Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple are excited to start their future together after getting engaged on the ABC reality series.
Just hours after the emotional finale aired, Joan and Chock sat down for an interview, revealing that they plan to tie the knot soon.
“It’s only been a day that we can actually be out and making plans,” Joan told Parade. “We wouldn’t be allowed to before now but I think that we’re going to move in that direction. We kind of are excited to be out in public and getting to know each other’s friends and family for a little while, and then, some time in the next few months, we’ll start thinking wedding.”
“Probably 2025. We want to be married. We want to start a life together. We’re starting a life together whether married or not, but we want to make it official and have our friends and family join in a celebration.”
Joan Vassos has shared that her idea of a dream wedding is something intimate and simple, focusing on the love and connection she shares with Chock. She envisions a ceremony that feels personal and meaningful, rather than extravagant.
“I don’t know what my dream wedding would be. This is so new and I never thought I would be having a second wedding. I had a pretty big first wedding so initially I thought, small, just friends and family. We’ve both done that [big wedding] already, and maybe it would just be about us and our close friends and family.”
Despite her preference for a more intimate ceremony, Joan has left the door open for a televised wedding, should she and Chock decide to go that route. This comes after fans expressed disappointment over Gerry Turner’s wedding to Theresa Nist, which aired on The Golden Bachelor.
“The more I think about it, I think that I’d love the message of hope in that we took this leap of faith and we ended up in this great place and I wanted to continue to show that message to people out there in this weird place in life where they’re our age and single. This ending, this next chapter starting for us, being together, getting married, might be something everybody would like to see. I certainly would consider doing a more public wedding.”
Joan and Chock also just had an engagement party.
“Nobody wanted to leave, and we needed some sleep…we kind of finally had to close the bar down, and said ‘It’s time to go, guys.”
“We had probably 200 people there,” Chock said. “Everyone said if you get married, we’re coming.”
How was their Golden Bachelorette experience?
“The experience was something I never planned in my life,” Chock said. “I got on the show because of my daughter who did the application for me. And I had not watched an episode of any Bachelor, so I had no idea what I was getting into, and I did that specifically because I just wanted it to be new. So I had the opportunity to go on the show…to meet someone who just knocked my socks off. If she was in Wichita or I was living somewhere else, I would have pursued her, too. I mean, we’re a great fit. We’re so compatible and I love her to death.”
Joan and Chock shared a heartfelt, beachside proposal, where Joan, who had previously vowed not to say “I love you” until she was ready for a proposal, was finally able to express her feelings. “I never in a million years thought I’d feel love like this again,” she said, beaming. “I finally got to say, I love you. It feels so good.”
The couple’s engagement wrapped up with a joyful FaceTime call to Joan’s mother, followed by a cheerful shout to the camera, “We’re engaged!” During the After The Final Rose live special, the newly-engaged pair shared their happiness, hoping their love story would inspire others. “You have to take action. I’m saying take the leap of faith, go out and find your person,” she encouraged. “It just makes your life so much better.”
In a heartwarming callback to the couple’s first date at Disneyland, where they shared dreams of bringing their children and grandchildren to the theme park, the show gifted them a special trip to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for themselves and their families. Host Jesse Palmer reminded the couple that finding love in their “golden years” isn’t just about the two of them, but also about blending their families and creating new memories together.
