Leslie Powell Reacts to Her Wedding Going Viral Online (Exclusive)

Leslie Powell and Thomas Gillespie’s love story played out like a real-life romantic comedy. 

The singer and sister of Glen Powell, 30, tied the knot with her husband in March 2025, which quickly went viral online for its star-studded guest list and wholesome moments shared between her family behind the scenes. 

However, before joining together as life partners, Powell and Gillespie’s relationship started like many modern-day romances: they met on a dating app. 

In partnership with Bumble’s new global campaign, For the Love of Love, which highlights real-life couples who met on the app, Powell and Gillespie open up exclusively to PEOPLE about the early stages of their relationship. 

Powell explains that while living in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, it became harder to meet people, as many weren’t “going out much,” so she eventually turned to online dating.  

“The only way to meet people was a dating app, and thank goodness for that. Our worlds revolve around the people we work with, so we would have never met each other had it not been for Bumble!” she explains of her and Gillespie’s connection. 

She adds that she was specifically drawn to Bumble because the profiles really help you get a “glimpse into who the person is,” including “what they care about” and “if they value family.” And coming from a tight-knit family herself, the latter was certainly important. 

Plus, with Bumble, she adds, “women can take the lead and make the first move,” which is exactly what she did. 

Gillespie explains that after seeing his golfing pictures on his profile, Powell decided to lead with that in her reachout, which instantly piqued his interest. 

“She saw my golfing picture and went straight for it,” he explains. “She said that she used to love golfing but hadn’t played in so long and that maybe I could teach her. I thought, ‘A girl who wants to golf!?’ — this is going to be fun!” 

For Powell, she was drawn to his sweet family photos. “Thomas had the sweetest picture of himself with his mom and grandma,” she recalls of his dating profile. “It was all smiles, and the caption was ‘my leading ladies.’ He was cute, and he cared about family. If in person he was anything like what his profile seemed to indicate, I knew the first date was going to be a good one.” 

After talking for about a week, Powell says they made plans to meet in person at the Conservatory on Santa Monica Boulevard in L.A., where they instantly hit it off. 

“It was still 2021 during Covid times, so when Thomas took his mask off, I knew I was in trouble – he was a looker!” Powell says. “As Thomas puts it, as soon as I took my mask off, he was like, ‘Uh oh.’” 

“She had the most amazing smile,” Gillespie adds. “It was so easy, and we both couldn’t stop talking and laughing. We shut down two places that night in what would end up being both of our best, longest and last first dates. We didn’t stop talking, and we laughed until our stomachs hurt. We couldn’t get enough of each other, and both hoped the night would never end. I don’t think either of us had ever left a first date feeling that excited.” 

It didn’t take them long to know that they’d both found “the one.” For Gillespie, it was about a month and a half into their relationship when Powell took him as her date to a wedding in Austin.

“She invited me to have dinner with her parents,” he recalls. “In the car on the way to the restaurant, her mom was telling me everything special about Leslie that she wouldn’t have told me herself. It was so sweet. Her dad told me golf stories and asked questions. They both truly wanted to get to know me. In that car ride, I just knew. Meeting her parents, I knew that the loving, caring and beautiful Leslie was as real as they come. I remember thinking to myself, wow, she really is one of the good ones. I knew it was going to be forever.” 

For Powell, it wasn’t just one moment but many that made her fall for Gillespie. “I had never met someone who was as genuine and kind as Thomas,” she says. “Every day was another thoughtful gesture, and each day with him got better and better. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.  I remember going to run an errand. As I was pulling out of the driveway, I thought to myself, ‘This is it. I found the person I’ve been looking for my entire life.’” 

Being super close with her parents and siblings, Powell notes that her family is “tough critics,” but even they could sense that things were different with Gillespie. 

“I would go on dates in Los Angeles and was never excited after any of them,” she recalls. “I couldn’t stop talking about Thomas from the moment I met him, and my family knew he was something special. They are tough critics because they obviously want someone incredible for their daughter, and they had absolutely no reservations about him. The more time they spent with him, the more they loved him.” 

Eventually, Powell and Gillespie decided to make their love official as they tied the knot on March 29, 2025. At the time, the wedding went viral online, from an endearing clip of Powell’s brother Glen tearing up at the first sight of her in her dress to the star-studded guest list, including Glen’s Anyone But You costar Sydney Sweeney. 

Reacting to the headlines her special day made, Powell notes, “Our wedding day was the most incredible day of our lives. To have all the people you love surrounding you while you marry the love of your life is surreal… and the fact that the world cared about it, was a cherry on top.” 

Now that they are officially husband and wife, the couple is looking forward to their next big milestone: celebrating the holidays as a married couple. 

“Holidays are a really special time of year. It is a chance to make our own traditions that will be memories for our family and kids forever,” Gillespie points out. “We are excited to create those special moments and build something that our kids can carry on forever. It is also such a sweet time because we get to do holidays together forever. We feel so lucky to have each other and are excited for all of the new adventures.” 

As her own family goes all out for Christmas, notably dressing up as Elf costumes in 2023, Powell adds that she’s excited to share this special moment with her loved ones. “The Powells love a party and a reason to celebrate,” she says. “I’m not sure how we will outdo running around NYC in Elf costumes, but between the gingerbread house competition we have between families and also having two newborn babies in the family, we are going to have a blast! We are excited to show them the magic of Christmas with the family!”