Wedding Watch: Which Engaged Celebrities Are Riding the Fast Track to the Altar and Who's Taking Their Time

A look at the couples who are furiously prepping for their big day—and those who are taking their time

By Natalie Finn Feb 15, 2018 6:15 PMTags

It's never wise to get too hung up on celebrity breakups, because so many other celebrities are going to settle down in their wake.

Perhaps even some of the same celebrities!

2018 is barely underway (or is it already almost March?) and there are dozens of potential weddings in the works, in the minds of the betrothed at the very least if not yet necessarily on paper in the form of a down payment to the caterer.

Some duos rang in the new year having been engaged for ages, others took that step more recently, and at least one pair have a very clear and distinct plan that will be carried out with military precision.

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Stars' Engagement Rings
Melissa Herwitt/E! Illustration

Obviously that last one refers to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who announced their engagement on Nov. 27. Thanks to the dutiful palace, we know that these two will be marrying in a midday ceremony on May 19—a rare Saturday ceremony, such as when Harry's dad, Prince Charles, married Duchess Camilla in civil proceedings—at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. After the ceremony, the newlyweds will take a carriage ride around town, so the adoring crowd can share in the revelry, before returning to St. George Hall for the reception.

"Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle are hugely grateful for the many good wishes they have received since announcing their engagement. They are very much looking forward to the day and to being able to share their celebrations with the public," Kensington Palace said in a statement, echoing our sentiments about the sharing.

Far more secretive will be the dressing of the bride. Markle's longtime friend and stylist Jessica Mulroney is one of the few people who know which designer the former Suits star has selected to make her gown, but a royal insider has confirmed that the consultations have begun.

Presumably once Harry and Meghan are married we'll suffer from the usual post-joy malaise—but in a sweet twist of fate, theirs won't be the only royal wedding this year!

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Harry's cousin Princess Eugenie recently announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, and those two will be getting married on Oct. 12—also at St. George's Chapel.

"I was over the moon," Eugenie, the younger daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, recalled Jack's proposal in their official engagement interview with the BBC. "[It was a] complete surprise. But it was the perfect moment, we couldn't be happier. We knew it was going to end up this way."

More official details to come. You can count on it.

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Royal Weddings Galore

Also making it into the high-profile engagement category are Gwyneth Paltrow and her longtime boyfriend Brad Falchuk, who let the reports swirl before they lavishly confirmed the news themselves last month in a multi-pronged announcement, which included a cover shoot for Gwyneth's goop magazine.

The "Love and Sex" issue, to be specific.

"We feel incredibly lucky to have come together at this juncture in our lives, when our collective successes and failures can serve as building blocks for a healthy and happy relationship," the couple said in a statement released first to Good Morning America.

"Personally, at midlife, I have tried to accept how complex romantic love can be," Paltrow said in the magazine. "I have decided to give it a go again, not only because I believe I have found the man I was meant to be with, but because I have accepted the soul-stretching, pattern-breaking opportunities that (terrifyingly) are made possible by intimacy."

Both she and Falchuk are divorced with two kids, so we're guessing these two are planning an intimate yet—knowing the bride—beyond enviable ceremony.

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The Most Over-the-Top Celebrity Weddings

Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook gushed in a recent issue of the equestrian magazine Sidelines that they "can't wait to spend forever together," but we hear that Cuoco's "not rushing it."

Which is understandable since she married first husband Ryan Sweeting after a fairly whirlwind courtship, leaving too many surprises for the post-honeymoon phase. Their divorce was finalized in May 2016. (So what we can tell you about the Cuoco-Cook nuptials is that they won't be on New Year's Eve and the bride won't be wearing pink.)

The couple, who celebrated their engagement at Disneyland, bonded over their love of horses—riding is the actress' passion and his profession—after meeting at an equestrian event, and they've been nearly inseparable ever since. 

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Celeb Wedding Dresses

Ed Sheeran also recently doubled down on his many declarations about wanting to settle down and start a family, popping the question to longtime love Cherry Seaborn in December.

"I wanted to be a dad, like, last year," Sheeran told Zane Lowe during an interview on Apple Music's Beats 1 over a year ago. "I'm ready, let's go—tour bus babies, little fat, chubby babies that just walk around."

But first things' first—wedding speculation! First came a rumor that Harry and Meghan were interested in having Sheeran play a few songs at their wedding, though as of now he actually has a concert scheduled for that night in Dublin (not that he couldn't do both, and then came a report that Sheeran wanted Beyoncé for his wedding.

To which we might add, who wouldn't?

