It has been over a decade that the reality show the Bachelor and Bachelorette have been on the air. The first Bachelor show aired in 2002 and they have just wrapped up their 18th season while the Bachelorette is currently on season 10. With so many couples to keep track of, here are the top 3 wedding’s that took place live on ABC network and are still going strong.

In season one of the Bachelorette, after a lot of one-on-one and group dating, candle light dinners, fine wine, music, and travel, bachelor and firefighter Ryan Sutter got down on one knee and asked the bachelorette Trista Rehn to marry him. ABC network then paid them $1 million for the right to air their wedding, which was in a three-part episode special called Trista and Ryan’s Wedding: The Mini Series.

The wedding took place on Dec. 6, 2003 at The Lodge at Rancho Mirage in Palm Springs, California. It was reported that this wedding cost over $4 million and was every girls’ surreal fairy tale wedding. This was one of the most widely viewed episodes in the history of reality TV.

Then on Dec.14, 2014, on a Prime Time ABC  special, Trista and Ryan Sutter renew their vows once again to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. This time it was with their two children, son Maxwell Austin Sutter, who gave his mother away and daughter, Blakesley Grace Sutter, who was the flower girl escorting her father up the aisle. It was an emotional and heart-felt ceremony that can only be described as simply beautiful.

The second wedding was bachelorette Ashley Hebert and JP Rosenbaum in season seven of the Bachelorette. We all remember how the very funny, vibrant and loving Ashley started her search among 25 eligible bachelors for her Mr. Right. Viewers watched Ashley make her way through group dates and one-on-one dates to get to JP, who Ashley admittedly told the world she had fallen madly in love with. On the Island of Fiji, with a spectacular sunset, viewers watched as JP took his leap of faith and got down on one knee and proposed to Ashley. She gladly accepted his proposal with stars in her eyes, or were those tears, and her heart overflowing with love for JP.

Ashley and JP’s wedding was recorded on Dec. 12, 2012 for a televised ceremony for ABC but it did not air until two weeks later. It was one of the most beautiful weddings viewers have ever seen. Chris Harrison host of the show the Bachelorette and Bachelor officiated the service which started out with an traditional Celtic handfasting (Celtic handfasting is where the phrase “tying the knot” originated). Ashley’s mother, Laurie, and JP’s mother Elene, emotionally read the lines of the Celtic vow.

Celtic Hand Fasting

These are the two hands that will work alongside yours.
As together you build your first home,
plant your first garden and walk forward hand and hand into your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you.
The only ones with the ability to comfort you like no one else can.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your first child,
the hands that hold your family together as one.
These are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged
will still be reaching for yours as they hold you here and now,
promising they will never ever let you down.

Then Ashley and JP speak their own very loving and emotional vows to one another.

Update: On March 26, 2014 Ashley and JP Rosenbaum announced they are expecting their first child, another bachelor, a boy. Ashley found out while attending the bachelor Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici’s wedding which took place on Jan. 26, 2014. She actually took the test that day, and they are both ecstatic about the news as they had planned to start a family soon.

The third and final top 3 Bachelor and Bachelorette weddings of all time is Sean and Catherine’s. Yes, it took 17 long seasons of the Bachelor before fans got to see a wedding. Bachelor Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici had a whirlwind romance.

From the very first step from a limousine Catherine competed for his heart against 23 other women. The romance took the couple through many cities and countries, including one-on-one and group dates, as viewer watched their love grow for one another. Then in Thailand, in November 2012, Sean got down on one knee and proposed to Catherine Giudici. Catherine accepted with shaky voice and shaky hands as Sean then embraced her and cried into her shoulder. He told her how much he was in love with her and ended with a ride off into the sunset on an elephant. Nothing is bigger than that.

The wedding took place on Jan. 26, 2014 at The Four Season Biltmore Hotel in beautiful sunny Santa Barbara, California. Bachelor Sean Lowe’s father, minister Jay Lowe, officiated the service. Sean and Catherine “tie the knot” and say their heartfelt vows to one another promising to love, honor, and cherish each other. Friends, family and millions of Bachelor and Bachelorette fans and viewers watched from around the world.

Now with the Bachelorette in season 10, fans can only wonder if Bachelorette Andi Dorfman, in her search for Mr. Right, will give any of the three weddings a run for their money. Fans will have to stay tuned into the Bachelorette to find out.

By Sandra Pridge

Sources:
ETOnline
EOnline
People
YouTube