“I hate pink because I’m a redhead,” says Kimberly Hodges, 30, the middle sister of the Truehart family. “But of course that’s Jenny’s favorite color.”
Having three weddings, in one family and within a nine-month timespan requires some concessions. But if dress choice is the only point of contention, this family’s in good shape.
“She did it for me,” says Kimberly’s younger sister, Jennifer. “She wanted long dresses for her wedding, which I don’t like because I’m short, so we both did things for each other to make each other happy.”
We couldn’t make this up. The three sisters — the Trueharts, no less — have always been close in age and in other ways, but they never predicted they’d all marry their soulmates within nine months of each other.
Jennifer got married in July, Kimberly in October, and Shelley will marry her fiance next month. “I guess we all just found the one at the same time,” says eldest daughter Shelley Truehart, 32, who adds that she’ll be keeping her lovable last name.
The first — though not by much — to get engaged was Jenny, the youngest daughter, who is now 28. Two years ago in May, during her sister Kimberly’s house-warming party, Jenny surprised the whole family when she announced she was going to marry the boy who lived next-door to their childhood home, Brian Ford. Unbeknownst to Jenny, Kimberly says, that same day her now-husband, Steve Hodges, was planning to ask for her father’s blessing to propose to Kimberly on July 4. As mother of the brides Darcy Truehart began preparations for her daughters’ weddings, Shelley’s boyfriend, Corey Paquette of Agawam, also popped the question.
“We always kind of wanted to get married around the same time, but we never could have planned it that way,” says Kimberly. “Even the guys didn’t really tell each other — it all kind of fell into place that way.”
The Truehart women say the family is known for throwing a good party, so when the wedding announcements flooded in, Darcy — the party planner of the family — got to work.
“She’s the most amazing party planner you’ve ever met in your life,” Shelley says of her mother. “At a Truehart party, we really kill it.”
Darcy says her daughters are all very different, so naturally, she planned starkly different weddings. Jennifer loves gardening and bright colors, so for her Darcy threw a summer wedding in their scenic backyard in Southampton. For Kimberly, who prefers fall and darker colors, the family held an October wedding at a country club, with a lot of purple. Shelley loves the beach, so for the third and final wedding Darcy planned a destination wedding in Florida.
The Trueharts, who own Truehart Paving and Construction, are well-known Valley businesspeople. The three Truehart sisters’ cousins are also TV personalities — Crystal Truehart, of Southampton, made a name for herself as a high-fashion model, and her younger sister, Rachel, drew an audience in recent years on the romantic reality TV series The Bachelor and on Bachelor Pad. Darcy and her daughters were also heavily involved in Crystal’s wedding last fall, and Darcy looks forward to helping with Rachel’s when the time comes. “There are really five Truehart daughters,” she says.
The price tag, Darcy says, was “very reasonable” for each of the weddings.
“People don’t know how we did it,” she laughs. “We set a budget and anything extra they paid for. They’re mature — they have careers.”
Darcy says her husband, Paul, didn’t really get excited about the weddings until the first one came around.
“I don’t think he realized just how wonderful it was until he walked them down the aisle,” she says.
Darcy says Paul now has three sons, and he has put them to work. Corey, Shelley’s fiance, works at Truehart Paving and Construction, and Jennifer’s husband, Brian, is a manager at another of their companies, Queenbee Car Wash and Detailing Center. The car wash, Darcy says, was named after the girls.
“We call them the Queen Bees,” says Darcy. “Queen Bee One, Two, and Three.”
It’s been a very busy year for the Truehart family. Darcy says the wedding planning has taken up a portion of every day since her daughters got engaged.
“It’s really funny — I think my mom is going to be really bored when this is all over,” says Shelley. “We’re going to have to have kids pretty quick.”•
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@valleyadvocate.com.
