This story originally appeared on People.
Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasalo are looking forward to tying the knot — and starting a family!
The Bachelorette alum, who met, fell in love with and got engaged to Abasalo on the season 13 finale of the ABC reality series, celebrated the couple’s nearing nuptials with an engagement party on Thursday evening, which was attended by numerous Bachelor Nation alums, including Lucas Yancey, Iggy Rodriguez and Dean Unglert.
For the beautiful bash, Lindsay, 32, donned a flowy white gown while Abasalo, 37, sported a dark suit. She also debuted the “Rachel” dress, designed by Monique Lhuillier Bridesmaids exclusively for Vow to be Chic. “I would want everyone to wear this Rachel dress in different colors,” Lindsay explains to PEOPLE about the gown she hopes her bridesmaids will eventually wear. “I’m affiliated with Paw Works so I want everyone to be holding a rescue dog!”
Although no wedding date is firmly set in stone, Lindsay says that the ceremony will happen sometime next year. “Originally we said a winter wedding then both of our mothers said: ‘Don’t, can we have a fall wedding?’ Now, I could do spring! I’m ready! 2018 for sure. I am not waiting another year,” she shares.
“I’ve never been the wedding type to have everything set and all planned. I just want good vibes. I want my friends there and my family there and for everyone to have a good time. And I love yellow. If it’s in spring, there will be a lot of yellow around,” she explains of her vision for the couple’s big day. “I don’t want it to be too uptight. I want it to be laid-back. I want it to be casual. I want people to feel like they can take off their shoes and dance the night away.”
While Lindsay is excited to say “I do,” she’s most looking forward to partying the night away at the pair’s reception. “For the wedding it’s about being surrounded by the people we love the most seeing our unity in front of family and in front of God,” she shares. “Separate from that, the music! I want to dance the night away and just celebrate our love.”
Lindsay, who is already mama to her fur baby, Copper — “Copper loves Bryan. He had no choice. If Copper didn’t approve, we would have problems. But he loves Bryan and Bryan loves him. Bryan loves dogs. He wants another one. We’re just one family unit!” she explains — admits she and Abasalo are most looking forward to “starting our own family!”
“We’re both eager to have that family unit. I’m ready to start our life together and I think that’s going to be a beautiful thing,” she tells PEOPLE, and adds of her fiancé, “We’re ready. He’s going to be a great dad.”
For now, the couple is enjoying their one-to-one time with each other and is happiest when it’s just “the two of us, at home in Dallas, ordering food in, chilling with Copper, watching sports. That’s what feels the most normal to us. We’re spending Christmas in Miami and that feels normal too.”
“Sometimes I’m siting with Bryan I’m like this time last year I was sitting in my office and I didn’t have a boyfriend. My world has changed so much and for the better,” Lindsay says since starring on The Bachelorette. “You never know what can happen in a year. This time next year I might have another dog or a baby. It’s crazy to think all this happened.”