'How I Met Your Mother' star Alyson Hannigan reveals that she followed her mother's advice and decided not to rush into a marriage. Despite being married to actor Alexis Denisof in October 2003, she revealed that they waited until being in a relationship for four years to get married, after first meeting on the set of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'.

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Hannigan was raised by a single mother, Emilie Posner, after her husband Al Hannigan (Alyson's father), walked out on the family. This led to Posner teaching her daughter not to leap into a marriage with a man she didn't truly like. The 38-year-old Hannigan spoke to 'The Sun', saying: ''My mom, Emilie, always taught me to think hard about marriage. Her own, to my father, ended when I was two. So she said, 'Take your time.' I met Alex, who played Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the series ('Buffy'), and it was flirtation at first sight!"

She continued to explain: ''I was trying to pursue him, but he said he didn't want to date somebody he was working with. But we developed a great friendship ... When my new relationship ran its course, the whole thing suddenly changed and Alex and I started to really care about each other. So it was two years before we started seeing each other and that was back in 1999. I took my mom's advice and thought really hard about the whole thing - and didn't marry until I was nearly 30.''

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Hannigan and Denisof have a three-year-old daughter, Satyana, and are expecting a second child in June. The couple keep a low profile off-screen, with Hannigan explaining: ''There is a lot of debate about whether an actor and actress should get together. If it's very high profile, they can be followed by photographers around the world ... With Alex and myself we like to keep a low profile away from our work. I like coming home to an actor husband. He understands what I am talking about and he's always supportive.''