Studio Clane Gessel
Randy Fenoli is engaged!
The say yes to the dress star, 58, popped the question on Saturday to Mete Kobal, his partner of nearly a year, at the Marmara Park Avenue Hotel in New York City.
“I’m so in love,” Fenoli told PEOPLE. “Every day I get dizzy. And every day just gets more amazing. It really does. It’s easy. It’s nothing like I thought a relationship was and nothing like I’ve never had in the past. It’s amazing.”
RELATED: The celebrity engagements of 2022
Fenoli prepared the elaborate surprise proposal for Kobal months in advance with the help of the planner Marcy Blum.
“Randy’s vision was over the top, lush decor, a big wow moment and all of his family and friends in a room to celebrate his marriage proposal to Mete,” Blum says. “He really wanted to surprise Mete with a beautiful moment that he will always remember. Randy and I have been friends forever and I’m so thrilled to create his perfect proposal for him. As anyone who knows Randy personally or on TV knows, “simple” is not part of his vocabulary. With the help of our friends at Mixed green event designwe designed an exaggerated, yet delightfully romantic, setting for her.
Studio Clane Gessel
RELATED: say yes to the dress Host Randy Fenoli breaks down her wedding dress do’s and don’ts
Fenoli told Kobal they were going to have dinner at the Museum of Modern Art, but instead 50 of their friends and family were waiting in the hotel lobby where he knelt as sparks lights lit up the room.
“I just wanted it to be really special for him and to make a memory that we would have for the rest of our lives,” he says.
RELATED: say yes to the dress Star Randy Fenoli reveals how ‘different’ weddings will be in the future
Before meeting her future husband, Fenoli admits he wasn’t sure marriage was in the cards for him until he met his now-fiancé. “I’m the king of marriage. I’ve been doing this wedding for 30 years, and honestly, I never thought this was going to happen to me,” he says.
“And I was okay with that,” he continues. “I was like, ‘Honestly, I have my career, I have my house, I have my dog, I have my mom,’ and I was like, ‘I’m just going to be single the rest of my life. life.’ And then I met Mete.”
The duo connected last January at the Marmara, where Kobal was then working as a restaurant and bar manager. They have been together ever since.
“I’m quite shocked myself,” says Fenoli.
Studio Clane Gessel
Since Kobal is originally from Turkey, Fenoli wanted to make sure his loved ones could be there for their special moment.
“I contacted one of his best friends and got all the email addresses of his best friends,” he reveals. “We set up a monitor so that all his friends in Turkey can join us on Zoom.”
At the couple’s engagement party, Fenoli curated a sampling of traditional hors d’oeuvres, but also made sure to include a nod to Kobal’s heritage in the form of a specialized Turkish cuisine.
RELATED: All celebrity weddings of 2022
Studio Clane Gessel
As for the wedding plans, Fenoli says he’s already started thinking about how they’ll say “yes.”
“We talked a lot about marriage,” he says. “We chose our outfits of course.”
A destination wedding has its appeal: “Princess Cruise Lines has a cruise that goes to Greece and Italy and then ends in Istanbul. And I think it could be something where we could do a little ceremony maybe in Italy or on the boat or something and then we’ll get to Istanbul and we can disembark and have a party for all his friends there and his family.
Never miss a story – subscribe to Free PEOPLE Daily Newsletter to stay up to date on the best that PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to gripping human interest stories.
say yes to the dress returns Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.