Mary Cosby is taking a walk down memory lane ahead of her 26th wedding anniversary.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, 51, who is celebrating her anniversary with husband Robert Cosby Sr. on Sept. 28, is sharing some of her favorite moments from the couple’s special day.
“My favorite memory was the restaurant that we went to,” Cosby tells PEOPLE. “We got married at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago. And we went to this restaurant called The Pump Room and it had these big tall chairs, and this lady was playing the piano and singing Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time.’ And I mean, it just resonated with me.”
“It was so good, and I’ll never forget that moment. I’ll never forget that day,” Cosby continued. “I felt like I did the Lord’s will. I felt like I was in his divine will. And there’s no feeling like that. Money can’t even buy that. And that’s the memory I have doing that when we got married.”
During the first season of the Bravo show, Cosby revealed that her marriage was “arranged” and explained the history of her relationship with Robert Sr. — who was also her late grandmother’s second husband.
Mary Cosby and Robert Cosby Sr. on ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’.
Bravo
“I always say, ‘I have beauty in all my mess.’ The reality is, I’m married to grandmother’s second husband, which was my step-grandfather,” she said during a confessional.
Mary went on to explain that when her grandmother died, her inheritance was dependent on her agreement to marry Robert Sr.
“Before she passed, she made it very clear that she wanted me to be the one to take her place in the church and inherit everything,” said Cosby, who is Pentecostal. “That came with homes, money, our church and also marrying her husband.”
“Don’t think it wasn’t weird, because it was!” she added
The pair are now parents to son Robert Jr. who is in his 20s and sometimes makes an appearance on the reality series.
Noting the longevity of their relationship and the circumstances surrounding their marriage, Cosby adds, “If I can keep a husband that long, especially a step-granddad, you know that’s off. I’m happy … Because he is my best friend. And I did it because I felt like my grandmother wanted it, and I just trusted her so much that I did it because I didn’t want to do it.”
“But I am thankful today that I did. I’m happy because I did, and I’m blessed because I did and everything that I have that’s beautiful in my life, including my son, it’s through my marriage,” she added.
As for what she appreciates about her other half, Cosy tells PEOPLE that she loves Robert Sr.’s work ethic and how he treats her.
“I love that Robert is a hard worker,” she said. “He’s not lazy. He’s a bishop and he lives to that. I love that he respects me, I respect him. He finds pleasure in buying me gifts, and he buys me the most beautiful things … I wouldn’t even lay my eyes on them had he not found it and gave it to me. I love that about him. And I love our friendship. We have a really authentic, good, healthy friendship. And it’s first, it’s before our relationship, it’s before our marriage.”
Cosby has previously shared how her relationship with Robert Sr. developed, with their union initially starting as a friendship before things turned romantic.
“The wedding night, everything was weird,” she recalled during the first season of RHOSLC, also admitting that the couple did not have sex on their wedding night. “Thank goodness I was on my period,” she added.
“After we married, I had to get to know him,” she continued. “I really felt like, ‘Wow, my grandmother really nailed it. If I had to pick a guy, this is what I’d pick.’ “
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.