Bachelor in Paradise alum Dean Unglert has admitted he'd prefer to pass on a traditional wedding and get married to Caelynn Miller-Keyes in a courthouse instead.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
"But we're having a big party. It'll be fun, I know it'll be fun. I just hate being the center of attention."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Even though Dean would like to avoid a The Bachelor-style spectacle on his big day, he said he's very excited to make Caelynn his wife this year.
"I'm looking forward to being happily married," Dean said. "The rest of it will be stressful and painfully expensive -- but it's all to lead us to being Mr. and Mrs. Unglert."
Caelynn, 27, has also apparently taken the lead in the couple's wedding planning process.
"I just nod my head and say yes," Dean joked with the magazine.
Caelynn gushed about how their wedding venue in Aspen, CO, is "very unique" and so it will make for a special day for their guests.
"I think it's going to be a really fun weekend just with a hundred of our friends and family," Caelynn shared, adding that she has already picked out her two wedding dresses.
"I feel pretty good. There are moments where I get stressed. But we have entertainment, we have the flowers, we've got pretty much everything minus the little details of linens and place cards and stuff like that."
Dean and Caelynn just celebrated their engagement with a big party in Studio City, CA, this past weekend.
"Just a few more months until I get to marry this stud," Caelynn captioned a sweet photo of Dean and herself walking poolside under an umbrella in the rain.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWCaelynn and Dean rang in the New Year in Aspen by looking for the perfect wedding venue.
Caelynn told People that she and Dean have decided against having groomsmen and bridesmaids.
"It takes so much pressure off and it'll just be us standing up there," Caelynn said.
"One of his best friends will be officiating, but we'll still have the [maid of honor] and [the best man], they just won't be standing up there or matching."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Dean proposed marriage to Caelynn in October following a grueling 22-mile hike to Hawaii's Kauai Island about three years after they began dating on Season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise, which aired in Summer 2019.
Caelynn then popped the question to Dean in December, which made their engagement even more "official."
"A while ago we agreed we would both propose to each other. I had a lot of ideas on how I would do it, but after Dean had me conquer my fear of heights before his proposal, I thought it would be fitting for him to conquer his only fear, horses," Caelynn wrote on Instagram in December, sharing a photo of Dean on horseback.
ADVERTISEMENT
And the pair seem excited about settling on Colorado as their wedding destination.
"We'd originally thought we'd elope in Italy... and then we [realized] we actually do want all of our friends there, so we're going to get married in Aspen," Caelynn shared with Us Weekly in November.
"But then I was like, 'Maybe [Alabama], maybe here.' And he was like, 'I have my mind made up.' And when his mind is made up, you can't talk to him."
Caelynn continued, "And I was like, 'You don't understand that the wedding process is about a lot of decisions and changing things, so do I just not involve you?' And he was like, 'I don't know.' So, we'll see."
On Bachelor in Paradise's sixth season, Dean broke up with Caelynn on her birthday and left the show alone because he didn't think he was ready to provide the commitment that Caelynn wanted.
However, Dean returned for Caelynn later on and begged her to give him a second chance, and the pair left Paradise dating each other.
Following their Paradise exit, Dean convinced Caelynn to live "the van life" with him in which they traveled together and didn't have a stable home base.
But Dean apparently got the van life out of his system because the couple moved into a home together in Las Vegas, NV, in Spring 2021. Caelynn and Dean, however, later moved to Denver, CO.
Dean ended up popping the question with a temporary engagement ring with a "small" diamond because he claimed on his "Help! I Suck at Dating" podcast to have lost the original 4.5 carat diamond he'd purchased for his girlfriend.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Dean previously said he hopes to find the original diamond somewhere in his home and then turn the small diamond from his marriage proposal into a necklace for Caelynn.
Dean first revealed he was going to propose marriage to Caelynn soon during the October 23 episode of "Help! I Suck at Dating."
