The Secret Wedding: February 28 Nashville Elopement Revealed
For five weeks after they got married, nobody outside their immediate families knew. Candice King and Steven Krueger tied the knot on February 28, 2026 — quietly, in Nashville, surrounded by fifteen people — and kept it entirely private until Vogue published the exclusive on April 4, 2026.
The choice to stay silent was itself a statement. In an era when celebrity engagements, pregnancies, and weddings are announced in real time to millions of social media followers, this couple did the opposite: they got married, enjoyed five weeks of private newlywed life, and only then let the world in.
Vogue’s profile on April 4 released details that Vampire Diaries fans immediately made viral. The ceremony was held at The Chapel at High Point Farm in Nashville — a venue King found on Instagram. The flowers were arranged by Amelia’s Flower Truck. The reception followed at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse, a place the couple had already visited together for memorable family meals, which gave the evening a sense of continuity rather than performance.
The guest list was 15 people in total: their immediate families, King’s two daughters Florence (10) and Josephine (5) from her previous marriage, and Krueger’s two nieces. The officiant was Carina Adly MacKenzie — TV writer, mutual best friend, known for her work on The Originals and We Were Liars — who flew in specifically for the occasion.
“The cherry on top was one of our mutual best friends, Carina MacKenzie, flying in to officiate for us,” Krueger told Vogue. “We had 15 people in total, including Candice’s daughters and my two nieces. And it was perfect.”
King described the moment of walking down the aisle in terms that have since become the most-quoted passage from the Vogue profile:
“Walking down the little aisle, I remember hearing the soft sounds of live guitar being played by a friend of a friend that we’d never met, the flowers making this tiny wooden chapel feel like a fairytale greenhouse, and the warm glow of light on Steven’s face. We’d already done a first look at our house, but walking down the aisle in that warm glow of the magic hour felt like our own little secret. Like the rest of the world kept turning in chaos, and we had this small little nook of the world to ourselves. Time slowed down and felt like a love song.”
Sources: Just Jared | AOL / Us Weekly | AOL / relationship timeline
Pregnant With Baby Boy: How the Pregnancy Changed Fall 2026 Plans
The elopement was not originally the plan. Krueger and King had been working toward something considerably larger — a full Nashville wedding with friends and extended family, scheduled for Fall 2026. It was well into the planning stage when everything changed.
In December 2025, King announced she was pregnant — the couple’s first child together, and King’s third child overall. The pregnancy, which came roughly seven months after their April 2025 engagement, reset the timeline entirely.
The logic was practical but also deeply personal: with a baby due in May 2026, holding a large wedding in Fall 2026 meant either waiting until after the baby’s arrival (when a newborn would make large-scale celebrations significantly harder) or finding a different path. They chose the different path.
“We decided to have a small elopement-style weekend in Nashville with just our immediate families, and save the bigger celebration for sometime next year,” Krueger told Vogue.
The pregnancy also created a specific challenge King addressed with characteristic humour. Finding a wedding dress while visibly pregnant proved considerably harder than anticipated.
“Shockingly, there’s not a huge market for wedding dresses that fit over a baby bump,” she told Vogue. “I was quite nervous to find a dress that would make me feel bridal and maternal — and not like the ‘Stay Puft Marshmallow Man’ from Ghostbusters bouncing down the aisle.”
The solution was a Grace Loves Lace gown — the third dress she tried on. “I felt like it was perfect. Enough structure to feel romantic and enough stretch to grow with my belly, even though my belly still outgrew the dress.” She paired it with a Claire Pettibone veil.
On the question of her baby boy, King had spoken warmly about the pregnancy in December 2025: “It’s such a joy. It’s something that we’re not only excited about right now. This is something we’ve been daydreaming about so it’s lovely to be here right now celebrating it.” On Krueger as a future father: “There’s so many things that Steven does as a partner and as [my daughters’] stepfather on a daily basis that he already shows me how wonderful of a father he is and will be.”
A larger celebration remains planned for sometime in 2027.
Sources: AOL / Us Weekly | Just Jared | 10BM News
Candice King and Steven Krueger: The Full Relationship Timeline
The love story of Candice King and Steven Krueger is one that fans of the TVD universe find genuinely satisfying — two characters from different corners of the same fictional world who found each other in real life, years after the cameras stopped rolling.
How they met: Both were part of the Vampire Diaries franchise universe. King played Caroline Forbes on The Vampire Diaries from 2009 to 2017 — one of the show’s central characters, whose arc from self-conscious cheerleader to vampire to heroine became one of TVD’s most beloved storylines. Krueger played Josh Rosza on The Originals — the TVD spinoff — across all five of its seasons. The two first crossed paths on the set of The Originals’ fifth and final season in 2018, where King guest-starred, and in subsequent years ran in the same social circles through fan conventions and cast reunion events.
They did not go public until December 2023, when King shared a year-in-review video to Instagram that eagle-eyed fans noticed contained a clip of her kissing Krueger. She captioned it: “I laughed. I cried. I laughed til I cried. I loved. Thanks for the dance 2023.”
The engagement: In April 2025, Krueger proposed. He had originally planned to propose during a trip to Japan, but after King jokingly told him not to propose on vacation, he pivoted — proposing instead at their Nashville home. King announced the engagement on Instagram on May 14, 2025 — the day after her 38th birthday: “A couple of weeks ago @stevenakrueger gave me the best gift of all when he asked me to marry him. Thank you for asking me to dance through life with you.”
