After spending considerable time deliberating on a wedding venue, former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo has chosen to return to her roots in Rhode Island for her big day. On TikTok, the 2012 Miss Rhode Island shared her excitement about visiting her wedding venue in person. The reality star is engaged to NFL running back Christian McCaffrey.
“I’m not going to tell you where it is yet,” she said in the video. “It took us a really long time to figure out where we wanted to get married. We were thinking Colorado for a while. That’s where Christian’s from.” Ultimately, Culpo, who now resides in Los Angeles, decided to come home for her wedding day. The couple celebrated their engagement in Rhode Island in July. Culpo owns multiple restaurants in the state, frequently expresses her love for Little Rhody on her reality show “The Culpo Sisters,” and her parents live there.
“I have to say, there is a lot of pride from our little state,” she said in the video. “This is the smallest state in the country … so people think Rhode Island is an island or some people think it’s part of New York. It’s the best state in the entire world, and I’m getting married here.” In the video, she also mentioned her desire to start a family with McCaffrey as soon as possible after the wedding. When a commenter shared a story about convincing her husband to move to Rhode Island, Culpo commented, “this is low key my dream.”
The couple, who have been together since 2019, got engaged on April 2. Culpo shared the news on April 7 on Instagram, posting a series of black-and-white photographs. The photos show the San Francisco 49ers star running back, 27, taking a knee to propose while Culpo looks joyously shocked with her hands up to her face. Other photos from their Utah vacation show the two hugging and Culpo showing off her sparkling engagement ring.
“We tried to keep this quiet for as long as possible, but word travels fast,” Culpo wrote in an Instagram stories post. “I’m marrying my best friend. I love you so much, fiancé.”
As her wedding date approaches, Olivia Culpo is sharing her must-haves for her big day. In a new interview with E! News, the Culpo Sisters star, 31, joked that her No. 1 wedding essential is the groom. “He definitely has to be there,” she said of her NFL player fiancé, Christian McCaffrey. “He’s a non-negotiable,” she added. “Groom, family, great weather. Actually, you know what? I’m going to leave the weather part out because whatever happens, happens.”
Celebratory drinks are also top of mind for the former Miss Universe. “I love champagne, so I need to have a good champagne,” Culpo told E! News, adding, “I love tequila. Great food and then great friends and good energy. Just fun times.”
Earlier this month, Culpo shared a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the pair checking off a fun task on their wedding to-do list: cake tasting. In a post on her Instagram Story on March 4, she shared a picture of herself and the San Francisco 49ers running back, 27, posing for the camera as they held up forks speared with small pieces of cake. “Wedding [cake] tasting,” the model captioned the snapshot, adding a party emoji.
In February, just days ahead of his team’s appearance in the 2024 Super Bowl, McCaffrey praised his fiancée for being a total pro at planning their wedding. “She’s done a hell of a job,” the athlete told Extra in a clip shared on TikTok at the time. “She’s definitely steering the ship when it comes to anything regarding the wedding as of now. It’s been going really well.” He explained that while he shares his input “when needed,” Culpo gets all the credit for masterminding their upcoming nuptials.
“Obviously, her style is unbelievable and everything that she wants I also like,” he noted. “I’m so thankful that I have someone like her who’s not just supporting me the way she is but also handling all stuff like that, allowing me to do what I love in the moment while she’s still working on her career as well.”
Culpo and McCaffrey, who were first romantically linked in May 2019, got engaged in April 2023. He popped the question while the two were vacationing together at Amangiri in Utah. “We tried to keep this quiet for as long as possible but apparently word travels fast,” Culpo wrote on Instagram at the time she shared the happy news. “I’m marrying my best friend, I love you so much, fiancé.”
Culpo later revealed the couple’s wedding location in a TikTok in October. “It took us a really long time to figure out where we wanted to get married. We were thinking Colorado for a while because that’s where Chris is from,” she told her followers, before sharing that they ultimately settled on Rhode Island, the state where she grew up. “I have to say there is a lot of pride from our little state,” she later said. Culpo added, “It’s the best state in the entire world and…I’m getting married here!”
Olivia Culpo and Christian McCaffrey can’t wait to start planning their wedding — but not until the Super Bowl is in their rearview mirror. “They’ll be doing it in the offseason. The vibe is elegant and luxurious,” a source exclusively shares in the new issue of Us Weekly, noting that there are a few details Culpo, 31, has already taken care of. “Olivia had a hard time picking out the perfect dress since she’s worn so many gowns, but she’s found the one!”
For now, McCaffrey, 28, is gearing up to help lead the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl LVIII victory as the team’s star running back. The game will take place in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 11, and Culpo couldn’t be more excited to watch her fiancé on the field. “Olivia loves supporting him from the stands,” the insider says. “She’s so proud of him.”
Culpo won’t be in the stands for the big game. Instead, she’ll be cheering McCaffrey on from a different place: an Alleviate Stadium private box suite. The model purchased one earlier this week after the NFL star’s mom, Lisa McCaffrey, opened up about her struggles to secure enough reasonably priced tickets to her son’s first Super Bowl. “We looked into a suite and none of us can afford it,” Lisa, 59, confessed during an interview on the “Your Mom” podcast earlier this month. “Not even Christian, moneybags over there nor moneybags Olivia. So, we are not in a suite. I’ll tell you that right now.”
While Christian said he had to “nix” the large gesture, time will tell if Olivia and her future mother-in-law will cozy up in the lavish booth. The showdown marks a rematch for the teams, who previously faced off in 2020 with the Chiefs ultimately taking the win 31-20. The 49ers secured their spot in this year’s game on January 28 after they defeated the Detroit Lions 34-31 in the NFC Championship. Culpo quickly took to social media after the game to gush over her Christian and celebrate his big moment.
“You deserve it all Christian ❤️ I love you so so much,” she wrote via Instagram alongside a clip of the pair hugging on the field and chest-bumping in a sweet postgame moment. “Watching the love of your life live out his dream is the best feeling in the world.”
Christian and Culpo’s romance began in June 2019 following her split from former NFL star Danny Amendola. The couple initially kept their relationship relatively under wraps until they attended the NFL Honors ceremony together in February 2020. Christian proposed three years later. Ahead of their engagement, Culpo gave Us a glimpse into what makes her relationship with Christian such a success. “We’re both really understanding about [our] schedules and the way that things have to work for the time being, and that definitely helps,” she exclusively told Us in November 2022. “I think when you’re on the same page with that … you really can make it work.”
Culpo added that it wasn’t long into her romance with Christian that she started envisioning a future with him. “[We’re] taking it day by day,” she said when asked about hitting more major milestones, like starting a family. “It’s really exciting, you know, there’s so much to be grateful for, and I don’t wanna give too much away because we do get into this a lot in [on The Culpo Sisters] but … I know that everything’s gonna work out exactly how it’s supposed to. I’m really excited for that.”
The twosome may love to live in the moment, but now that their wedding is imminent Culpo has some ideas for the duo after saying “I do.” “I feel like the day after my wedding, Culpo said via TikTok in October 2023, “I’m just gonna rip out my IUD and start trying [to get pregnant] immediately.”
For more on Culpo and McCaffrey’s wedding plans, check out the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
Source: People, E! News, Us Weekly
