It couldn’t have been more romantic — the sun setting over the Rocky Mountains, the dusting of snow on the ground, the gorgeous bride and handsome groom saying “I do” in a Christmas-themed ceremony before 80 of their closest friends and family. But, according to Katherine Heigl, the timing of her Dec. 23 wedding to musician Josh Kelley was initially a matter of necessity.

“I don’t think either one of us was thinking a Christmas wedding,” the Grey’s Anatomy star explains in an exclusive interview in the new issue of OK!.” Originally it was because I only get two weeks a year for my Christmas vacation… but then we really got excited about it.”

So excited, in fact, that they chose to have their entire ceremony tied to the holiday. “We wanted to do it in a place that felt like a winter wonderland,” Katherine tells OK! about their choice of Deer Valley in Utah, where Josh had vacationed with his family in his younger years. “We incorporated lots of big evergreens in the reception with twinkle lights and Christmas decorations.”

The holiday theme also followed through in the food, where each guest received a basket of Christmas cookies, and traditional yuletide fare like goose and butternut squash soup was served at the reception.

So, now that they’ve said their vows, do they feel different? “We’re elated!” Katherine tells OK!, before admitting that there will be some period of adjustment. “We have never lived together,” she confesses, with Josh adding, “we don’t even sleep in the same bed when family is around!”

However, instead of being nervous, Katherine sees this huge step as a sign of good things to come. “This new house means now we are in this together,” the actress explains to OK!. “It means compromise on style, taste and how each one of us lives, how we don’t like to live and how we’re going to work it all out. It’s going to be an amazing place to start our lives together and start a family.”

Speaking of starting a family, any kids on the way? “I’d like to start talking children seriously in the next year,” the 29-year-old beauty reveals to OK!, “but Josh feels more like two years, so we’ll probably do a year and a half.” And while Katherine tells OK! she’d like to have a big family — five or six children — Josh, 27, who was raised as one of six kids, says, “My view is, let’s take it one day and one child at a time!”

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