Amanda Batulaand herSummer Housecastmates did a lot of dressing up with nowhere to go last summer thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But now, as moreAmericans get vaccinatedand COVID restrictions continue to ease around the country, Batula, 29, is looking forward to resuming the ritual of getting ready for a night out, so she partnered withSkintimateto curate playlists and create cocktails and a video series that’ll set the right tone for the evening.
“There’s been so many times where my friends and I have spent way too many hours pregaming for the event and no time actually at the event, because I think the getting ready part is the best,” she tells PEOPLE. “I’m always the late one to any event because I’m spending too much time just enjoying myself getting ready. You shower, you shave, you feel refreshed, you put on some tunes, you make a cocktail and then maybe you go out or you just take a picture.”
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Batula has one major event to get ready for later this year: her wedding to costarKyle Cooke. The pandemic forced them to postpone the event multiple times, but they’ve finally decided to hold the nuptials at Batula’s parents' house in New Jersey this September.
“We were like, ‘Let’s just do it in my parents’ backyard. Let’s throw some epic high school-feeling party that’s a little more elevated, with maybe some caviar,'” the reality star says.
Despite no longer having to pay for their original Jersey City venue, Batula learned “a backyard wedding is just as expensive, if not more than if you have it in a venue, because you have to bring everything in.”
During theSummer Houseseason 5 finale, Batula and Cooke, 38, asked housematesPaige DeSorboandCarl Radketo be in their wedding party. As for who else from the Bravo show might attend the backyard affair, “for the most part, I think everyone will be [there],” Batula says. “The only one we question is Hannah.”
RELATED VIDEO: Kyle Cooke Says Situation with Hannah Berner ‘Isn’t What I Thought It’d Be’: ‘I’m the Scapegoat’
In the meantime, Batula and Cooke are staying focused on wedding planning, building their beverage brandLoverboyand fostering puppies in their Manhattan apartment.
“It’s really cute to see him with the puppies and fosters, and how much he does care for them,” Batula says of her soon-to-be husband. “If anything, I’m even more excited to start a family. I’ve always been ready, but it’s just really sweet to see him with them.”
Unlike her costarLindsay Hubbard— who showed up to season 5 with a timeline for when she plans to get married and start a family — Batula doesn’t consider herself “a planner at all.”
“With family and a future, I’m kind of always ready,” she says. “I never really have set plans.”
Batula claims she doesn’t know about any plans for a sixth season ofSummer House, either.
“I feel like we find out a few minutes before anyone else does, and it’s always right before we’re supposed to film. It’s like, ‘Hey, you’re invited and pack your bags for next Thursday because we’re going,'” she says. “I’d love to do another summer and I’d love to be back there. So I’ll hope for the best.”
source: people.com
