Theresa Nist Admits Quick Wedding Wasn’t the ‘Original Plan’

Heavy/ABC Theresa Nist reveals details about her wedding planning.

During “The Golden Bachelor” finale, Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner revealed they were not waiting long to get married. Their engagement officially became public on November 30, and their live ABC wedding will happen on January 4, 2024.

Nist recently revealed a few interesting tidbits about the wedding planning. For starters, “The Golden Bachelor” bride-to-be didn’t originally plan to get married to Turner so soon.

Here’s what you need to know:

Gerry Turner & Theresa Nist Wanted Fans to Be Able to Celebrate With Them

Turner and Nist opened up about their “Golden Bachelor” experience during a recent panel appearance, shared Variety. During the Producers Guild FYC panel, Turner noted that the January 4 wedding date “wasn’t always the plan.”

Nist revealed, “We had to think about it and it really wasn’t the original plan to do that.”

“When we really thought hard about it, we said, there are so many people who have been affected by the show,” Nist explained. She added, “We wanted to bring them along with the culmination of it and bring them into it.”

Turner and Nist liked the idea of including “The Golden Bachelor” fans in their nuptials. After all, fans watched their love story develop. However, the couple had their vision of how the day would be, too.

The couple wanted to “really still try to make it this very intimate experience,” the bride-to-be noted. Then they needed to figure out how they could bring viewers “into this intimate experience.”

What “The Golden Bachelor” pair did not want to do was “just drop all these people who are so affected by the show.”

‘The Golden Bachelor’ Producers Started Planning Right After the Proposal

Apparently, the day after “The Golden Bachelor” engagement, wedding planning started.

Podcaster and blogger Reality Steve previously shared spoilers about the date of the final rose ceremony. On August 30, he shared via Instagram, “The final rose ceremony films tomorrow,” which would be August 31.

Turner and Nist’s engagement didn’t air until the November 30 finale date. However, producers have had an additional two months to plan for the wedding behind the scenes.

At the FYC panel, showrunner and executive producer Jason Ehrlich said, “We hit the ground running and we still are,” of the planning process. He added, “We are moving fast and furious to make this really a celebration of the both of you and a celebration [of] the franchise as well.”

On December 1, the couple talked with Serena Pitt and Joe Amabile on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast. Turner explained of the quick wedding, “We didn’t want to put off what we really felt was right.”

Turner noted that once they figured out the geography “obstacle,” they were ready to move forward with a wedding. While Turner has been living in Indiana, and Nist lives in New Jersey, they decided they would relocate together to South Carolina.

Upon deciding that, Turner said, “We both realized how compatible we were, the feelings were there, our families are incredibly, in such a short time, incredibly close to each other.” He revealed, “We could not find a good reason to not move forward quickly.”

Viewers can expect to see plenty of Bachelor Nation veterans at “The Golden Bachelor” wedding. Everybody will have to wait until January 4 to see who decides to attend. However, fans can expect at least some guests who may come as a bit of a surprise.

Nist and Turner did not originally plan to have a quick wedding on television. Despite that, it seems everything has fallen into place and they’re ready to go.