Strange Things About Hallmark Star Kimberly Williams-Paisley's Marriage To Brad Paisley

The story behind Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley's marriage could be the plot of one of Kimberly's Hallmark movies. On paper, they don't seem like they'd work together — he's a country singer from West Virginia, and she's an actor who grew up in a wealthy New York City suburb. When the couple first met in 2001, Brad wasn't a big fan of the Hollywood culture Kimberly was surrounded by at work. "I used to be pretty judgmental back then," he admitted to Good Housekeeping in 2007.

But the city girl fell for the country boy, and she found herself having to accept some habits that a lot of women might find off-putting, such as his adherence to antiquated gender roles. Apparently, Brad expects his wife to cook and clean up after him. In a 2011 Redbook interview, he painted a vivid picture of just how different he and Kimberly are by describing how they like to relax and unwind. "In Los Angeles on a Sunday, she'd hike in the canyons or go to Jamba Juice or an independent bookstore. In Nashville, I track my muddy shoes into the house, watch NASCAR, and ask her when the bacon's done," he said.

The glue that holds this odd couple together might just be their love of sharing a good laugh. "The only reason I won her over, I think, was my sense of humor," Brad told People in 2017. However, a surprising celeb suggested that Kimberly's wifely ribbing wasn't very nice.

Brad Paisley is young at heart. For his birthday in 2021, Kimberly Williams-Paisley posted a photo of her hubby having a grand old time on a coin-operated horse ride inside a grocery store. She was standing beside him and hiding her eyes in embarrassment. "It's hard to believe he's even a grown up," her Instagram caption read. When Brad appeared on the "Club Random" podcast in 2023, Bill Maher also seemed stunned to learn that his guest was 50 years old. "Tell my wife I don't look 50. She says I do," Brad said.

Maher argued that Kimberly was mistaken, while Brad suggested that his wife probably wouldn't find such an argument acceptable if he was the one making it about her appearance. "Married people, they get to this place where they say mean things to each other, and it's just sort of accepted. I don't get it," said Maher. Brad agreed, saying, "Basically, every married couple becomes Don Rickles." He also once told The Boot, "Anything I take myself too seriously on, [Kimberly] will gladly cut me down to size on and destroy all pre-conceived notions that I'm cool in any way."

When People interviewed the Paisleys during lockdown in 2021, Kimberly took another dig at her husband in response to a question about what she couldn't wait to do when they no longer had to shelter in place. "Putting you on a tour bus!" she told Brad. She's no Rickles, but she really does seem to enjoy roasting her husband. She even tied him up and duct-taped his mouth shut for a comedic quarantine video. "Do what you need to do to get through this," she told Brad's Instagram followers.

During a "CBS Sunday Morning" interview, Kimberly Williams-Paisley summed up how she and Brad Paisley ended up together by saying, "He stalked me, that's the long and the short of it." However, there was a lot more to their story. When Brad first laid eyes on Kimberly, he and his girlfriend at the time watched her in the 1991 movie "Father of the Bride." Brad was single when the sequel hit theaters in 1995, and he missed his ex. In her book "Where the Light Gets In," Kimberly recounts how Brad went to see "Father of the Bride Part II" alone. "He hoped that if he and his ex were fated to be together, she'd have the identical idea and show up for the same show," she writes.

Brad's ex wasn't there, but Kimberly captured his attention. "I thought, she seems like a great girl — smart and funny and all those things that are so hard to find," he told Good Housekeeping. What he seemed to forget was that Kimberly was just playing a character. Still, she was on his mind when he released his 2001 album "Part II," which was partially inspired by his love story's unhappy ending.

Brad decided to track Kimberly down to see if she would appear in the music video for his song "I'm Gonna Miss Her." When she agreed, this gave him an "in" to become acquainted with his movie crush. "He says it was love at first sight for him, and for me it was more like love at first month or two," Kimberly admitted on "CBS Sunday Morning."

Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley sprung a big surprise on their wedding guests when they tied the knot. In 2003, the couple invited their close friends and loved ones to join them at Pepperdine University's Stauffer Chapel for their wedding rehearsal. But when Kimberly opened her coat to reveal the bridal gown she was hiding underneath it, her guests realized that they were there to witness the main event. 

In "Where the Light Gets In," Kimberly recalls how the wedding planner made Brad spit a wad of gum into her hand before the ceremony started. She also explains that playing a woman who had a picture-perfect wedding in "Father of the Bride" influenced her decision to do things a bit differently. "For years audiences had seen me as the bride from their favorite wedding movie, and I was worried people at my real ceremony would say, 'It was nice, but the movie was better,'" she writes.

When Kimberly and Brad had a vow renewal ceremony 12 years into their marriage, it was another surprise. But Kimberly was the one who was kept in the dark that time around. "It was very silly; it was kind of an irreverent ceremony," she told Fox News Magazine. Comedian Kevin Nealon was the officiant, and Kimberly's dress was picked out by a pal who purchased it for $15 at a shop on Hollywood Boulevard. Kimberly rocked the garment despite its skimpy design. "You could see my pink panties underneath it. It was pretty awesome," she told Us Weekly.

Toilets are a recurring theme in Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley's relationship. A potty doesn't play a starring role in their engagement like it does in Jason Kelce and Kyle Kelce's hilarious proposal story, but there were a lot of them around when Brad popped the question on the pier at Venice Beach. "He proposed right in front of the public toilets," Kimberly recalled to Good Housekeeping.

Before the couple got hitched, they decided to prepare for their new lives together by doing premarital counseling. One of the issues they discussed was Brad's bad habit of leaving the toilet seat up. "The [counselor] said, 'You know, these small issues can become big issues later on down the road,'" Kimberly recalled to Fox News Magazine. Brad possibly didn't share this viewpoint, as he made light of his wife's frustration with his bad bathroom etiquette by penning a tune titled "Ode De Toilet (The Toilet Song)." In an Instagram post, Kimberly revealed that she had asked him to compose a song to perform at their wedding reception, and that was it. The lyrics include the line, "If I want to show her how much I adore her / The best way that I've found / Is to make sure when I'm finished / I put that toilet seat down." The man knows how to write a love song.

Forget the gold tennis bracelet and diamond necklace — Brad Paisley's shiny yellow anniversary gift for his wife could be measured in kernels, not carats. In a 2022 appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Brad showed off the stool that he purchased for Kimberly Williams-Paisley. It was shaped like a huge corn cob with a bite taken out of it. He explained that it was for Kimberly's chicken-themed "she-shack."

It's not the only questionable decor choice Brad has made. In a 2020 Instagram post, Kimberly complained about his decision to place a huge dinosaur statue in their living room. Her caption included a gentle reminder to herself: "Never laugh at your husband's choices. You're one of them." Brad is also a bit on the messy side, whereas his wife prefers to keep their house clean. "He comes home and it's like a tornado hit!" Kimberly exclaimed to Good Housekeeping. She shared an example of his handiwork in an Instagram video showing clothing strewn all over his closet floor. Brad later told People that his mom had seen the post and had come over to clean the mess up.

Through Kimberly's sister, Ashley Williams, fans learned that Brad also sometimes places his guitars in the freezer. In an interview with People (via Y!Entertainment), Ashley recalled asking Kimberly why he stores them there. "She was like, 'I don't know. It's just Brad. He just does things like that," Ashley said.