Photo: The Citrus Collection

Sydney Lotuaco is engaged!
“One and DONE! 💍 I love you forever @njw_0401 🤍,” she wrote alongside the series of sweet shots — including one of her dazzlingTacori engagement ring.
“Nick had watched me onThe Bachelorand for whatever reason took a liking to me” she says. “We [started] talking back and forth via Instagram, then texting, and eventually FaceTimed for 3 months before ever meeting in person.”
Lotuaco tells PEOPLE that she “had never had a boyfriend” before joining theBachelorfranchise but had a strong feeling that whomever she wound up dating “would be the real thing.”
“So I continued that search after leaving the show,” she says, “which eventually led me to Nick!”
“We built an amazing connection just over the phone,” she tells PEOPLE. “I got to really know him as a person on so many levels. It was almost like theBachelorbubble except without cameras and the other suitors. I saw what an amazing man he is from the way he cares for his family and all that he has overcome.”
The Citrus Collection

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Toney then suggested the pair write each other letters to read during the shoot, which Lotuaco “thought was super cute.”

“When Nick and I first started dating we were long distance and shared a journal that we’d write love notes to each other in when we were apart,” Lotuaco tells PEOPLE. “Nick wanted to incorporate the journal somehow so Kate had the idea of having us write each other letters to read during the shoot.”
“I said ‘Yes’ without any questions and am so excited to get to spend forever with him,” Lotuaco says. “I always knew I would be one and done and was waiting for the right person. Nick was my first and only boyfriend and is now my fiancé and will eventually be my husband. He was very much worth the wait!”

As for wedding plans, Lotuaco tells PEOPLE, “We’re not there yet, but will probably start brainstorming venues at least soon.”
For now, she says, “we’re just soaking in this moment!”
source: people.com