Olympian Justin Talks Philly-Centric Wedding 1 Year After Live TV Proposal (Exclusive)

“I got the gold and the girl,” said rower Justin Best on the Today show one year ago, after a surprise proposal to his longtime girlfriend Lainey Duncan.

Best, 27, had just won a gold medal for Team USA in Paris in the men’s four event — the first gold for the United States in 60 years — and as he celebrated the accomplishment with his teammates on national TV, he decided it was the perfect time to get down on one knee. 

“Paris is her favorite city. And I’m like, if you’re going to do something, do it right, do it big and wait for the Paris Olympics” Best says about the proposal.

Nearly one year later, their lives have changed — Best and Duncan are living in Alameda, Calif., with a increased fame — he gave the commencement speech this year at their alma mater Drexel — and the two are now planning their wedding.

While the wedding planning has been an effort from both Best and Duncan, as well as professional planners, it has been particularly hands-on for Duncan, a designer for Marine Layer. 

“I’ve been working on doing Justin’s suit for the day, so I’ve been sewing like a maniac,” says Duncan, who also designed her own dress for their engagement shoot in Philadelphia Magazine in May.

The couple, who have been together since they met at their high school’s production of West Side Story, grew up in Kennett Square, Pa. outside of Philadelphia. And while they’re now west coast dwellers, they will be infusing their wedding with plenty of City of Brotherly Love energy.  

Best and Duncan will wed in late October in a vintage-inspired ceremony at The Fairmount Water Works, which overlooks Philadelphia’s famed Boathouse Row — coincidentally where “we actually took prom pictures” in 2016, says Duncan.

It’s also where Best competed in regattas throughout high school and trained every day in college — all part of his Olympic origin story.

If the picturesque location by Philadelphia’s biggest landmarks didn’t add enough Philly elements, the catering also holds a regional nod. “I’m a sucker for a soft pretzel,” Duncan said with a grin.

The same goes for the music at the wedding, “I’m picturing, okay, there’s a lull in the dance floor. How do we get people back out? Rocky,” Best said.

Duncan explains how their signature wedding color, a deep green, will fit the ceremony: “our wedding is very romantic and vintage,” as Best, a huge Philly sports fan chimes in, “and if you want to pick the interpretation, it could be ‘Go Birds.’ ”

Fittingly, he predicts an “E-A-G-L-E-S” chant will happen, “at least once.”

Besides the location, another rowing element of the day comes in the form of an Olympic reunion.

“If everything goes right, it’ll be the first time all four of us: Nick [Mead], Michael [Grady] and Liam [Corrigan] and myself will be together in a room since the Olympics, ” says Best, referring to his crew-mates from the 2024 Olympic victory.

The couple are also integrating rowing — which Best first picked up with his parents’ encouragement after they watched The Social Network — into their welcome party before the ceremony, which will be Henley Royal Regatta-themed.

Those with rowing blazers will be encouraged to show up in their most crew-themed ensembles. “I’m excited to see everybody decked out,” Duncan told PEOPLE.

After the wedding and the honeymoon — at the Maui Four Seasons where White Lotus season 1 was filmed, thanks to a charity auction Best won in May — another event in the future is calling some of Best’s attention.

Though no official decisions about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics have been made — and the wedding and his San Francisco-based job in investment banking are the priorities right now — the groom-to-be tells PEOPLE that he may return for another shot at gold.

“Having a strong U.S. rowing team on our home country’s home waters is very appealing to me.”