Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young Celebrate ‘Intimate’ Engagement Party

  Heather Rae Young/Instagram  

Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young are celebrating their upcoming wedding in style!

The Flip or Flop star, 39, and the Selling Sunset realtor, 33, invited a small group of friends and family to join them for what Heather has dubbed a “sexy and fun” engagement party in Newport Beach, California, on Saturday evening, PEOPLE can confirm.

The couple chose to host the event at Louie’s by the Bay, a modern Italian steakhouse on the waterfront, near where El Moussa and Young met for the very first time on the Fourth of July in 2019. 

El Moussa’s two kids — daughter Taylor, 10, and son Brayden, 5 — whom he shares with his ex-wife Christina Haack, were in attendance for the early part of the night to celebrate their dad and “bonus mom,” as Young often calls herself. 

“@Heatherraeyoung and I wanted tonight to be intimate- surrounded by our family and close friends,” El Moussa shared on his Instagram Story, along with a video of their loved ones. 

  Heather Rae Young/Instagram  

RELATED: See Tarek El Moussa & Heather Rae Young’s ‘Incredible’ Engagement Shoot with 3 Outfit Changes

  Heather Rae Young/Instagram  

As guests, including Young’s Selling Sunset costars, walked into the party, they were greeted with flutes of chilled champagne placed on pillars of ice and holding stir sticks emblazoned with the couple’s home reno-inspired hashtag: #FlippingHerLastName. Young confirmed in December that she would be changing her name to “Heather Rae El Moussa” after they married.

Both stars kept it elegant yet fun when it came to their outfits for the evening. El Moussa donned a blue velvet Canali tuxedo, while Young looked like a bride-to-be in an all-white, bell-bottom jumpsuit covered in sparkles from Nadine Merabi. The former model topped off the look with a sleek, high ponytail and diamond stud earrings borrowed from her friend of more than 10 years, Kristen.

Story continues

  Heather Rae Young/Instagram  

Want to get the biggest stories from PEOPLE every weekday? Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.

  Heather Rae Young/Instagram  

“Just as we imagined,” Young shared on her Instagram Story while El Moussa called her his “future wifey” and “my everything.”

El Moussa and Young got engaged on July 25 while celebrating their one-year anniversary with a boat trip to Catalina Island in California.   

  Heather Rae Young/Instagram  

RELATED: A Detailed Timeline of Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young’s Whirlwind Romance

  Chrishell Stause/Instagram  

       Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young     

Although the couple has been busy planning their nuptials — including Young documenting her hunt for the perfect wedding and rehearsal dress and their engagement shoot in February — they’ve stayed mum about when and where they’ll be saying “I do,” but have confirmed it will be some time this year.

  Heather Rae Young/Instagram  

RELATED VIDEO: Taylor El Moussa Talks ‘Bond’ with Heather Rae Young on Tarek’s Flip Side

In an interview with PEOPLE’s Reality Check in November, El Moussa revealed one destination the couple had definitely taken off their list.

“I can’t confirm where [the wedding will be], but it was going to possibly be Catalina Island and it’s no longer gonna be Catalina Island, so stay tuned,” he said.

 “We don’t want to have a super big wedding, but our small wedding is probably gonna be someone else’s big wedding, so we’ll see how things go,” he added. “But we’re planning on doing it far enough out to where hopefully the pandemic settles down a little.”

You can view the original article HERE.