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Kim and Lee Hillson Wedding Date: Jan. 22, 2000
Photographed by Cassandra Tomei

For some, a glass of wine and some chocolates do the trick. However, for Lee Hillson,
executive chef of T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms Resort and Spa, the art of wooing started
with a cup of tea and a few slices of pizza. Lee and his wife, Kim’s, love story began
when they met more than 10 years ago at a charity culinary festival in Newport, R.I.,
where they resided at the time. “I was representing my hotel and she was representing
her hotel,” Lee says, noting that Kim was a concierge. After drinks with friends, the two
ended up at Lee’s house flipping through his brother’s wedding photos over tea and
‘za. Little did he know at the time, Lee would be the groom less than two years later
and Kim, the woman who he describes as having the “most beautiful smile and eyes,”
would be his bride.

The couple became engaged when Kim least expected it: Upon flying to Kim’s high
school reunion in Arizona, Lee walked up to the front of the airplane and proposed
to his beloved over the loudspeaker. Then, in January 2000, Lee and Kim officially
became the Hillsons in an intimate Vegas wedding. After nearly a decade of marriage,
Lee has learned that the key to a happy marriage is really quite simple: “Never forget
why you were together in the first place.” —M.L.