Bachelor in Paradise couple Kevin Wendt and Astrid Loch are engaged!
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'BACHELOR IN PARADISE' SPOILERS: WHO GOT ENGAGED? WHAT 2019 SEASON COUPLES ARE STILL TOGETHER AND DATING?
"08.28.19. I could have sworn the world stood still in this moment," Astrid, 29, captioned a series of Instagram photos from the special day in which Kevin got down on one knee in the sand with a city skyline in the background.
"A moment I'll never forget. Just you + me. @kevin.c.wendt you've taught me to love, learn and grow and I can't believe you've chosen me to spend this crazy life with. Wonder if I'll ever stop smiling? Probably not. In this together, forever. #sugar."
Kevin shared similar photos on his own Instagram account and captioned the post, "You'll never walk alone again. From here on out, we run together. Astrid you are my family, babe. Forever. (See my stories for the adventure/most nervous I've been my entire life!!!)"
Kevin's Instagram Stories showed how Kevin had purchased an actual picnic backpack and filled it with chicken salad and champagne.
The engagement was a huge surprise to Astrid -- who currently lives in Toronto with Kevin -- and she had no idea a pair of photographers were hiding out in the bushes, waiting to capture the magical moment, People reported.
Kevin reportedly restarted a playlist he had made for the occasion a handful of times so he could begin his speech during "Tequila" by Dan + Shay, which is a song that remembers their time in Mexico when they filmed Bachelor in Paradise and "we drank a lot of tequila," according to Kevin.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
"I actually forgot what I said. I just remember, it was a no-brainer to marry her," Kevin told People. "I see her more as my family than any kind of girlfriend, and I just knew I couldn't ever let her go."
Astrid admitted she was "so clueless" Kevin had such plans that day in store for her.
"You never get a surprise really by me, ever. I feel like I pay attention to everything, and I had absolutely no clue," Astrid told the magazine.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWThe Toronto firefighter reportedly proposed with a custom, cushion-cut diamond ring from Wendt's Jewellery in Mildmay, Ontario, which was established by his great-great-grandfather Charles Wendt in 1884.
The men in Kevin's family apparently all proposed with rings from that shop for the past 135 years.
"I'm a firm believer that there's just so little genuine surprises in the world. I was even speaking to quite a few people who've said they went full ring shopping with their fiancee a month before they got engaged and stuff," Kevin explained.
"I did my research on what Astrid liked for rings, just based on what she said about other girls' rings or what she likes or what she doesn't like. And I just thought I would rather take a little bit of a risk and design it myself knowing her, rather than her just pick it out and kind of be expecting it."
Astrid told the magazine she loves the ring and the significance behind Kevin's classic choice.
"I've always told him I don't like when there's too much crazy stuff going on in the ring. We're very simple people. We were both in jeans and a T-shirt and a tank top [when we got engaged], which is just how we are every single day, which is so us, rather than some crazy, fancy thing," Astrid shared.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? (PHOTOS)
"So the ring definitely reflects both of our personalities. And he got a cute little inside joke engraved in it."
ADVERTISEMENT
Kevin almost proposed marriage in Cancun, Mexico, during Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo's wedding weekend, but there was apparently a good reason why it didn't happen then.
"I thought maybe Sunday would be a good day to take a walk on the beach and propose. And we ended up eating the Mexican food, and Astrid spent most of the time on the toilet," Kevin recalled to People with a laugh.
"She was in the bathroom every three minutes for the whole day. So I thought, maybe I'll wait until I get home."
And Astrid gushed about how she was glad Kevin waited.
"We're not vacation people, we're very much homebodies. Two hours after we were engaged, we were watching Big Brother, eating ice cream sandwiches. That's our favorite kind of night," Kevin shared.
"We just love that we can go back to that spot whenever we want to, because it's just a 15-minute water taxi ride across from our place," Astrid added.
"If it happened in Mexico or on a trip somewhere, how many times would we ever go back there? It's nice to know we can always go back to that spot."
RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO BROKE UP? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
Astrid and Kevin were a solid couple on Bachelor in Paradise last year, but Kevin blindsided and dumped Astrid before the Fantasy Suite dates and ended up trying to win her back during the live reunion show.
Kevin explained on the reunion special of Bachelor in Paradise's fifth season he had a lot of fears and insecurities he had to deal with via therapy regarding his previous romances before being able to commit to a woman whole-heartedly and settle down.
One of Kevin's exes is Ashley Iaconetti, whom he met on The Bachelor Winter Games but split from in March 2018.
"I will never forget when I left the show, going to my best friends and being like, 'I know we technically broke up on the show, but I'm pretty sure this is the person I'm going to marry,'" Astrid told People. "I feel like I knew right away how well he fit into my life."
ADVERTISEMENT
Back in November 2018, Astrid and Kevin's families reportedly met each other at an event in Toronto, and then the following month, Astrid -- who worked as a plastic surgery office manager -- moved in with Kevin in his hometown of Toronto.
"I forget that we met on a TV show, because now it's just my real life," Kevin said.
As for what's next, Astrid and Kevin reportedly plan to spend at least a year planning for their wedding, which will "definitely not" be filmed for Bachelor in Paradise or ABC cameras.
"I don't even think it's fully hit me yet that it's actually happened," Astrid noted of her engagement. "I woke up this morning probably an hour beforehand and just stared at the ring and him just to make sure that it was real."
Prior to appearing on Paradise last summer, Astrid competed to win Nick Viall's heart on The Bachelor's 21st season, and Kevin found fame when he won the first season of The Bachelorette Canada.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR WINNERS ULTIMATELY END UP MARRYING?! (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
