‘American Idol’ Runner-Up Gets Married on Grammy Night

Heavy "American Idol" wedding news

Just over a year after getting engaged, country star and “American Idol” season 10 alum Lauren Alaina married her beau of three years, Cameron “Cam” Arnold, in front of 450 guests, on February 4, 2024, according to People.

Though lots of country music artists, including her “Thicc as Thieves” duet partner Lainey Wilson, were in Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards, Alaina and Arnold still attracted a bevy of celebrities to their special day in Nashville, including Jason and Brittany Aldean, HARDY, and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay.

Alaina was 15 when she rose to fame on “Idol” in 2010, landing in second place behind her friend Scotty McCreery. Now 29, Alaina has gushed about her wedding plans and pre-wedding celebrations since pulling her fiancé onstage at the Grand Ole Opry in November 2022 to announce their engagement.

Alaina and Arnold dated for two years before he proposed, and she has credited “Idol” judge Luke Bryan with bringing them together.

Here’s what you need to know:

Lauren Alaina Wore a Custom Gown for Her Wedding to Cameron Arnold

Alaina and Arnold tied the knot at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville, in what he described to People as a “big, loud” wedding.

“Here’s the funny thing,” Alaina told the magazine. “I wanted a small wedding and Cameron wanted a big wedding. So we compromised — and had a 450-person guest list. I think it’s just a reflection of how fortunate we are — we have a lot of people who love us and we love a lot of people.”

After dress shopping with her mom and maid of honor in New York, which she chronicled for her Instagram followers, Alaina settled on a custom-designed Anne Barge gown. According to People, it featured “a V-notched strapless bodice with a modified trumpet skirt of hand-beaded, floral-embossed jacquard accessorized with a pleated detachable overskirt, along with an Alençon lace long-sleeved mock-neck topper.” Alaina also wore a chapel-length veil to walk down the aisle.

Rather than having a seated dinner, the newlyweds went with an “around-the-world” theme featuring food stations with Asian, American, Mexican and Greek cuisine, per People. They said they were planning on a send-off brunch at Nashville’s Brown’s Diner, where they had their first date.

“We’ll eat burgers and drink beer and celebrate being the Mr. and Mrs.,” Alaina told People, adding that they’ll then honeymoon in Hawaii.

Lauren Alaina Says She Found Her Perfect Match in Husband Cam Arnold

Alaina kept the identity of her beau under wraps while they were dating, but during a February 2022 interview on Audacy’s Rob + Holly Show she excitedly described him as “just a regular guy. He’s a business guy, goes to work every day in a suit.”

According to LinkedIn, Arnold earned his undergraduate degree at Auburn University in Alabama and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Middle Georgia State University. He works as the Vice President of Sales for an insurance company based in Nashville; the company even threw Alaina and Arnold a wedding shower at the office in January.

Though Alaina kept their relationship pretty quiet, Arnold shared an Instagram post on August 4, 2021, when he shared a photo of them dining at The Continental, a restaurant located within the Hyatt Hotel Nashville, and wished her a happy one-year anniversary.

In June, she told Entertainment Tonight that although they both live in Nashville, she and Arnold met in Mexico, thanks to Bryan.

“If you spend five minutes with (Cam), you’d be like, ‘I get it,’” Alaina said. “I mean, he’s from Georgia. We’re both from Georgia. Actually, fun fact, we met in Mexico at the Crash My Playa (music festival) that Luke Bryan has every year. Luke Bryan brought us together.”

It’s possible the couple will run into their accidental matchmaker during their honeymoon, since Bryan and his fellow judges are also in Hawaii this week to film “American Idol” at Disney’s Aulani resort.

Last year, while promoting her new album, “Unlocked,” Alaina was busy planning her wedding with Arnold by her side.

“I’m fully immersed,” she told Audacy’s K-FROG, “Venue is booked, yesterday I had a full day of meeting with florists and caterers and photographers. He went to all of it.”

Alaina had fun celebrating her upcoming nuptials in recent weeks, from a bachelorette trip to Miami with her girlfriends and multiple showers thrown by friends and family.

On February 3, Alaina revealed her wedding was the next day — 2/4/24 — by sharing an Instagram video montage of her and Arnold with the words “one more day” written over the reel.