ADVERTISEMENT
And Dean posted a video around the same time from the couple's hike and ultimate marriage proposal.
"On the most beautiful beach in the world I got to ask the most beautiful girl in the world if she'd let me be her husband (she said yes)," Dean wrote on his own Instagram account.
"It's been 16 years since I lost my mom. I always thought it'd get easier as time wore on but it hasn't... I miss her more now than I ever have before. I'm so happy to now have this date as a happy memory as well."
"From now on I'll be able to find joy in something this time of year, be excited for the future rather than sad about the past, and celebrate love with the woman who may one day be a mother to children of our own," he concluded.
Back in June 2022, Dean revealed on his podcast that he had made a deal with Caelynn about getting engaged.
"I made a deal with [Caelynn]. I was like, 'I'll buy you a ring if you buy me a truck,'" Dean said, which sparked criticism from some fans that Dean didn't treat Caelynn very well.
Dean also admitted at the time how he had thrown a "hissy fit" upon seeing the 4.5 karat ring Caelynn was hoping to have on her finger one day and the pair got into "a scuffle."
Dean said getting engaged was simply "a touchy subject" in his relationship, adding, "Caelynn makes significantly more money than I do and here I am having to spend all this money on something I don't even want. Like, I want her to get what she wants, but she's the one who wants to get married."
But then Caelynn came through and bought Dean a truck in August 2022.
That same month, Dean told Jared Haibon on their podcast how he knew where he was going to propose marriage and how he was going to do it. He also noted that it's his "dream" to elope.
RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
ADVERTISEMENT
"When Dean first said that, I thought, 'Okay, [it's] another thing Dean is saying to break the mold.' Sometimes he says things just for a reaction, and he'll admit that. I thought that's kind of what he was doing," Caelynn explained in a Q&A on YouTube.
"But the more I thought about it, the more I loved it, because traditionally, he would propose to me. That's something I've dreamt of for so long, and that's something that he doesn't get -- a day that's catered to him and this special moment where he's really thought of. That's when I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I love this.'"
Caelynn pointed out how she and Dean have "a partnership" and so they both deserve to have a proposal day.
"I love the idea of planning this extravagant -- well, not extravagant, because he doesn't like to be the center of attention -- but just this thing that's all about him. So after I really thought about it, I am really, really into it," Caelynn said.
When Dean and Caelynn do tie the knot, they both plan to change their last names to "Bell" in honor of Dean's late mother, whose maiden name was Bell.
Dean and Caelynn have been wearing wedding bands since 2020 to show they are committed to each other. Caelynn told Us last year that it "really frustrates" her when fans assume Dean isn't good to her.
"He is hilarious and he's very sarcastic and he's also the most romantic person I think I've ever met. He's so thoughtful," Caelynn boasted.
"So I think that's a big misconception -- that I'm, like, more invested in the relationship or he, like, doesn't treat me right. I'm like, 'No, he treats me exceptionally well and he's always going out of his way to just surprise me and do romantic things.'"
Prior to meeting on Paradise, Caelynn competed for Colton Underwood's heart on The Bachelor's 23rd season, and Dean had been on multiple The Bachelor spinoffs after initially appearing on Rachel Lindsay's season of The Bachelorette.
Dean previously gushed to Us his relationship with Caelynn is "monumentally different" from other women he's dated in the past. Dean was previously linked to Kristina Schulman, Danielle Lombard and Lesley Murphy from The Bachelor world alone.
"She's very intelligent and compassionate. I am able to be myself around her and she's able to be herself and that's how we create synergy and build around each other," Dean explained of Caelynn.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dean, however, believed in late 2019 that marriage was "never going to happen" for them.
"She does joke around about us getting married all the time, and I always say, 'Sorry, it's not going to happen.' I don't know, I'm super unconventional and she obviously is a little more conventional," Dean told the magazine at the time.
"We joke around about it. Just try to keep expectations to a minimum, you know? Like I said on the show, underpromise, overdeliver."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
