Molly Rainford and Tyler West got engaged during a romantic break in Mykonos, Greece, almost a year ago, but they still have not booked a wedding date. The pair say they are enjoying the middle stage for now, even as people around them keep asking when the ceremony will happen.

West said planning a wedding is not a casual task. “It’s a whole other lifestyle, it’s a full-time job,” he said, while Rainford said the couple may need to “take a sabbatical” to think through their day. They also said choosing the food could take a long time. Rainford added that she does not know what she will fancy in a year’s time, and West said planning is even harder if the wedding is abroad because the options are limited.

The engagement has a long lead-in. West bought Rainford’s ring early in their relationship, and the two first met on Strictly Come Dancing four years ago. Their story has since moved from the dance floor to a quieter place, one where they say they are content to enjoy being engaged rather than rush toward a date.

That pause matters because the couple are not treating marriage as a deadline. West said the question they keep hearing is simple — when are they getting married — but he said they do not know yet and are happy in the stage they are in now. Rainford put it more plainly: once you are married, you are “Mr and Mrs forever,” while an engagement is not forever. For them, that in-between period is not a problem. It is the part they want to live in for a while.

The couple’s advice for others also points back to where they came from. Rainford urged future Strictly contestants to enjoy the experience and said it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn closely from professionals. “Just take it all in,” she said. “Take it all in and just go for it.” West agreed, saying the show changed their lives and that people should enjoy it before the next cast arrives and the conversation moves on.

Both say the show left a mark beyond romance. Rainford said she has discovered she is far more resilient than she expected, especially after spending so much of her life in the public eye since 2012. West, who started out on CBBC, said he has learned to live in the moment more, adding that in a short stretch of time he has gone from one stage of his career to another and achieved things he once only dreamed of. That is why the engagement feels less like a finish line than a pause that suits them. They are not making a quick decision, and for now, they do not want to.