Former Bachelor star Nick Viall and fiancée Natalie Joy have been engaged for barely a month now, but they’re already starting to plan their wedding. Nick admitted they’re in the very early stages of planning. “We recently had a lot of talks about it,” he recently told E! News. “Which was more than I’ve ever done. Last night, we just started talking about how we should start making a list.”
Nick was previously engaged to Vanessa Grimaldi, his pick from The Bachelor. The couple broke up after only five months.
Fortunately, Nick and Natalie have a lot of help with wedding ideas. “We are starting to get like a lot of advice from friends who have either recently gotten married or are planning a wedding right now,” he said. “So in that sense, we started very, very early.”
He continued, “We’re definitely anxious to get married. We definitely didn’t get engaged to have a long engagement, so it’s been great. It’s exciting,” Nick added. Plus he’s 42 years old. Time’s a wastin’.
After two turns as a contestant on The Bachelorette (Season 18 with Andi Dorfman and Season 19 with Kaitlyn Bristowe), where he was runner-up on both seasons, and one season of Bachelor In Paradise (Season 3), Nick is a runner-up no more. And with so many close friends who’ve had weddings recently, Nick and Natalie have a lot of experience to draw from.
“Everyone tells us, ‘You got to find the venue.’ For me, it’s an excitement level, but I’ve been told that if you can find that, it gets a lot easier,” he explained. “But that’s the big hurdle. So now I’m excited to figure that out. It is intimidating.”
The wedding venue is being kept local to accomodate some elderly family members. So, don’t expect an exotic “destination wedding” for this couple. The priority is just to have lots of close friends and family around to celebrate their big day.
“I don’t know if our goal is to have the biggest wedding of all time,” said the former software sales executive. “It’s important to involve people who know our relationship and know us. So I think that would be kind of the driving force.”
Natalie added, “Also convenience. We want it to be super easy. I have a lot of older, sick family members that I want to come and I don’t want anyone having to fly to Mexico. I want it to be easy for everyone.” Awwwwww.
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The couple is in the process of putting together their absolute must-invite guestlist. So which Bachelor Nation members will make the cut?
“Jared [Haibon] and Ashley [laconetti] for sure,” the Dancing with the Stars alum said. “Ben [Higgins] and Jess [Clarke]. Those are the no brainers for sure. I think there’s a lot. We have been lucky enough that we’re good friends of that [Bachelor Nation] community.”
Nick continued, “We’ll see what we’re able to do. We don’t even know what kind of wedding it’s gonna look like, but most people are family for sure.”
Natalie added pals Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams to the guest list, too. “There’s a lot. We’ve made some really good friends,” the bride-to-be said. Fun fact: Sarah and Wells are newlyweds themselves after tying the knot in August 2022.
While discussing plans for the wedding, Natalie also looked back fondly on Nick’s unique proposal. Remember when guys used to just get down on one knee and ask their girlfriend to get married? These days it’s such a huge production. Seems like so much pressure.
“He had a playlist made with all of my favorite songs,” the surgical technologist said. “I knew he wouldn’t be able to get through it in person. And my mom told me after, she was like ‘I told him that he should write down what he’s gonna say to you, because you’re gonna black out, he’s gonna black out, you’re not going to remember what was said. So if you write it down, you can always look back and read it.'” Great advice, Natalie’s mom!
But instead of writing his speech down ahead of time (sorry, Mom), Nick decided to set up a video camera and record the entire event. “He made a video, which was so much better, and I can always go back and watch that video,” Natalie shared. “Just him being able to just sit down and talk to me felt really personal.”
At the end of it all, Nick presented his new fiancée with a custom designed 5.12 carat, elongated cushion cut diamond set in yellow gold. Wow. Being a former Bachelor must pay really well. That’s a big rock.
After all the Bachelor Nation ups and downs he’s been through, the author of Don’t Text Your Ex Happy Birthday: And Other Advice on Love, Sex and Dating deserves some happiness. I’m glad he seems to have found his person. Congratulations, Nick!
TELL US – ARE YOU HAPPY FOR NICK AND NATALIE? ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING ABOUT THEIR WEDDING?
[Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for MTV]
