not make it to year seven. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard just made it to year thirteen, and they did it without a single red carpet stunt, a single staged anniversary post, or a wedding that cost more than a nice dinner out. Today, October 17, 2026, marks 13 years since the couple quietly tied the knot at a Beverly Hills courthouse, and the story of how they got there is still one of the most charming love stories in the business.
What makes them so easy to root for is how normal it all sounds. They met awkwardly. They almost did not work out. They fought, they went to therapy, and they kept choosing each other. In an industry built on fantasy, theirs is the rare romance built on paperwork, honesty and a wedding that cost less than $150.
A dinner party where absolutely nothing happened
The couple met in 2007 at a birthday dinner for their mutual friend, producer Shauna Robertson. It was not love at first sight. It was not even like at first sight.
Bell later admitted she thought Shepard talked far too much. His take was even funnier: he found her suspiciously cheerful. He has said he thought something had to be off about a person with that much unbridled happiness. Two weeks later they ran into each other again at a Detroit Red Wings hockey game, both Michigan natives in their element, and this time something clicked. Shepard asked Shauna for Bell’s number the very next day.
It still was not smooth sailing. Three months into dating, Bell called it off because Shepard was not ready to be exclusive. He came back four days later, admitted she was right, and said he wanted to be all in. They have been together ever since.
The $150 wedding with zero guests
Shepard proposed in late 2009, not long after they finished filming the romantic comedy When in Rome together. But they did something unusual for an engaged Hollywood couple: they refused to set a date. They had promised each other they would not get married until same-sex marriage was legal in California, because it did not feel right to celebrate a right their friends did not have.
When California legalized same-sex marriage in June 2013, Bell took matters into her own hands and re-proposed to Shepard publicly on Twitter. That October, the two of them drove to the Beverly Hills courthouse and got married with no guests, no planner and no flowers. The entire wedding, including the gas for the car, came in under $150.
Bell reportedly left the house in sweatpants that morning, then changed into a black jumpsuit when she saw Shepard in his suit. Their wedding brunch was sandwiches. When friends found out they had not been invited, they sent the newlyweds a cake that read “The World’s Worst Wedding.” Shepard, who dislikes jewelry, skipped the ring entirely and got a tiny bell tattooed on his ring finger instead.
Lincoln, Delta and the life in between
The couple are parents to two daughters: Lincoln, born in March 2013, and Delta, born just before Christmas in 2014. They keep the girls largely out of the spotlight, but they talk about parenting with the same refreshing honesty they bring to everything else, the messy mornings, the negotiations, the teamwork.
They are also unusually open about the work marriage takes. They have spoken publicly about going to couples therapy and about the years early on when they had to learn how to fight fair. It is that honesty that turned them into Hollywood’s unofficial spokespeople for real marriage, the kind with growing pains instead of a highlight reel.
The honest parts, including therapy
Ask either of them what makes it work and the answer is never glamorous. It is effort. It is showing up. It is being willing to be wrong. Ahead of hosting an awards ceremony earlier this year, Bell told PEOPLE that one of the things she loves most about her husband is how hard he tries, saying there is nothing he will not do to take care of her. She added that he is never insecure about her success, something she calls one of his most attractive qualities.
That mutual support cuts both ways. Shepard has built one of podcasting’s biggest shows with Armchair Expert, while Bell continues to headline hit series. Neither of them treats the other’s spotlight as a threat. In a town where two-career couples often quietly fracture, theirs has only gotten sturdier.
They are also each other’s favorite punchlines. Their social media back and forth, their red carpet interviews, their willingness to roast each other lovingly, it all reads like two people who genuinely enjoy one another’s company. After 13 years, that might be the real secret.
Still each other’s favorite people in 2026
Bell, 45, is coming off a huge run as the star of the Netflix hit Nobody Wants This, where she plays a podcaster swept up in an unlikely romance. Shepard, 51, continues to steer Armchair Expert, one of the most downloaded interview podcasts in the world. They are busy, they are in demand, and they still seem to find the whole thing a little funny.
Thirteen years after a $150 courthouse ceremony, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have built the kind of marriage most people actually want: funny, honest, a little chaotic and completely theirs. Hollywood has its fairy tales. This one just happens to be true.
Further reading: James McAvoy opened up on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert | Hilary Swank’s sweet baby announcement | Ben Affleck on coparenting with Jennifer Garner
