Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi just hit a major relationship milestone.
On Thursday, the “Ellen” talk show host and the “Arrested Development” actress celebrated a decade of marriage. They tied the knot on Aug. 16, 2008, at their Los Angeles home in an intimate ceremony officiated by the late self-help author Wayne Dyer.
“The love we felt from the people surrounding us, and the love we have for each other, made this the most beautiful and emotional day,” de Rossi told People at the time. “And one that we’ll never forget.”
Although they had seen each other at various social functions over the years, DeGeneres and de Rossi’s love story really began at a photo shoot in 2004. Later that night, they ran into each other at an awards show and got to talking. Their connection was instantaneous.
“She took my breath away,” de Rossi said in a 2005 interview with The Advocate. “That had never happened to me in my life, where I saw somebody and [experienced] all of those things you hear about in songs and read about in poetry. My knees were weak. It was amazing.”
In an honor of their 10th wedding anniversary, we’ve compiled some of the couple’s best quotes about love and relationships over the years.
1. “Portia and I constantly say to each other, ‘We are so lucky.’ Sometimes it’s lying in bed at night before I go to sleep, and I just say thank you to whatever, whoever is out there. I’ve gotten to a place where I really am just settled. Really. I know that I’m not going anywhere. She’s not going anywhere. I’m not saying the relationship took a while; I’m saying in my life, it took a while to find this,” DeGeneres told People in 2016.
2. “We’re just really good friends and we talk about everything, and we never ever, ever lie to each other, like, not even the tiniest lies. And she’s the only person I want to hang out with. She is my best friend and I just want to be with her all the time,” de Rossi told “Entertainment Tonight” in 2016.
3. “Portia understands me completely. In our vows, she recited a quote — ‘It is good to be loved. It is profound to be understood’ — and to me, that’s everything. What ‘I love you’ really means is ‘I understand you,’ and she loves me for everything that I am. She supports me and makes me happy,” DeGeneres told Good Housekeeping in 2017.
4. “I have changed so much as a person since I met Ellen. I used to think the way to be strong was to be tough, I used to think that to be independent was to not need anyone. But she’s taught me that the more vulnerable you are and the softer you are and the more you allow people into your life and into your heart, the happier you are and the more valuable you are to other people. Ellen has completely changed the way I look at life. She has made me not worry about what other people think. I’m still working on that, I have to be honest. She has taught me that who I am is perfectly good enough. And that I don’t have to pretend to be anything other than who I am, and that’s been the most incredible gift that she’s given me, that anyone could give to anybody that they love,” de Rossi said in a video that aired on “Ellen” in 2010.
5. “Being her wife is the greatest thing I am,” DeGeneres wrote on Instagram in 2017.
6. “My feelings for her overrode all of my fear about being out as a lesbian. I had to be with her, and I just figured I’d deal with the other stuff later. It’s hard having a relationship that’s public. It’s hard living a life that’s somewhat public, and hard when you put that life together with someone who is so famous and so loved and admired. It’s also real exciting,” de Rossi told The Advocate in 2005.
7. “It’s the first time that I’ve known in every cell of my being that I’m with somebody for the rest of my life,” DeGeneres told People in 2005.
8. “I just walked over to say hello to her, and I couldn’t believe it, but she turned around and it was like an arrow was shot through my heart. I felt weak at the knees and I was overwhelmed with how I felt, but then it took me about 10 months to get the courage up to actually do anything about it,” de Rossi told Oprah in 2009.
9. “I’m grateful for everything. I’m grateful for my health, and I’m so grateful for the love in my life. Because not everybody finds that. Not everybody finds that best friend,” DeGeneres told People in 2016.
10. “Anybody who’s married knows that there is a difference. It feels like you’re home. There’s an anchor, there’s a safety. I’m going to be with her till the day I die and I know that,” DeGeneres told Oprah in 2009.
11. “The truth is, and this is corny, I fall more in love with Portia all the time. I really do. She surprises me all the time. It’s what anyone experiences when you find that person that gets you, wants to take care of you, wants the best for you. We’re really lucky because we know how rare it is,” DeGeneres told People in 2014.
