Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar Relationship Timeline

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. are celebrating 22 years of marriage.

The couple marked their anniversary with a joint Instagram post featuring a candid photo of Prinze with his arms around Gellar’s waist and the simple caption, “22.”

The former “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star shared the same photo in her Instagram story with the caption, “Mr. & Mrs.”

Gellar, 47, and Prinze, 48, met while filming “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” which was released in 1997, but it wasn’t until three years later that their romance bloomed. They also famously portrayed Daphne and Fred in the 2002 movie “Scooby Doo” and the film’s 2004 sequel.

The pair has opened up about what makes their long-term marriage work.

“I think the truth of any relationship is that, whether you’re a couple, whether you’re friends, whether you’re business partners, is you have to put the work into a relationship,” Gellar told Us Weekly in 2019. “We live in a very disposable society and people don’t want to have to work. They want immediate reactions, they want immediate responses. It takes work.”

Keep reading to learn more about the love story of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. 

Their first date happened by accident

Gellar and Prinze had their first date by chance in early 2000.

As Gellar explained in a 2020 Instagram post, she and Prinze had plans to get dinner with a mutual friend.

When their friend missed her flight, Gellar and Prinze “decided to still meet and catch up,” she wrote.

After decades together, Gellar continued in her post, she and Prinze “still go to that restaurant for dinner. So thank you @sloaney77 for not showing up for dinner.”

In the three years leading up to this impromptu first date, the pair had already become close friends after meeting on the set of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

Gellar didn’t have her driver’s license while shooting the movie, and Prinze would drive her one hour to the nearest gym in Wilmington, North Carolina, he told Us Weekly in 2020.

“I started driving her, and that’s when her and I became friends,” he said. “And we just would talk about life and stuff like that, and we had completely different philosophies on just about everything. ‘Cause she was a born and raised New Yorker and I was a born and raised L.A. kid, and we just looked at everything like night and day.”

Prinze said he knew he was going to propose

At first, Prinze and Gellar weren’t “into marriage” and “didn’t believe in it,” as he told “People Now” in 2020. 

However, that changed as their relationship progressed.

“One day, I just knew we were going to get married, and I knew I was going to propose,” he said. “I didn’t know when or how. And so I did, and fortunately, she was on the same page. My instincts were correct.”

“I think for the first time, it just felt different,” Gellar said in the same “People Now” interview. “Maybe, it was the right time for both of us in our lives.”

While the couple have not shared the details of their proposal, their rep confirmed their engagement to ABC News in April 2001. 

They married in 2002

The couple tied the knot in September 2002 at an “undisclosed location” in Mexico in a ceremony for family and friends, Entertainment Weekly reported at the time.

Gellar wore a Vera Wang gown, and Prinze wore a custom linen suit for their special day, according to EW. 

Gellar shared a throwback photo from their wedding day in honor of their 13th anniversary in 2015, showing her sporting a ruffled, strapless gown. 

“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you,” she wrote in the caption. “I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me.”

They welcomed their 1st child, Charlotte, in 2009

The couple welcomed their daughter, Charlotte Grace Prinze, on Sept. 19, 2009. 

Gellar shared a throwback Instagram photo of Charlotte as an infant in a post for her daughter’s 10th birthday. 

“Ten years ago today, Charlotte Grace Prinze entered this world, and my heart. I thought I had experienced a lot of amazing highs in my life, but nothing prepared me for this,” she wrote in the caption. “They say a mom gives the gift of life, but life gave me the gift of you Charli.”

Prinze and Gellar have kept their children mostly out of the public eye, although Charlotte did make an appearance with her mom at a movie screening in 2022.

Charlotte posed for photos with her mom at the screening of Gellar’s dark teen comedy, “Do Revenge.”

Gellar opened up about preparing to be the mom of a teenager in a 2022 interview with TODAY Parents.

“I know firsthand how hard it is to be a girl in middle school,” Gellar said. “And I didn’t have social media to contend with. I think it’s about being a good listener, because no one wants advice from their parents.”

Fast-forward another few years, and Charlotte marked her first day of high school on Aug. 27, 2024, her proud mom revealed on Instagram. 

Gellar and Prinze welcomed their son, Rocky, in 2012

The couple’s son, Rocky James Prinze, was born on Sept. 20, 2012. 

Gellar noted in a 2018 Facebook post that Rocky was born “three years, one day and one hour” after they welcomed Charlotte. 

“I didn’t know it was possible, but my heart doubled in size that instant,” Gellar wrote. “I know I’m not perfect, but when I look at my children, I know I got something perfectly right.”

She also honored her son — and shared some details about his delivery — in a birthday Instagram post for him in 2023.

“Rocky… from the moment you came racing into our life (we may still hold the record for fastest delivery at St John’s) you have made everything better and funnier,” she wrote. “Your laugh is infectious, your jokes are the best and your spirit is … EVERYTHING. You make every day brighter. Happy Birthday Rocky. Yes Siiiiiiiiirrrrrrr.”

As Gellar revealed in a recent Instagram video, Rocky had his first day of middle school on Aug. 27.

“Parents …. Who gets me today?!? But also…. How do I have a high schooler and a middle schooler?!?” she wrote on Instagram. 

They have opened up about what makes their marriage work

Prinze and Gellar always speak glowingly about each other in interviews and on social media. 

Gellar celebrated her husband’s support of women in an Instagram post for his 46th birthday in 2022.

“Today is @realfreddieprinze birthday. Normally this is where I would make a joke. But it’s also #internationalwomensday and it completely makes sense that you share that day, as there is no man that is a bigger champion and friend to women than you,” she wrote in the caption. “I couldn’t think of someone better to raise a daughter with or to teach a son, what it truly means to be a good man.”

She and Prinze also opened up about how they manage everyday life as a couple in a harmonious way.

“The generic version would be I cook, she cleans, but that’s not always the case. If she doesn’t get up when dinner’s done and grab the dishes, we’ve been together long enough that I’ll be like, ‘Ah, she’s tired, I’ll grab them,’” he told “People Now.” “And vice versa … I got asked a question about this yesterday, like, ‘Who does more?’ And I was like, ‘This ain’t a competition. … This is a marriage.’”

Prinze also reflected on his bond with Gellar in their 2020 “People Now” interview.

“We’re together because we like each other and make each other laugh,” he said. “When we get old and even grayer than I already am, one day I see us being on an island somewhere and being tan and fat and happy.”