Krishtian and James Buescher's Love Story Has a Fairy Tale Ending

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. James and Krishtian Buescher
Credit: Jose Villa and JamesBuescher.com

The season was over, finishing third after competing for the championship and James Buescher had his sights set on a bigger prize. Buescher married his longtime love Krishtian (Kris) in what is nothing short of a Hollywood style fairytale wedding. 

James and Kris opted for a destination wedding. As she told me in our last interview, they chose to wed in warm and sunny Costa Rica, surrounded by 80+ family and friends. 

I chatted with Kris as she and James drove the almost 17-hour-long trek from their home in Texas to Daytona to prepare for the race. Little did they know what would await them in the end. 

After a whirlwind wedding experience kicked off by an appearance on the TV show "Say Yes to the Dress," the whole planning process had been easy for the new Mrs. Buescher. Remaining calm, cool and very collected, she was no Bridezilla as she might have been given the size of her wedding. 

"It was absolutely amazing!" Buescher said of her wedding and the whole experience. "Both of us were really laid-back the entire time, even the wedding day, and it rained! As I was taking my bridal portraits it started raining, then it had stopped but as I started walking down the aisle it started raining. James was like 'Oh my god she is going to be so upset' but I was really excited because it is supposed to be good luck for it to rain on your wedding day. I was smiling really big." 

"Our wedding planner was so amazing, there was no problems and it could not have been any more amazing," Buescher said. "There was no stress for me at all. I was even sleeping in the car as we waited out the rain before the ceremony. My dad had to wake me up to go down the aisle." Talk about being chill - I do not think many brides would be sleeping moments before they walk down the aisle, but Kris was at ease. 

First she said yes, then they said I do! 

The dress 

That moment came of heading down the aisle, we had all seen Kris' dress on TV but James had not seen it (as tradition dictates). Of course I wanted to know his reaction!

"He had tears in his eyes and when I saw him, I started to tear up. So as I saw him I looked up at the sky and started giggling (so that I could not cry) and it make him laugh. He didn't cry like I wanted him too but he was pretty shocked when he saw me. My dress wasn't something he expected, he was really happy with it." 

Upon returning home from their honeymoon, James and Kris together watched the episode of "Say Yes to the Dress." 

After seeing the episode, James had empathy for Kris and her experience. He said to her 'Oh my God, I cannot believe that! You had to be so stressed out!' It was eye-opening for him to see the trials and tribulations that Kris went through just to choose a dress. (Men have it so easy!) 

The cake(s)

Next to the dress, the cake is a big deal and for Kris, hers almost didn't make it. She learned after the fact that her cake almost crashed onto the floor!

"Our wedding cake almost got knocked over at the reception. Thank goodness I was so wrapped up in the moment that I did not realize and no one told me until we got home from the honeymoon. Had I known the wedding cake almost fell over, I probably would have had a heart attack!" 

Not to be outdone, Kris expanded on the tradition of a groom's cake. With James being a racecar driver, of course, it would only be fitting to have a race-themed groom's cake, but Kris did not stop there.

Kris counts this as her favorite wedding picture.

"They sculpted his whole race truck, down to the details on the decals and everything. Then they had him in his firesuit and me in my dress, which looked exactly like the one I had on. As my wedding planner pushed the cake out she had race car sounds on and I had gotten a clip from XM radio when the one race where he had taken the lead. So as the cake comes out, it was playing and says 'And James Buescher takes the lead,' it was really cool! He was really surprised by that."

The first dance

The first dance, the moment all eyes focus on you, but the only eyes you see are the eyes of your new spouse. 

The song? Nick Lachey's This I Swear. 

And onto the race season we go...

The wedding has now passed and Mr. and Mrs. Buescher have their sights set on one thing - RACING! 

"We are ready for the racing season. James is so pumped about his new teammates this year (Miguel Paludo and Nelson Piquet Jr.) that I think we have a lot to look forward to. They did a lot of testing in the offseason and he thinks they have a lot to work with, way more then they have had before. I think that is a good sign, considering he thinks that and they were running for the championship last year," a confident Kris said. 

Did that really happen?

Victory lane at Daytona sealed with a kiss.
Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

James occasionally runs double duty for Turner Motorsports and to start off the year, did the Daytona double dip. The Turner trucks were incredibly strong in the NCWTS, but fell victim to the madness. James finished in 17th which was not indicative of his strong run. 

Take 2 - Saturday's Nationwide race. Mayhem ensued towards the end of the race, Buescher had played it smart, drove cleanly the entire race and had himself in position when it counted. As the leaders crashed, Buescher capitalized for the win! James Buescher became a first time-winner in NASCAR, though not in the Truck Series as everyone expected!

Celebrating alongside of him in victory lane was his new wife Kris.

*Update - 2012 has been the year of the Bueschers, James won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship with Kris by his side. 

Amanda Ebersole brings the readers of Skirts and Scuffs interviews and insight into the people who make NASCAR the sport we all love. Besides interviews, Amanda also writes her weekly columns In the Rearview Mirror and NASCAR By the Numbers. Catch up on all Amanda's writing by clicking here. Feel free to contact Amanda via Twitter or e-mail.