I waited 19 months until my wedding day for my first kiss with my husband - this is what it's really like to save yourself for marriage
Rebekah Hurford, 32, and Kirk Peter, 33, got married in September last year
A besotted married couple have revealed they waited 19 months for their first kiss - saving the big smooch for their wedding day.
Rebekah Hurford, 32, and her partner, Kirk Peter, 33, decided to wait until they tied the knot before being intimate in any way - including locking lips.
Before walking down the aisle, the closest physical interactions they'd ever had were a peck on the cheek or a brief hug.
Both Rebekah and Kirk had been in long-term intimate relationships before but decided there was something special about each other that made them want to try abstinence.
The long-awaited moment came in September last year when they snuck off to the bathroom after their wedding reception for a 'great but awkward' first kiss.
Rebekah, a marketing communications director and Kirk, a video producer, say they hope waiting has strengthened their relationship.
'It's kind of funny,' Rebekah said, 'Our reception was kind of in this old Gilded Age mansion on the Upper West Side, so we snuck into the bathroom and made out during our reception.
'It was great. It was as good as expected. A little awkward, but we figured it out.'
'He started hitting me up and was flirting in my DMs [direct messages],' Rebekah said. 'I wasn't interested at all. He wasn't my type. I was very picky.'
After their first date, Kirk brought a list of 30 thoughtful questions to ask her on the second one.
'I thought this is special,' she said. 'This is different.'
By June 2023, the pair were officially dating, but they made the crucial decision to wait until marriage to have sex or even kiss.
Rebekah said: 'Not having sex until marriage is a value I hold. Sleeping with people and doing other things – it didn't work out.
'When I went outside these boundaries it created an internal conflict.'
The couple agreed on strict boundaries which included not sleeping over or staying in the same room during trips.
Rebekah said the reason for waiting was to 'honour' each other and create a 'deeper connection.'
The New York native said: 'It's definitely not an easy thing, I had been a bit skeptical about it. It's been a really beautiful relationship.'
Kirk said: 'I told Rebekah really early on that I want this to work out so I want to honour her in the way we do this relationship. I don't want her to think I'm just after her for her body.
'In past relationships it was really easy to not think about that boundary and whether it had any significance at all. I told her 'I don't even want to kiss you before we get married.'
'This is the shortest part of our relationship. What is this time next to forever?'
Despite holding out, the couple had no concerns.
'We're very attracted to each other,' Rebekah confessed. 'It's hard to not move forward.'
Kirk said: 'I just think of it as another level of us climbing the intimacy ladder. Hard things are worth it.'
The couple revealed they are both very attracted to each other and found it difficult sometimes to abide by their own rules but hope it will strengthen their relationship in the long-term
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They had a pop-up wedding in Central Park, and then Kirk moved to New York from Connecticut.
'He proposed in front of the apartment building that we now live in,' Rebekah revealed.
While the Peters are looking forward to the future, they are currently focused on health.
Rebekah revealed they are focused on growing their family and making sure they're fit and healthy.
She said: 'We want kids at some point. Right now, I am dealing with Lyme disease, so we're just kind of focusing on me getting better.
'He's doing a great job taking care of me and helping out with all the things. He's very, very sweet.'
While Kirk and Rebekah's approach to intimacy may seem unconventional, some experts have suggested it may be the key to a lasting relationship.
Sex expert Louise Perry suggested last year that women should wait until they are engaged before getting tangled up in the sheets.
During an episode of The Diary Of A CEO podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett, Louise shared that having sex before your man got down on one knee was a 'big risk.'
She explained that dating was a 'whole game' and that women often felt 'disgusting' after one-night stands, adding that they should change their communication styles around sex.
She explained that if women waited to have sex until they were engaged, they would be less likely to get caught up in emotions.
'A lot of young women go along with [casual sex] even if they don't want it. That causes a lot of misery because women in particular tend to get more emotionally bonded from sex more than men do,' she added.
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