Bachelor in Paradise alum Serena Pitt has revealed her wedding plans with fiance Joe Amabile now that they're totally sure they want to get married.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Serena, who previously lived in Ontario, Canada, and Joe, a proud Chicago native, moved in together this past spring in New York City, and now their next step is to plan a wedding.
"Right now, we are hoping for next September -- considering we haven't started planning, we have to be a little flexible in terms of venues and such and what's available," Serena told Us Weekly.
"But we would love to get married next September. We definitely wanna get married next year."
Serena revealed that she and Joe would be open to "maybe August or October" in 2023 as well.
"But [it's happening] next year, and it's gonna be somewhere in the U.S. -- probably not Toronto or Chicago," Serena said, confirming the couple won't be having a destination wedding.
"We'd just like to make it kind of a destination for everyone, and we just want it to be a fun weekend. I have to start looking at wedding planners. That's actually on my written to-do list for next week. So hopefully I'll have a wedding planner soon."
Serena admitted she's "very overwhelmed by the planning process" but feels ready to dive in.
"Joe will start off saying, 'Whatever you want,' but he is an opinionated guy. He has a vision for the wedding, for sure," Serena shared.
"I think it's actually gonna be very 50/50. I want it to feel like our wedding, not my wedding. And if anything, I would say he's probably more opinionated than I am about this stuff... It'll be a team effort."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWAs far as her wedding gown goes, Serena said she doesn't have a dream dress in mind.
"I think once we see the venue and where we pick to get married, I'll be able to start envisioning a mood board for the dress and the hair and the makeup," Serena explained.
"But I don't wanna, like, look or feel like anyone else on that day. You know, I love my neutral, glowy bronzed makeup and that's probably what I'm gonna do on my wedding day even though that's what I do every day because that's what I love."
She added, "For my wedding dress, I want it to be comfortable. If I have to wear it all night, I want to be comfortable in it."
Serena expressed how she's so confident in her relationship with Joe, especially since it's been "really easy" living together for months.
"I feel like we kind of already lived together even though we didn't because I did [have] things at his place in Chicago and we just spend a lot of our time there together, but it [wasn't] fully living together," Serena said.
"I mean the two closets definitely was an adjustment and New York apartments are a little smaller than what the Chicago apartment was, but we've made it work and we love living together. We're lucky with how smooth it was."
Serena apparently felt both she and Joe were "very prepared" for sharing a space and joining their lives together on a permanent basis.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I think the most crucial time is right after the show -- at least for us. Going into it, we were like, 'This is kind of the first test,'" she explained.
"We know we love each other; we see a future together. But right after the show, spending that time in the outside world, like, is there that compatibility? Could we live together and not wanna kill each other?"
Serena said since that transition went "so smoothly," she and Joe had no hesitations or doubts about tying the knot.
"There was really nothing but confidence in the future of our relationship and we always knew we were gonna end up getting married," Serena noted.
"I don't think it ever really bothered us -- people asking about [our relationship] -- maybe because we did have that confidence. It never felt like [there was] pressure or like it was forcing us to rush anything. We just feel confident."
Serena said she and Joe expect people to ask about their romance and that's "okay."
"But then we just have to do what's best for our relationship," she said.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Serena and her fiance just celebrated their engagement party in July with family and friends.
"We definitely had said after we got engaged [that] we were interested in doing an engagement party. It wasn't necessarily something that we were like, 'We have to do this,' because, obviously, we were engaged for a year before we celebrated, but I know that we wanted to get our family and friends together and that was kind of the best way to go about it," Serena told the magazine.
"Our parents actually met at the engagement party... It was really more about the coming together of our two worlds. It was a good reason to bring everyone together... I have a great relationship with his family and him with my family."
Back in June, Serena said she could envision her wedding being on the East Coast.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I grew up working with kids teaching dance and swim lessons, so I have always wanted my own," she said.
Serena also mentioned at the time how the couple would be interested in getting a dog but they'd have to stop traveling so much for that to become a possibility.
Serena gushed in early November 2021 that she and Joe make "a fantastic team together," according to Hollywood Life.
"He's a fantastic communicator," Joe added. "We just understood each other and felt very comfortable and safe and open with each other in the relationship."
Serena and Joe believe they established a strong relationship foundation while filming Bachelor in Paradise.
Serena, for instance, never let the fact Joe's ex-girlfriend of nearly two years, Kendall Long, was on the beach get in the way of her connection with the former grocery store owner.
Serena kept her eye on the prize, avoided jealousy, and trusted Joe as Kendall sought closure.
Looking back on Joe's marriage proposal, Serena told Becca Kufrin on her "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast how she was in "complete shock" by Joe's decision to propose marriage on the show.
"The logical thing to do would be like, 'This is crazy. This is so fast, let's just do the step-by-step thing and get engaged down the line,'" Serena explained at the time.
"I was so emotional when he got down on one knee and I was so excited to say 'yes.' I was obviously in complete shock but I knew he was the one."
Serena called the moment "beautiful" and insisted she had no regrets about the quick engagement.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite being happy and in love, Joe and Kendall broke up because they couldn't agree on whether to live in Chicago or Kendall's home city of Los Angeles long-term.
Joe gave Los Angeles a chance during and after his stint on Dancing with the Stars in 2018 and wanted to move back to Chicago to be with his friends and family, but Kendall apparently wouldn't even consider relocating and trying out a life in Chicago.
And Serena dumped Matt James on his The Bachelor season that aired in early 2021 after her hometown date.
In addition to Serena and Joe, two other couples got engaged on Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season: Kenny Braasch and Mari Pepin-Solis as well as Riley Christian and Maurissa Gunn.
Riley and Maurissa, however, have since split.
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
