Almost ready to say “I do!” Raven Gates says “everything’s coming together” ahead of her upcoming wedding with Adam Gottschalk — even their Bachelor in Paradise-themed cocktail menu.
The couple, who met during season 4 of the popular Bachelor spinoff series in 2017, confirmed their engagement in June 2019. “I’m keeping you forever and for always,” Gates, 28, captioned a black-and-white Instagram photo that showed off her sparkly ring. Three months before their big day, the former reality TV personality still can’t believe how her love story came to be.
“I’m getting more and more excited as the days go on,” Gates told Us Weekly exclusively on Friday, February 28. “I told Adam the other day … we were sitting on the couch eating Cheetos, eating ice cream, all this junk food. And I’m like, ‘Can you believe we met on a TV show? Like, this is just so normal now, I just can’t even believe it.'”
While the couple is planning on paying homage to the show that brought them together, their interfaith ceremony won’t be televised — nor officiated by Bachelor host Chris Harrison.
Both Gates and Gottschalk, 29, are anticipating a “super emotional” ceremony, especially with the Arkansas native’s dad walking her down the aisle nearly five years after being diagnosed with cancer. Gates reminisced on the journey she’s been on with her dad after admitting she wasn’t sure if he would be there for her big moment while she was a contestant on season 21 of The Bachelor.
“I told my dad during that [hometown] episode — and I still mean it — if he didn’t make it through his cancer diagnosis, there would be nobody I would walk down the aisle with, there would be no father-daughter dance. No one would take his place,” Gates explained, revealing that she bought a dress specifically for the moment she’ll share with her father at her reception. “You take things like that for granted until your parents get sick and you’re like, ‘Wow, we don’t have our whole lives. Things are going to happen.’ And to have that memory [will be] just so, so special.”
Gates’ wedding day won’t be all sentimental, however. After the couple shares their “romantic” moment, they’re transforming their reception into “party city.”
“Anyone that’s sitting down in their chair is going to get bullied to the point where they have to get on the dance floor,” Gates teased.
More about Gates and Gottschalk’s upcoming wedding can be found on Brides.com.
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe
