The Golden Bachelor couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist have shared behind-the-scenes wedding details -- including whether they did a first look, two "surreal" moments, and the "unglamorous" ending to their wedding night.
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Gerry and Theresa's engagement aired on The Golden Bachelor finale in late November, and then they got married in Palm Springs, CA, during a live, televised wedding special that aired on ABC on January 4.
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Gerry and Theresa unveiled secrets, surprises, and some juicy wedding information -- starting with their first look -- during a joint interview with Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt on the January 16 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
"I think Gerry really wanted to see the first look in the aisle, but it made more sense to do it [before the ceremony]," Theresa shared on the podcast.
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"Yeah, because otherwise, we'd be taking up reception time with photos, and that was a hell of a good reception, let's face it! I didn't want to miss any of that," Gerry said.
While Theresa said the entire televised wedding -- which featured a huge production and flower arrangements "beyond" her "wildest expectations" -- was "surreal," Gerry recalled the "surreal" moment for him was when he was getting dressed in the morning with his grandsons in the room.
"I was helping tie ties for [my grandsons], and I was helping to tie shoes and all that. All of a sudden it hit me, 'I have six new grandsons coming into my life!'" explained the father of two girls.
"And all of a sudden, I'm helping them tie neck ties, which I had never in my life done before,"
"That moment was sort of a surreal moment."
Gerry said he and Theresa both agreed to write their own vows "100 percent" and they didn't discuss the vows from that point forward.
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"So literally at the moments at the platform when we exchanged those vows, those were the very first moments either of us heard about [what the other had written]," Gerry revealed.
Theresa added how it took her "a while" to come up with her vows and memorize them so she could just recite them and not read them.
"But moments before, I kept not getting it right. And then when I finally said it, I said, 'I want to have fun with you for the rest of our days, which could be another hour.' And [my daughter Jen], said, 'Leave that in!' So I did," Theresa said.
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Gerry and Theresa also said they had an easy time deciding that The Golden Bachelor bachelorette Susan Noles should serve as their wedding officiant. Theresa suggested it was a no-brainer and a "unanimous" yes.
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"She really made it so great," Theresa gushed, adding how she also "loved" having other The Golden Bachelor ladies at her wedding ceremony and reception.
"There is so much love between us and comradery. It's an experience that's just so special to the people who were in the experience... and we talk to them all the time."
Theresa also revealed to Joe and Serena how Brayden Bowers had asked her permission to propose marriage to Christina Mandrell at the wedding and how the events of her bachelorette party were a total "surprise" to her, including the boudoir photo shoot.
Theresa also said she had two wedding looks for her big day, the first of which had been selected for her -- from about six gowns -- by her friends.
"When I came down the stairs and they all went nuts, I said, 'Okay, I guess this is the one!' And that was it," Theresa shared.
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And Theresa said she also loved her reception dress, which had been selected by The Golden Bachelor's stylist.
At the reception, Theresa said the band was "phenomenal" and "incredible."
Gerry recalled, "[Viewers] did miss the moments when we were taken up on the stage with the band. You could watch the spotlight on two people of our age trying to keep up with the younger bachelors and bachelorettes."
Theresa said that while her guests danced "nonstop," she eventually grew really tired and "had to sit down."
For Gerry and Theresa's first dance, they initially chose "Someone Like You" and later changed it to "Sure Thing" by Miguel.
"We actually did have a choreographed dance, but we were not confident that we could pull it off. We wanted to do it, but what if we messed the whole thing up?!" Theresa questioned.
"We didn't really have enough time to practice it," she noted.
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Gerry acknowledged how he and Theresa probably needed a few more run-throughs of the dance before feeling comfortable enough to perform for the world.
When looking back at the entire evening, Theresa said the highlight for her was her daughter Jen's speech as well as the beautiful words Gerry's two daughters had spoken during the ceremony.
"It was amazing for us to hear that, and they really spoke from the heart. And to see Henry come down and to see all of the beautiful and incredible people there... and just to be surrounded by positive, loving people," Theresa said, adding how the flowers were also, "Wow, wow, wow!"
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For Gerry's part, he said his highlight was the fact he and Theresa "made such good friends" with some of The Golden Bachelor crew.
"After we put together our invitation list, we insisted that there were a number of those people attending the wedding as guests, and not as working people," Gerry said.
"Because we were treated so extremely well and courteously and respectfully through that entire season that it would've been criminal to not have them there as our guests."
At the end of a long but beautiful night, Gerry, his new wife, and the couple's family and friends munched on some late-night food.
"It was the most unglamorous, unspectacular way to end the wedding night. I trudged to my suite, grabbed enough clothes to start the next morning, and by the time I got to her suite, she was already under the covers," Gerry admitted.
"We gave it all we had. It was kind of like game time and when the final buzzer went off, we were sacked. We were done."
Theresa said they had left the party at midnight and went to bed around 1AM.
And finally, the next day, Gerry played a post-wedding Pickle Ball game against The Bachelorette's Season 1 star Trista Rehn.
Shortly after the wedding, Gerry packed his suitcase, grabbed his beloved goldendoodle, and traveled to Theresa's home state of New Jersey on January 9.
After a 10-hour drive, Gerry -- an Iowa native who has been living on a lake in Indiana since 2017 -- and his beloved dog, Cody, arrived at Theresa's home in Shrewsbury, NJ, where The Golden Bachelor star was greeted with a home-cooked meal.
Gerry and Theresa said they're now in the process of figuring out what's next for them but they're looking forward to being together and making those decisions as husband and wife.
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