Lydia Plath and Zac Wyse Mark 1 Year Together, Say Challenges ‘Brought Us Closer’ (Exclusive)

Lydia Plath Wyse and Zac Wyse are celebrating their one-year anniversary!

Last month, the newlyweds marked a year since they first met and six months since their wedding. As they reflect on their whirlwind relationship, which was controversial to some, they tell PEOPLE they wouldn’t change a thing.

“Definitely no regrets,” Zac says. “I think the timeline worked for what we needed, but also it was just as unexpected for us. A lot of people think, ‘Oh, they’re rushing into it just to get all these things and whatever.’ And it’s like, no, this is just as much of a shock for us as it was anyone else. But we definitely felt like we connected very quickly, and we knew based on our beliefs and what we did together — hiking and activities and spontaneous fun — that we were just meant to be together, really.”

Lydia, who gushes that Zac “gets me more than I get myself,” adds, “It’s one of those things that it’s hard to describe. It’s like, I don’t know, you hear the saying, ‘When you know, you know.’ And I didn’t know if that was real, and I didn’t understand what it meant until I met Zac.”

The couple’s decision to save their first kiss for their wedding day was another aspect of their relationship that turned heads, but both maintain that they are happy they waited.

“That was something,” Zac admits. “That was awesome. It was hard, but it was worth it. And now, we have rest for our lives.”

He also reveals that they went to pre-marital counseling and felt prepared to become husband and wife, despite only knowing each other for six months when they got married.

“I think the biggest advice that I received that has just really helped is no matter what you’re facing, you’re a team, and you’re being attacked from the outside,” Lydia shares. “So just remember that even when there’s tension between us, that we still desire the [best] for the other.”

One of the challenges they faced was pushback from Lydia’s family — particularly, from her brothers Ethan and Isaac — which was documented on season 7 of Welcome to Plathville. Among their concerns was the accelerated timeline and speculation from Ethan that Zac was gay.

“It was definitely a shock to see some of their reactions, knowing I’m really trying to get to know them,” Zac says.

“I’m giving them opportunities to step in and ask the right questions to really know me as a person. But just based off of their initial judgment that led to Ethan asking if I was gay, at the proposal too, was kind of a shock,” he continues. “I’m like, ‘I think there’s plenty of action here that proves that I’m not, so that’s kind of ironic.’ I think that initial judgment has definitely tapered off over time, and they have really started to get to know me.”

Still, while Lydia acknowledges that it hasn’t all “been rainbows and butterflies,” she says marriage “has been just way more beautiful and filled just with joy and peace and love than I expected.”

“Every challenge has just brought us closer together, as it should,” she continues as Zac notes, “We knew that in marriage, there’s going to be hard times, and it’s just a matter of going through them together.”

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The season 7 finale of Welcome to Plathville airs on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.