‘Nikki Bella Says I Do’: Artem Supports Nikki Wearing Dress From John Cena Wedding To Their Nuptials

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Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev have just four weeks to plan their wedding in their four-part wedding special, Nikki Bella Says I Do. The first part aired on Jan. 26, and featured Nikki coming to the decision that she wanted to get married in just four weeks time after a two and a half year engagement. “As entertainers, we have no idea when the next gig [is going to come],” Nikki explained. “But we know no matter what, the next four weeks we have off. I say we get it done before Dancing With The Stars [begins]. So much keeps happening. Why not make our family a family officially?” Artem was on board.

With all the planning that needed to take place in four weeks, Nikki was “ahead of the game” in one aspect: Her wedding dress. Before getting together with Artem, Nikki was engaged to John Cena, and they were meant to tie the knot in the spring of 2018. Nikki had already bought her “two dream dresses” at the time, but never made it down the aisle. She told her sister, Brie Bella, that she wanted to wear one of the dresses when she married Artem. “I feel like when you have these gorgeous gowns that cost so much money and are my dream dresses…why wouldn’t I wear them?” Nikki said.

Brie wasn’t quite on board right away, but when Nikki tried the dress on, she couldn’t help but admit how amazing it was. “I kept thinking to myself that it’s a little weird this was your first wedding dress, but now I see it on you and this was just made for you and who you are,” Brie admitted. Nikki added, “Putting this dress on…I’m obsessed with it. It’s just me. It has that European charm that I always love so much. It’s just right.”

Nikki had previously opened up to Brides magazine about her decision to wear this dress. “I bought those dresses for me,” Nikki insisted. “People will try to make you think differently and say, ‘Oh, but it was for that person and that wedding.’ But after being on this journey, what I realized was….no. I didn’t buy those dresses for that person. Yes, it was going to be for that event, but that event didn’t happen. So my advice to anyone who already has their dress and is in the same situation is: If that dress is something you love, wear it. If you don’t you’re always going to think of it. You have an attachment to it. Do what makes you happy.”

As the episode went on, a lot of Nikki and Artem’s dream plans for their Napa wedding started to fall through. Amidst all that, Nikki also had to tell Artem about her dress plans. Luckily, he wasn’t fazed. “That’s the last thing on my mind,” Artem told Nikki. “If you’re happy with it, you’re happy with it. If it’s the dress you want to wear, you wear the dress you want to wear.”

For Artem, the bigger issue was that his parents might not be able to attend the wedding. Artem’s family lives in Russia, and with the war in Ukraine happening, it would be “impossible” for them to fly to the States for the wedding. “My parents lived their lives for my brother and I,” Artem said, choking back tears. “And you’re supposed to grow up and take care of them and I feel so helpless in that sense. I can’t even send them money anymore.”

The situation led Nikki and Artem to change all their plans and decide on a Paris wedding. “Since growing up, I’ve always been hooked on the phrase, ‘Run away to Paris with me,'” Nikki shared. “I always thought I would use that with a guy. I think that I finally realized is that maybe that deals with my wedding and I just need my groom to run away to Paris with me and get married. Give me Paris and I’ll give him his parents and that’s all we need.” Nikki Bella Says I Do continues on Feb. 2.