A tough call. The Challenge’s Jenna Compono and Zach Nichols have chosen to put their big wedding plans on hold — and sadly, it has to do with coronavirus safety concerns.
“With everything going on, we didn’t want anyone to feel pressured or worried about attending our wedding. It is supposed to be a celebration,” Compono, 27, told Us Weekly exclusively on Tuesday, December 1. “We have so many friends and family, it was impossible for everyone to feel comfortable and we didn’t want people to have to make the decision to come or not. We decided that we would postpone until 2022 when things are hopefully better by then.”
The Real World alum continued, “It was a really hard decision. I have been finalizing so many things with my planner, Kristin Buonaiuto, and crossing my fingers things would blow over soon. But I think we made the right decision. I also want to send positive vibes out to all my other brides, because it’s a really hard thing to go through!”
Compono and Nichols, 33, met in 2014 while competing on The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2. From there, they continued to date off and on until getting engaged in December 2019 at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City.
Earlier this year, the MTV duo confirmed that their wedding would take place on February 13, 2021. However, on Saturday, November 28, they announced via Instagram that they pushed back their ceremony by a whole year. Compono noted that it was a “sucky decision,” while Nichols said that delaying their ceremony is “for the best.”
Compono told Us on Tuesday how the pair have supported each other since putting their big day on hold. “Zach knows postponing the wedding was really hard for me. We both went on our bachelorette, bachelor parties, the bridesmaid dresses were bought, my wedding dress fittings were happening, flower colors and designs were already made and so much more,” she explained. “We put a lot of time into finalizing everything for it to be for nothing.”
The New York native added, “I was happy we both agreed to postpone, Zach was very supportive with that because he wants us to have our dream wedding. You get one wedding. We want ours exactly how we dreamed of it, even if that means waiting another year.”
Compono confirmed that while they’ve settled on having their church ceremony and reception in 2022, the couple are “going back and forth with dates.” They plan to still use The Sand Castle in Franklin, New York, as their venue and keep similar designs planned for their initial event. In the meantime, Compono noted that “not having to really plan anything right away will be nice,” but they will soon apply for a marriage license and set a courthouse wedding date for January.
Before postponing their journey down the aisle, Compono told Us in February that the couple were already thinking about starting a family together. While she initially said that they planned to “pop out some babies” after the 2021 ceremony, they have since had to adjust their plans.
“I personally wanted to get married before babies,” she said on Tuesday. “But with our wedding being pushed back, we are going to get married at the courthouse sometime in January and take it from there.”
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe
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