Katie Thurston & Jeff Arcuri Our Wedding Couldn't Wait

Battling breast cancer, the former Bachelorette sets her sights on a bright future: She married her fiancé of seven months in an intimate backyard ceremony

- SARAH HEARON

Thurston wore an "elegant" SER.O.YA. dress. His suit, also in cream, was from Suitsupply.

On a random Thursday, former Bachelorette Katie Thurston and comedian Jeff Arcuri — engaged since August — visited Us Weekly's New York City office for an interview to talk, in part, about her stage III breast cancer diagnosis.

“You would think it would cause more tribulation or problems, but more than anything else, it’s bonded us, which is why we're moving up the wedding,” Arcuri, 37, nonchalantly revealed to Us. “We're getting married in two days.”

Tearing up, Thurston, 34, said: “We don’t know what the next year looks like. And one night he said, ‘I want to show you I still love you and I'm here to stay.”

So on Saturday, March 22 — one year after Thurston found Arcuri via Instagram — they exchanged traditional vows in the backyard of their apartment in NYC's Little Italy with rings they'd bought on Amazon. (They're saving their personalized vows for a larger wedding when Thurston beats cancer, she says.) A friend officiated, and their parents, who flew in from Michigan (his) and Washington state (hers), were the only guests — unless you count their mixed-breed rescue dog, Charlie. (See sidebar for additional details.) Here’s more from their conversation with