Ted and Vicki Kennedy have blended their lives and their families into a successful marriage.

Ted and Vicki's families were friends for many years. Ted doesn't remember their first meeting when Vicki was a summer intern in his Senate office's mailroom. Vicki and Ted began dating after they reconnected on June 17, 1991 at a party celebrating her parents' 40th wedding anniversary.

Ted proposed at a performance of "La Boheme" on January 14, 1992 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Laura Blumenfeld on their courtship: "Kennedy sent Reggie hundreds of rose bouquets and spring flowers. He calls her constantly and sends love notes. He takes her sailing. Treats her to dinners and shows at the Kennedy Center. Includes her friends and respects her opinions. He plays tennis with her son, Curran, and colors on the floor with Caroline. He reads them to sleep. Took them trick or treating on Halloween."

"Kennedy has been quietly a-courtin' Reggie since June with flowers, twice-daily phone calls, dates to the theater and Redskins games and, last summer, sailing vacations in the waters off Hyannis Port. His present to her for Christmas: a personal trainer. The first public viewing of the relationship came last month, at the Massachusetts Senator's 60th birthday party at his home in McLean, Va. A bit of the famous Kennedy rakishness was on display as well; he was dressed as Rhett Butler, she as Scarlett O'Hara. "They radiated happiness," says Washington attorney Lee Fentress, an old Kennedy friend. "He's in great shape, working very hard and very much in love."

Ted announcing their engagement: "I've known her for many years. We began dating last June, and she has brought enormous happiness into my life. I look forward to our marriage and our life together."

Ted and Vicki were married on July 3, 1992 in a private civil ceremony in Ted's home in McLean, Virginia. They had about 30 relatives at the wedding. Vicki and Ted had a brief honeymoon in Vermont.

Vicki about Ted's wedding gift to her: "As a wedding present, Kennedy painted her a portrait of daffodils - an oil painting he said that took about four hours to complete. "We were reading the William Wordsworth poem "Daffodils' and the last two lines are: "And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils,' and it was so wonderful and romantic and Ted said that he wanted to paint me a picture of daffodils and he did."

Ted about Vicki: "In politics, as in life and love, a lot depends on being in the right place at the right time ... That's certainly what's happened to me."