James Van Der Beek: "We Looked At This Wedding As A Sacred Union Of Our Souls"

Dawson got hitched!

James Van Der Beek wed Kimberly Brook at the Kabbalah Centre in Tel Aviv, Israel, on August 1. “We looked at this wedding as a sacred union of our souls,” James tells Life & Style. “For us, there was tremendous freedom in not having to worry about the food getting cold or the DJ playing ‘YMCA’ again!”

Getting married in Israel was important to the couple since they met there a year ago, after James had separated from his wife of six years, Heather Ann McComb. “I first noticed Kimberly in Jaffa,” says the Dawson's Creek alum, who was studying kabbalah in that ancient city. “I was telling my friend and teacher Shalom [who was at the wedding] that after everything I’d been through, I finally felt ready for a relationship — someone I could grow old with, change with…a soul mate. I was in midsentence when, from behind us, a female voice interrupted. At first I was annoyed — who had the nerve to butt in on such an important revelation? Then I turned around and saw her.”

The happy couple are expecting their first child - a girl! - in the fall.