The pregnancy announcement: In December 2025, the couple announced they were expecting a baby boy. They had surprised their families at a belated engagement party by handing out “Save the Dates” — which guests assumed were for the wedding but were actually for the baby’s arrival.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| First met on The Originals set | 2018 |
| Relationship began (privately) | ~2023 |
| Instagram official | December 2023 |
| Engagement | April 2025 |
| Engagement announced publicly | May 14, 2025 |
| Pregnancy announced | December 2025 |
| Wedding (elopement) | February 28, 2026 |
| Wedding revealed to public | April 4, 2026 (Vogue) |
| Baby boy due | May 2026 |
| Larger celebration planned | 2027 |
Sources: E! Online | AOL relationship timeline | Wikipedia — Candice King | Parade
Candice King: Caroline Forbes, Joe King, and Life as a Second-Time Bride
For Vampire Diaries fans, Candice King’s life arc has a particular resonance — someone whose fictional character navigated love, loss, and reinvention across eight seasons, and whose real life has followed a similarly non-linear path.
Born Candice Accola on May 13, 1987 in Houston, Texas, she grew up in Edgewood, Florida and attended Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando. She released a debut album in December 2006 before landing the role that defined her career: Caroline Forbes on The Vampire Diaries in 2009.
She married Joe King — guitarist of The Fray — in 2014, after two years of dating, taking his surname. The couple had two daughters: Florence (born January 2016) and Josephine (born December 2020). In May 2022, King filed for divorce, retaining the surname King.
Her subsequent relationship with Krueger is her second marriage. For King, the intimacy of the February 28 ceremony — her daughters beside her, her family and his family in the same small room, a fairytale greenhouse chapel in Nashville — was a different kind of wedding than the one she had at 26. More deliberate. More private. More hers.
Her current career runs alongside her personal renaissance. She appeared in the psychological thriller We Were Liars (Amazon, June 2025) and has continued building projects as a producer and podcast host — her “Superbloom” podcast developed a loyal following during the period she began dating Krueger.
Sources: Wikipedia — Candice King | Parade — engagement | E! Online
Steven Krueger: Josh Rosza, Yellowjackets, and Nashville Life
Steven Krueger’s public profile is somewhat lower than King’s, partly because his most famous role — Josh Rosza on The Originals — was a supporting rather than lead character, and partly because he has consistently chosen projects over profile.
Josh Rosza was a gay vampire who first appeared in The Originals as a human and was turned, becoming one of the show’s most-loved secondary characters across all five seasons. His storyline — including a tragic romance with another character — gave Krueger emotional material that earned him a devoted fan following within the TVD universe community.
Since The Originals ended in 2018, Krueger’s most prominent current credit is as a recurring actor on Yellowjackets (Showtime) — the acclaimed psychological thriller that has won critical praise across multiple seasons. He was also a lead in the film Pretty Little Liars and appeared in We Were Liars (Amazon) — the same production that featured King.
He moved to Nashville after King, a Nashville resident, persuaded him to relocate. The city appears throughout their relationship story as both setting and character: the proposal at their Nashville home, the wedding at a Nashville chapel, the reception at a Nashville steakhouse they had already made a family favourite.
Sources: Just Jared | Parade | Primetimer
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Candice King and Steven Krueger get married?
Candice King and Steven Krueger were married on February 28, 2026 in a private elopement-style ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee. The wedding was revealed publicly on April 4, 2026, in a Vogue exclusive.
Why did they elope instead of having a big wedding?
The couple had originally planned a larger wedding for Fall 2026, but changed plans after King became pregnant with their baby boy, due May 2026. “We decided to have a small elopement-style weekend in Nashville with just our immediate families, and save the bigger celebration for sometime next year,” Krueger told Vogue.
How many guests were at the wedding?
The ceremony had 15 guests — immediate family only, including King’s two daughters Florence and Josephine, and Krueger’s two nieces. The officiant was their mutual friend, TV writer Carina Adly MacKenzie.
What did Candice King wear at the wedding?
King wore a Grace Loves Lace gown — the third dress she tried on — paired with a Claire Pettibone veil. She joked that finding a maternity-friendly wedding dress was surprisingly difficult.
Are Candice King and Steven Krueger expecting a baby?
Yes. King and Krueger announced in December 2025 that they are expecting a baby boy, due in May 2026. It is their first child together and King’s third child overall.
Who did Candice King play on The Vampire Diaries?
Candice King played Caroline Forbes, one of the central characters of The Vampire Diaries, across all 8 seasons (2009–2017). She also appeared in the spinoffs The Originals and Legacies.
Who did Steven Krueger play on The Originals?
Steven Krueger played Josh Rosza, a fan-favourite recurring character in all five seasons of The Originals, the Vampire Diaries spinoff set in New Orleans.
Who are Candice King’s daughters?
King shares daughters Florence (born January 2016, age 10) and Josephine (born December 2020, age 5) with her ex-husband Joe King, guitarist of The Fray. Both daughters were present at the February 28 wedding.
This article is based on verified reporting from Vogue (April 4, 2026 exclusive), Just Jared, AOL / Us Weekly, E! Online, Parade, Wikipedia, Primetimer, Bollywood Shaadis, TV Insider, and Extra TV. All direct quotes from Steven Krueger and Candice King are drawn from their Vogue exclusive. Relationship timeline information is sourced from Us Weekly’s documented coverage of the couple since December 2023. Wedding venue, dress, florist, and reception details are all from the Vogue profile as reported across multiple outlets.
