The Golden Bachelor's Gerry & Theresa Changed Their Wedding Plans In A Key Way

Couples can learn a lot about each other in the wedding planning process, especially if they’ve known each other for only a few months. That’s definitely the case for The Golden Bachelor’s Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist.

After getting engaged late this summer (their proposal aired in November), the couple began looking toward their future together, and part of that was coordinating their nuptials, which ABC will televise live on Jan. 4. Another aspect was discovering what more they share in common — and what they don’t see eye-to-eye on.

While Theresa and Gerry don’t have any substantial differences, she tells Bustle that they do deviate on one topic.

“The major difference between us is that I stay away from sugar, and he loves sugar,” Theresa says. Fortunately, there will be two cakes at the wedding, including a smaller one that’s “just for the girls.”

Gerry notes that sleep is another spot where they don’t quite align. “She tends to go to bed much later than I do,” he tells Bustle. “I tend to get up much earlier than she does. But we’re bringing that much closer together.”

Their Wedding Plans Changed

Gerry and Theresa’s Golden Wedding special takes place roughly four months after they got engaged. It’s a fitting conclusion to a journey Gerry described as a “whirlwind.” After all, as the inaugural Golden Bachelor joked at After the Final Rose, “At our age, we don’t have a lot of time to waste.”

But if ABC hadn’t stepped in to throw the couple a wedding, Gerry and Theresa might have waited a little longer.

“It probably would [have been] within the year,” Theresa says. “So maybe six to nine months?”

It Was “The Right Thing”

While having a live wedding speeds everything up, Theresa adds that it was “the right thing” to share the experience with fans — especially those who had been personally touched by the show.

Specifically, Theresa recalls hearing about a young viewer whose dad had passed away and whose mom had started dating someone within a year.

“She was mad at her mom the entire time. Until she started watching The Golden Bachelor as a joke, and she did get sucked into it,” Theresa says. “She saw how hard it was for us to find someone, and then she realized how wonderful it was that her mom found someone within a year. She called her mom that night, and they were crying on the phone.”

Tears are a common reaction to the highs and lows of The Golden Bachelor, so you can likely expect even more during the couple’s big day.