Stassi Schroeder: My Friends Will Complain About Attending My Destination Wedding—And That’s Okay

So that’s how we picked Rome. It has an international airport, and there’s so much city life to experience depending on what kind of traveler you are. If you want museums, there are museums. If you want to see historical monuments, walk the city. If you want to shop, there’s shopping. There are endless possibilities.

Everyone’s been nice to my face about having to travel for our wedding, which I think is typical. No one’s going to tell you, “Ugh, that’s not ideal.” They’ll just talk behind my back—and that’s totally fine! I want to put on my wedding invitation, “If you cannot make it, if this is too overwhelming for you, seriously, don't come. We’re okay with that! Let's go to dinner when we get back and celebrate privately. It is totally freaking fine if you think this is too much.”

The real challenge? That it’ll be filmed for Vanderpump Rules. When we went to Rome to scout locations, we took our wedding planners and our producer along. The issue is finding locations that are willing to film, which you’d think would be easy. But our first choice said no. It even affects the hotels. They have to sign off before I’m allowed to tell our guests where they can stay. Right now I’m waiting every single day to hear whether or not our venue has signed the Vanderpump Rules contract. Until then, we can’t start the actual planning. It’s at the point where both Beau and I said, "If we don't get this venue, we're just going to call it quits and go to the courthouse!”

Our venue, if the contracts go through, will be Villa Miani. What I love about it: We wanted an outdoor wedding that overlooks the city at dusk—at night you can see the whole city of Rome in lights. It’s so romantic. Again, we’re making people come all the way to Rome. Let’s give them a Roman experience!

As far as other activities, that’s something we have to plan with Vanderpump Rules in mind—because we have to be able to film it. People think that when you get married on TV, it’s like, “Oh, they just take care of it.” No, they do not take care of anything at all. It’s double the amount of hustle for us, and Bravo doesn’t pay for anything.

It’s frustrating at times: Beau and I are paying for the wedding ourselves. It’s our money, but I’m being told I can’t have my first choice in things. Sometimes I feel like, What am I doing this for? Why am I even going to film this? But at the same time, this is my life. I grew up on Vanderpump Rules. I started it in my early 20s. Now I’m in my early 30s, and all of my best friends are on the show. We’ve had the same crew for eight years—they’re like family to us. It’s my job, and my way of life, to show as much of my life as possible. I know that I’m lucky to have it all documented, and I’ll be able to share it with so many people once it airs.