Bachelor in Paradise couple Mari Pepin-Solis and Kenny Braasch have exchanged vows and are officially a married couple.
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Mari and Kenny got married at Hacienda Don Carmelo in Vega Baja, and Mari stunned in a strapless gown with a thigh-high slit by Justin Alexander. For his part, Kenny sported a traditional tuxedo.
Kenny's sister officiated the ceremony, and the pair wrote their own vows.
Their first dance as husband and wife was to "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner, which was a nod to the 80s party they had attended on Bachelor in Paradise.
"I do believe in signs and numbers, and so 11/11 is obviously seen as a special number and it means good things," Mari told the magazine of why she and Kenny picked November 11 at their wedding date.
Their wedding celebration also happened to fall on Veteran's Day weekend, which paid tribute to Mari's father, who had served in the military for 25 years.
"I'm his only daughter, so that's special," Mari shared. "He hasn't had the best association or memories with Veterans Day, so hopefully this year we'll change that and for Veterans Days moving forward."
Given a lot of Mari's family members live in Puerto Rico, she thought it would be the perfect spot to wed. The "intimate" destination wedding also allowed for a wedding that was "smaller" and "easier to manage."
Mari, however, included the couple's two dogs -- Dice and Monster -- in the ceremony, and she said it was "a bit of an adventure" flying them to Puerto Rico.
And Mari teased how she and Kenny "always had the idea to do a couple of other celebrations so we can include more people as well." A big party may even be in the works for the couple's Bachelor Nation friends.
Mari and Kenny now plan to de-stress and relax with a mini-moon in Canada, but they won't be taking their official honeymoon until next year.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWFor 2024, the Bachelor in Paradise couple are looking into a possible European cruise.
"As a little girl, I always dreamed of my wedding day and what's it going to look like and what am I going to wear, but as you get older, you realize that that's not the important part," Mari shared with People.
"The important part is actually finding a person that you want to spend the rest of your life with and that you get along so well with. And it wasn't until I met Kenny that I was like, 'Oh yeah, I'm not thinking about that as much as this is the kind of person that I want to be with.' That's really what made me realize that it was right."
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The former beauty pageant queen also expressed how she's happy to be done with dating.
"There's no more trying to figure out if some guy is playing games, this is it. It's locked down," Mari said. "I know that Kenny is the kind of person that I want to be with forever."
Kenny, in turn, admitted marriage is something he "didn't think would ever happen" for him.
The boyband manager explained, "As you get older, you get comfortable being alone for a while; it gets normal. So, to be able to end up where we are and the way we met each other, it's just wild to me how many things had to happen for us to even meet and get to where we are right now."
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The newlyweds believe their future is "bright," with a lot of love and happiness in store.
"It'll be exciting to see what happens in the next five years," Kenny noted.
"I feel like at some point, we might start a business -- we joke about it. But it's nice to know that the future... [has] a lot of possibilities for us. We've already lived together for a really good chunk of time, so we already know that things are going to already are going to work out."
And after her big day, Mari shared a picture of Kenny flashing his new wedding band during their breakfast together.
"The morning after," Mari wrote, along with a heart-eyes emoji.
And late last week, Mari had posted photos from her romantic rehearsal dinner.
"So excited to have our families together in Puerto Rico. Tomorrow is the day!!!!!" Mari captioned the carousel of images.
Back in February, Mari said she and Kenny were set on having a second wedding in Chicago, IL, where they currently live, in March 2024.
At the time, Mari recalled trying on "so many different styles" of wedding dresses, adding that her final selection wasn't what she had initially imagined wearing on her wedding day.
"The style I ended up choosing completely caught me off guard. I have a couple different styles, so I was able to mix it up and throw in different styles that look nothing like each other, which is cool," Mari explained.
"But the dress for my main wedding, the one in Puerto Rico, I envisioned myself in something very sleek and sexy and almost more pageant-like -- I have no idea why I never envisioned myself in anything else, but suddenly I'm on Pinterest and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, no, I love this style.' And I ended up going with something so different."
Mari and Kenny revealed in January they had already booked their wedding venue in Puerto Rico and paid the deposit for a "smaller and more intimate" ceremony. They were still trying to nail down the guest list and a caterer at the time.
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Mari and Kenny got engaged on Bachelor in Paradise's seventh-season finale in Summer 2021, but the show didn't air until October of that year.
After Kenny popped the question in Paradise, Mari moved to Kenny's hometown of Chicago.
Kenny revealed in January 2022 that he and Mari were taking the next step in their relationship and moving in together.
"@Mari_Pepin and I have signed the lease on a new apartment here in Chicago," Kenny reportedly wrote on his Instagram Story at the time.
Mari then reposted the announcement and added, "I can't wait to keep annoying you, and scaring you, and love you every day boo!"
On Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season, Mari, a marketing manager at the time, connected with Kenny right off the bat, and it seemed like love at first sight.
But once things began getting serious, Mari pumped the brakes and suggested the couple should continue seeing each other while keeping their options open and pursuing other possible romances in Mexico.
Kenny, a little heartbroken over Mari's lack of commitment, therefore dated Demi Burnett, with whom he went to "The Boom Boom Room," and he also went on a date with Tia Booth in which they played naked volleyball with strangers.
Once Mari saw Kenny with other women, she realized how much she missed him and how she wanted him all to herself. Mari therefore apologized to Kenny and fought for him, and the pair became inseparable after their reconciliation.
On Bachelor in Paradise's finale, Kenny said getting engaged to a person so soon was "insane" but he'd be an "idiot" not to wife Mari up because he was absolutely crazy about the girl.
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Mari said that although there is a 15-year age difference between them, she believes they are at similar stages in life and want the same things, which helped bring them closer together and solidify their bond.
Mari added of the significant age gap, "I think the only way that it's noticeable is when we talk about movies or music, because [we're] obviously [from] different generations."
In terms of having children, Mari previously said, "I think I just want to enjoy being married for a little bit first and then maybe in the next year to two years we'll start talking about that."
In addition to Kenny and Mari, two other couples got engaged on the Bachelor in Paradise seventh-season finale: Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt as well as Riley Christian and Maurissa Gunn.
Maurissa and Riley have since split, but Joe and Serena are currently married and living together in New York City.
Before appearing on Bachelor in Paradise, Mari competed for Matt James' heart on The Bachelor's 25th season and Kenny dated Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
