Renee Oteri shocked Bachelor fans when she married a few weeks after her heart-wrenching break-up with Juan Pablo Galavis aired. And Renee Oteri didn’t marry just some guy she met and knew for a few weeks. She married her best friend of 22 years Bracy Maynard!
Which led fans to wonder what their history with one another was…I mean why didn’t they get together before The Bachelor….
So that said, how for the love of God, did Renee Oteri meet husband Bracy Maynard?
The 32-year-old single mother from Seattle spoke to People magazine about her whirlwind romance and marriage.
Source: Instagram
A lot of people are curious about the time-frame of the romance. Although Renee’s break-up episode occurred a few weeks earlier, her actual romance post-JP was five months.
She told People this about the event:
“I’m still walking on air,”….. “It’s surreal. It may seem like it happened so fast, but for me, because I’ve known him my whole life, it’s not.”
But take heart, these two have known each other far longer than five months. They met 22 years ago in middle school students in North Carolina.
“He was my first crush, my first kiss, my first boyfriend,” Oteri says. “When I was 12-years-old, I wrote in my diary that I was going to marry Bracy Maynard. It’s insane!”
After Juan Pablo sent her home in late October 2013, ex-boyfriend Bracy reached out to her.
“He had this epiphany,” Oteri says. “He said, ‘I’m ready now, I want this to work.’ I came to visit him and it was like we never broke up. It was better than it ever was.”
So Maynard was then offered a job in Seattle, and he begged his new ‘situation’ Oteri and her son Ben to come with him, proposing on Feb. 24.
The pair were eager to make it ‘official’ and went to courthouse to seal the deal on March 20, bailing on the usual pomp and circumstance.
“It was romantic, and it was us,” says Oteri. “We didn’t want a big wedding or a big production. It was more important that Bracy, Ben and I were there. I called the courthouse on a Tuesday and we were married on Thursday!”
Renee wore a vintage, ’70s ivory lace dress for the nuptials that she bought for $50. And the tearful vows were witnessed by two people – drumroll please…..her cousin and friend Desiree Hartsock!
“It was the best day,” says Oteri. “Looking back on the photos, I say, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen a smile on my face like that before.’ ”
“I love everything about Bracy,” says Oteri. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted in my life, since I was a little girl. It’s definitely my fairy tale ending.”
Congratulations Renee! We are so glad this ‘situation’ worked out.
Renee Oteri and husband Brady are pregnant!!!
Featured photo source: Instagram
