Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jason Tartick have faced roadblocks getting down the aisle.
The Bachelor Nation couple, who started dating in late 2018, got engaged in May 2021. After he popped the question, Tartick told Us Weekly that the twosome were taking “baby steps” when it came to planning their nuptials as the COVID-19 crisis continued to cause delays and cancellations.
“From what I’ve heard from friends and family is [there have still been issues] getting the right venue at the right time because so many weddings have been delayed from COVID,” he said at the time. “Let’s take one step at a time and the first step is going to be getting our wedding planner. After the wedding planner, we’ll have to lock in a venue and a location, and then a time. But we just have to wait to see, you know, what the wedding planner suggests and we’re going through that process now.”
Later that year, Bristowe told Us that they set a date and planned to wed in Nashville, where they currently reside. “We have created a guest list. We have created a website. We have a date set. So, we’re [doing] all the right things,” she said in August 2021.
In March 2022, however, Tartick admitted the date would likely to be pushed to 2023, telling Us that they hired Jared Haibon and Ashley Iaconetti’s wedding planner. Three months later, Us spoke to Bristowe again and said the date was New Year’s Eve.
“We’ve gone back and forth with a bunch of different themes, but we just want it to be, like, a Gatsby theme. Kind of over-the-top … a black-tie affair, champagne fountains [and everything]. [It’s] not like us actually at all, but we’ll have our own like unique touches throughout the whole wedding,” she said in June 2022, adding that “might get a little more Bridezilla-y” closer to the date. “He has been in finance his whole life and he knows how to budget and … all of that. And I’m really good at like the creative side of it. I want it to be unique and true to us. So it’s a good combo.”
She added at the time that she was “enjoying” their “long” engagement.
“I remember we got engaged in May [2021] and we were like, ‘OK, we’ll do it in May of next year.’ And now we’re in June and I’m like, ‘Holy crap, that happened so fast,’” Bristowe said.
Less than three months later, Bristowe admitted the duo were struggling with their plans — telling Us that she “really wanted to” wed on NYE and “would still actually be happy to do it” but Tartick disagreed.
“Jason and I are so funny. Like, if we talk about a venue — we actually have such different styles, different tastes, different everything that it’s almost frustrating,” Bristowe told Us in August 2022. “Because I’ll be like, ‘I’m in love with this venue and it’s perfect and it’s open.’ And he’ll be like, ‘Oh, no, that’s no. That’s not the style we’re going for at all.’”
During an interview with E! News two months later, Bristowe confirmed they didn’t have a venue or date booked. “We are both kind of stressed out to be honest with you, ”she said.
In the months that followed, the pair were less vocal about wedding plans and earlier this summer, a source exclusively told Us that the twosome were tired of fielding questions about when they would marry.
Now, Bachelor Nation is flooding their social media pages with inquiries about their status after she ditched her wedding ring, and they went on separate family vacations in July. The speculation seemingly prompted Bristowe to snap via Instagram Stories.
“I cannot believe the audacity of people to expect things from me when I haven’t even been able to process things for myself. Have a f—king heart,” she wrote in a since-deleted post on Tuesday, August 1. “You’re scaring me with your comments and demands. I’m almost worried about YOU.”
She returned to the app to direct her followers to her 2020 song “If I’m Being Honest,” sharing the lyrics: “Just ’cause I’m an open book / Don’t mean you get the whole story. And if I’m being honest / I’m not always as tough as I seem / And I can have my moments / But words can get the best of me / And the words that I say to myself / Are the ones that hit the hardest.”