"Ed's hired a wedding planning team and has given them an unlimited budget—insisting he just wants it to be the best party ever," a source told Britain's Closer magazine. "Guests will dine on traditional favorites like bangers and mash and pie and gravy—as well as being able to drink beers and ales, instead of champagne and cocktails." 

At this point, we're willing to bet that Ed Sheeran is going to perform at his own wedding. "Perfect" is about his bride-to-be, after all.

But you know who probably isn't getting married this year?

 
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Truly Unique Celebrity Engagement Rings
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, having been back together for two years after a two-year break, following four years together...

Let's just say, they're in no rush. In fact, last fall Miley told The Sun, "I don't envision marriage. I'm 24. I hope to get to live a little bit more. I have too much living to do [first]."

To clarify, she did mean "living to do" with Liam. Most of the time Miley is rocking the diamond engagement ring the Australian actor gave her and you can find them quite often on some beach together, on either Hemisphere. And she just wished him a flirty happy Valentine's Day on Wednesday.

"I'm just riding this out," she told The Sun. "In some relationships, you lose yourself by being with someone else. Actually, it made me find myself more. I have no idea what the next three years will bring, but if it's possible to get even happier, I'll take it."

Of course, there's been plenty of speculation, furthered along by Miley's choice of jewelry once in awhile, that these two already are married—which they're not, but a source says they already feel like they are. 

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Secret Celebrity Weddings
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Ashley Greene also made clear to E! News that she wanted to enjoy being engaged and had no plans to marry Paul Khoury—who happens to be one of Hemsworth's good friends—in 2017.

"I know it's coming, and then we'll enjoy be married and that whole bit," the In Dubious Battle actress said in January 2017. "I think this year we really want to focus on our careers and kind of starting to build our life together."

Greene reiterated that plan to E! the following month, saying, "Definitely nothing this year, perhaps next year. I'm still at the point of looking down at my hand and going 'Oh, my God! I'm engaged!'...I kind of want to relish in that first before taking on planning a wedding. We are going to try to make it as easy as possible but planning a wedding is a stressful thing for anyone and I just want to enjoy being engaged before I go down that road."

Surprise! It's next year!

Meanwhile, the couple, who have been together since 2013, just got adopted a new dog, Indy, and the romance is alive.

We don't expect Meghan and Harry to be the only people tying the knot in 2018, though...

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Emily VanCamp and Josh Bowman, engaged since May, just haven't had the time to plan either! But "maybe" in 2018, the Resident star coyly answered when we asked her last month about the likelihood of a wedding this year.

That being said, VanCamp told People, We're not in a rush and we're not in the wedding planning zone. I think once we start it'll go quickly hopefully, but we're both very focused on our work, so the little time we have together, we just want to be together."

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We're also starting to suspect that we'll be waiting for the end of Game of Thrones for Sophie Turner to swap vows with Joe Jonas, who proposed last fall after barely a year of dating.

And that leaves us with mixed feelings because, while we'll be psyched for a Jonas-Turner wedding (anything the Jonas brothers in suave suits, really), we don't want GoT to end.

"I can tell you that he found his partner and love of his life," Nick Jonas told Entertainment Tonight in November, fresh from attending an engagement party for his brother and future sister-in-law in New York. "That's all that matters. It's a beautiful thing."

Asked more specifically in December what his role might be at Joe's wedding, Nick told Yahoo, "I imagine I'll be doing something. I don't know what yet. They've got to plan it out first, but I'm sure I'll probably do something."

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On the flip side, John Cena told E! News in January that his and fiancée Nikki Bella's wedding planning was "actually going to gear up in the next few weeks. It's kind of a special time where there is a little bit of lull [from work] and I'm really looking forward to spending some time with Nicole and work on that.

"Hopefully, in the next few weeks the wedding planning is really going to amp up!"

Well, you're not going to hear any objections from us.

The longtime couple got engaged last April and have already had to change the date and location once due to their increasingly busy schedules.

John "The Accountant" Cena told us last year after he popped the question, "I'm kind of in charge of the budget, so we're keeping everything on dollar. But I just want the event to be fun. I really want the event to be fun."

"No elephants," Nikki promised in June. "I think we're just going to keep it super intimate and just family and friends."

And there are plenty of other betrothed couples whose impending I-dos will surely be attracting our attention as well: Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry, Mandy  Moore and Taylor Goldsmith, Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre, Paris Hilton and Chris Zylka, Darren Criss and Mia Swier,  Kit Harington and Rose Leslie...

Just call us the Night's Wedding Watch.

For more on your favorite couples' road to the altar, watch E! News tonight at 7 and 11 p.m.