Jennifer Aydin's Husband Dr. Bill Aydin Never Actually Proposed to Her

Jennifer Aydin's husband, Dr. Bill Aydin, didn't exactly ask her to be his wife when they first met in 2001 — he told her.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey mom recounted her love story in a post on Instagram on September 23 while sharing throwback photos from her promise of engagement party at her house in Long Island, New York in 2002. "Instead of proposing with a ring, I was given a cross to signify the engagement," Jennifer said of the occasion.

But that's not the only part of her engagement that was a little different from what RHONJ fans might expect. "My husband never proposed to me! We met at my [brother-in-law James Aydin's] wedding in LA the Sunday before Labor Day 2001 and on our second date (after talking on the phone for 6 weeks) he simply said to me, 'You know you’re going to be my wife, right?'" Jennifer recalled in the post. "And I was so smitten I immediately said yes and the following week he was introducing me as his fiancée to everybody. And then we got married the exact same day, the Sunday before Labor Day, 2002!"

Jennifer is definitely a fan of the finer things in life, as we see on RHONJ, but back then she wasn't concerned about when she would get her engagement ring — all she cared about was Bill. "I actually didn’t get the ring until just a few months before my wedding day. But when people would ask 'Where’s your ring,' Bill would simply answer, 'My dad's a [jeweler], her dad's a jeweler, it’s not the most important thing — we are!'" she said. "True that, baby!"

And considering Jennifer and Bill have been married for 17 years now, it seems like they've been doing a lot of things right.

Jennifer and Bill invited fans into their 16th wedding anniversary party in Season 9 of RHONJ. Relive the big bash above and below.

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Photo: Jennifer Aydin/Instagram