Nikki Bella Spills on Wedding: ‘People Are Going to Think I’m Crazy’

Nikki Bella is dishing on her wedding with Brides!

The WWE champ tied the knot with “Dancing with the Stars” pro Artem Chigvintsev in Paris in August, and now she’s spilling the details.

She also posed in a series of looks for The Wedding Fashion Issue, but she won’t reveal her own wedding dress until “Nikki Bella Says I Do” debuts on E!

Chatting about her wedding, Nikki revealed she chose her dress less than an hour before the ceremony!

“People are going to think I’m crazy, but I didn’t choose my ceremony dress until 30 minutes before I walked down the aisle,” Nikki said, laughing. “My poor mother!”

She also shared her wedding dress inspiration.

“My Nana has a wall of family wedding photos in her house, and I would always go and look at my great grandmothers’ wedding dresses,” Nikki recalled. “There was just something so iconic and timeless about their gowns. I always knew that, on my wedding day, I wanted to wear something that would leave my grandkids staring at pictures of me thinking that they’d want to wear it at any age, too.”

She said she wanted to bring elegance to her look. “Growing up, my Nana always taught my sister and I that there’s power in being an elegant woman. We've gone in different directions at times,” she said laughing, “but something I always wanted to bring into my bridal outfits was elegance.”

That being said, Bella thinks brides should be “fearless” about their wedding day fashion.

“This is your time to shine and be a star. Sometimes I feel like some people are scared to express themselves in fashion, so they hold back in real life. When it's your wedding, it's time to be fearless,” she said.

“It’s your day, no one else's. If you want to wear black, or red, or pink, or whatever speaks to your soul, you have to do it because this is your moment. The worst thing would be to look back and think, ‘I wish I took that chance.’”

The star insisted, “When you wear something you love, even if it’s a little non-traditional, you put off this incredible energy and that’s all anyone around you will see. The bride makes the dress, the dress doesn’t make a woman a bride.”

Bella also revealed she walked down the aisle solo. “I walked myself down the aisle, because I'm about to be 39 and I don't need to be given away,” she said. “I’m a mother. I'm an entrepreneur. I’ve done a lot of things on my own in life, so while I knew I wanted to walk myself down the aisle, I also wanted to have the presence of all these strong women with me.”

Bringing that feminine strength were two rosaries that she carried with her. One was her grandmother’s and one was from Artem’s mother. She also wore a rose-shaped ring that was her great-grandmother’s.

Bella added, “When I walked down the aisle, I wanted to be the strong, fierce woman, but also have this feminine, graceful side that made Artem melt.”

Back in April 2022, Nikki told “Extra’s” Katie Krause, "We do have a date, which is crazy… In the fall of 2022… Couple months. We’re working on the venue…"

Nikki revealed at the time that Brie would be her maid of honor. She said, “I am gonna take this girl away from the lake, to New York and L.A., to look for dresses.”

Back in September 2020, Artem told us they were waiting until the COVID-19 pandemic got better before having their wedding.

“We don't want to do the wedding with masks… Want to do it when things get better… Definitely soon,” he said at the time.

Nikki and Artem were dance partners on the 25th season of “Dancing with the Stars” in 2017. Years later, they started dating. He popped the question in late 2019.