By Whitney Baker
Fans know Holly Durst as the bubbly winner of ‘Bachelor Pad 2,’ but now, she’s content just being a newlywed. Durst and Blake Julian, who met while competing on the reality show, tied the knot in South Carolina on June 2, 2012. The big day was perfect and more than she ever imagined. “I’m so happy! I love married life. It’s just the best,” she gushes.
Durst says her best piece of advice for brides-to-be is to hire a wedding planner. She adds, “I planned my whole wedding on Pinterest. I wanted to make sure that I remembered all of the little things.”
For Durst, it was those small details that made the day so special. Even her wedding dress had a personal touch. She always thought she’d wear a Cinderella gown, but she tried “so many of them on and always felt overwhelmed.” Her final pick, however, was the perfect fit. “It elongated my already long body. I made it my own by removing the rhinestones and adding a sash.”
Related: Exclusive: Bachelor Pad 2 Winner Holly Durst Plans Honeymoon in St. Lucia with Fiancé Blake Julian
Surprisingly, Durst’s favorite moment of her wedding happened before the ceremony. “Blake and I both were in the same room, but we couldn’t see each other — there was a wall in between us. We got to reach around and pray together right before the wedding,” she reveals.
Even though Durst was the star of the show, she wanted to make sure that her guests felt loved too — especially the single ladies. She added a personal touch to the bouquet toss, making the lucky girl who caught it feel even luckier. “I wrote a little note and stuck it in the flowers,” she shares. “I told her to be patient, and when she finds love, it’s going to be perfect. I hope that, someday, she experiences the same love that I have with Blake.”
As for their honeymoon in St. Lucia, Durst says, “It was so good! I didn’t want to come back.”
The couple took a very practical approach to planning their trip. First, they wanted to stay in the same time zone. She tells us, “We thought about Fiji or Bora Bora, but we would’ve wasted so much time traveling. The Caribbean was a perfect choice.”
Plus, Durst let Julian make most of the decisions. “He actually did all of the searching, and I just okayed things,” she says. “I planned a wedding, so I let him plan the honeymoon!”
During their time in St. Lucia, the couple enjoyed the amenities at an all-inclusive resort. They signed up for “everything” — pool and beach volleyball, paddleboard racing, ping-pong. They even rallied the other honeymooners into playing too. Durst explains, “One day, we left the resort and did an excursion around the island. We came back, and everyone was like, ‘No one did anything today because you guys weren’t around!’ We were the ones grabbing other people to join.”
Now that they’ve returned from paradise, it’s back to reality. As they settle into life as man and wife, they are keeping busy. According to an interview with Wetpaint, Durst, who has no desire to film her love life for reality television anymore, revealed that she would love to be a judge on ‘Bachelor Pad 3.’ However, when we asked her about any upcoming plans to do so, she simply replied, “No.” Perhaps she changed her mind when ABC announced that ex-fiancé Michael Stagliano would be one of the cast members.
As for tuning in to watch the show? Durst hesitantly replied, “We’ll see. I have so much to do!”
You can keep up with Durst on Twitter and her personal website, HollyDurst.com. Be sure to check out her new children’s book ‘Chocolate Socks’ as well. Congratulations to the happy couple!
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