Golden Bachelorette’s Joan Vassos Isn’t Prioritizing A Wedding Yet

The first Golden Wedding came quickly, but don’t expect the same from the second. Although Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple’s relationship has been going strong since they got engaged on The Golden Bachelorette last year, they aren’t in any rush to get married. Vassos recently shared an update with Us Weekly and explained why a wedding isn’t a top priority for the couple right now.

The Honeymoon Phase

Since The Golden Bachelorette, Vassos and Chapple have been enjoying their new life together. It’s been a whirlwind, full of travel. She shared that they’re still living apart and on the road regularly, not just to visit each other but also for the many “great opportunities” dating show fame has brought them.

“We do appearances. We are on podcasts together, we’re traveling,” she told Us Weekly. “It’s very different from what I expected. And when we travel together, it’s for something really fun.”

For now, Vassos wants to keep saying yes to different opportunities. She thinks focusing on the wedding “would halt things,” though she is looking forward to marrying Chapple in the future. The two “talk about the wedding,” but she noted they don’t feel pressured in the way “young people” might.

“He is the person I wanna spend the rest of my life with,” Vassos said. “But the thought of planning a wedding right now sounds exhausting.”

Taking It Slow

While the couple is living separately, Vassos said they make a point of not going more than 10 to 14 days apart. She described them as “solid” and said they relish their busy schedule.

“It’s rare at this time in your life, at this age, that you get the opportunities that we’ve been given,” she said. “You usually slow down, you’re moving into a more sedentary or a less active part of your life. It’s been the total opposite for us. Our life has been completely shaken up.”

The couple’s loose wedding timeline hasn’t changed since the final episode of their Golden Bachelorette season aired in January 2024. They always planned to take it slow, unlike the spinoff franchise’s first couple, Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist. (The Golden Bachelor pair tied the knot five weeks after their televised finale, and then divorced almost as quickly.)

Vassos and Chapple wanted to “be a couple for a little while and enjoy each other” after the show, as she told Bustle in November. “Planning a wedding is a big job, and we’re both a little tired right now,” she said. “We’ve done a lot in the last couple months.”