Marcus Grodd and new fiancee Lacy Faddoul may be criticized for jumping into an engagement quickly after meeting and falling in love on Bachelor in Paradise, but the couple is going to take their time going forward.

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"We definitely want to wait a year to get married, at least," Grodd, 26, told People. "We want to do it right. We get one shot at this."

Although Bachelor in Paradise's Monday night finale concluded with an update stating Faddoul is moving from La Jolla, CA, to Dallas, TX, to be with Grodd, that may not the case.

"We've talked about [our wedding] and I've been on Pinterest a lot. He sends me bridal magazines, so he wants it to be on my mind. He's coming to see my home, and I'm going to see his home, so we're going to decide after that where we're going to live together," said Faddoul, who's known her fiance now for just over three months.

But the couple is extremely excited about their engagement.

"It definitely still feels surreal," Faddoul, also 26, told the magazine.

"Hiding it and having [to spend time in] safe houses and covering our trails was definitely hard. It's still a whirlwind for us!" added Grodd.

Grodd reportedly popped the question with a show-supplied Neil Lane princess-cut diamond set in a diamond-encrusted platinum band featuring 161 small round brilliant-cut stones. The ring features a total of 3.68 carats.

"He did really good," Faddoul said of her rock. "It's so exciting. The ring is absolutely beautiful. It's gorgeous. I definitely wasn't expecting that."

The lovebirds see no issue in getting engaged during the one-month filming time of Bachelor in Paradise. In fact, they view their relationship as having a stronger foundation than what is typically built on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette.

"We actually calculated how many hours we spent together and how long it would've taken us in real life to date and get that far. It was approximately six months!" Faddoul explained.

"The main difference between Bachelor in Paradise or The Bachelor and The Bachelorette is if we don't get a date card, we still get to spend time together," Grodd said. "So yeah, it's within a month's span, but within that month, you get a lot more time."

Grodd insisted he fell in love with Faddoul's personality and ambition, while Faddoul became smitten with her man when he stayed by her side during a rough night in a Mexican hospital.

"She's physically beautiful, but... this girl surprised me with her mind and her questions and her ideas and her future. I definitely fell in love with who she was as a person," Grodd told People.

"Marcus wanted to be by my side the entire time. I didn't even know him that long. I was like, 'Wow, I can only imagine how much he'll be there for me for the rest of my life,'" Faddoul said, adding that timing is everything.

"It happened naturally for Marcus and I in paradise. We treated it as if it were our everyday life. We both have a lot of responsibilities in our careers and paradise allowed us to let our youth come out."

Grodd is a sports medicine manager and Faddoul owns an elderly care facility. The couple started dating in Bachelor in Paradise when Grodd stole her away from Robert Graham, who thought he was hitting it off with Faddoul and really liked her at the time.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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