Kristin Chenoweth Is Married! Inside Her Pink Wedding to Josh Bryant in Texas: All the Details (Exclusive)

Kristin Chenoweth is married!

The Tony award-winning actress and singer, 55, said “I do” to her musician husband Josh Bryant, 41, in a romantic wedding ceremony in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 2.

“I have been a self-proclaimed bachelorette my whole life,” Chenoweth tells PEOPLE. “I was never going to get married. I even got engaged before and couldn't do it. Until I met Josh. Then I was like, ‘Why would I ever let this guy go?’ I’m so blessed.”

The pair kicked off their weekend wedding festivities on Friday with a rehearsal dinner at Capital Grille and a Baskin-Robbins custom cake for dessert, before joining their 140 guests at a private residence on Saturday for the "I do's."

A string quartet played from the home's balcony as the couple’s friends and family members took their seats. At the start of the ceremony, the couple's dog Thunder, who served as their ring bearer, made her grand entrance to AC/DC’s befitting hit “Thunderstruck.”

For her walk down the aisle, Chenoweth chose a Pamella Roland gown with a sheer nude and pink overlay and bow detail at the back. “I didn’t want to wear white,” she explains of the structured dress that featured tiny pearl flowers on the bodice. “Simple and elegant. I never thought I’d get married, so I went very nontraditional with the gown. I love it.”

Bryant wore a J Crew with Prada belt and shoes while his father and father-in-law wore Michael Strahan™ suits from Men’s Wearhouse.

During the ceremony, which was officiated by a friend, the couple exchanged “a form of traditional vows,” says Chenoweth with a laugh, adding, “But I am not saying ‘obey!’”

The pair also wanted to incorporate their Christian faith in the ceremony music with “The Prayer” performed by Marissa Rosen, Crystal Monee Hall, Nikki Kimbrough, and Melinda Doolittle arranged and accompanied by Chenoweth's music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell. “That was really important to us,” she says.

Décor for the nuptials, which were planned and designed by Crystal Frasier Weddings, featured a soft romantic mix of white, ivory, creme, soft peach, blush to medium pink, and champagne tones. David Kimmel Design provided a stunning array of calla lilies, garden roses, majolica, spray roses, hydrangea, ranunculus, veronica, mums, and various dark seasonal greenery filled the wedding space.

“Without having to even ask Kristin, I knew that the theme would probably be pink-oriented in some way,” says Bryant. For Chenoweth, it was important to stay true to herself for the big moment.

“On that day, I want to look and feel like Kristin, and I want Josh to see the girl that he has been with for five years,” she told PEOPLE ahead of the ceremony. “I'm going to look glamorous and all that, but my hair isn't going to be up to heaven, even though we'll be in Texas. It's going to look like me.”

Adds Bryant with a laugh: “Don't let her fool you. Normal to Kristin is like 110%.”

Following the emotional vows, guests sipped on specialty cocktails including the “Wicked Margarita,” a nod to Chenoweth’s run as Glinda the Good Witch on the Broadway smash hit, plus a “Bryant Old Fashioned” and “Thundertini” Martini.

A “southern comfort”-inspired dinner included beef tenderloin, whipped potatoes and haricot verts, plus chicken, steak fries and fried pickles. Pasta was also served with chicken or meatballs and salads with flatbreads.

For dessert, the newlyweds cut into their five-tier Mexican vanilla bean wedding cake with buttercream filling. Each table was also delivered a special box full of sweets that included Belgian chocolate bon bons, chocolate salami, and gourmet cookies by Nacho Aguirre from Delice Chocolatier San Antonio. 

Chenoweth’s favorites Dunkin and 7-11 Slurpees were served as late-night snacks and each guest went home with a gift bag full of goodies including Nest candles, Nivea Chapstick, Doritos, Fiji Water, and Fontus Lozenges.

The couple first connected in 2016 at a wedding for the Schmigadoon! star's niece where Bryant's band, Backroad Anthem, performed. Two years later, Chenoweth's nephew tied the knot and Bryant’s band provided the musical entertainment again.

“We had become friends by this time, and that's when he came on strong,” recalls Chenoweth. “Josh asked me where I was going to be playing next, and it was North Carolina. I said, ‘I'm busy. I don't have time, da, da, da.’  And he shows up to the concert and that was it for me.”

While Chenoweth wasn’t expecting to fall in love, their connection was undeniable. “I guess it was the right time,” she says. “God knew what he was doing with that. Josh is 14 years younger than me, and I thought that was ridiculous. I'm never going to do that in my life, ever. But he's made me feel very confident and beautiful and loved at any age.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic the pair grew even closer after the death of one of Chenoweth’s best friends. “I fell apart,” she says. “And when you go through these things in life with someone and they show up for you in the biggest way, you can't buy that. He’s my rock.”

Adds Bryant: “When we first met, I knew there was something special. I always go back to that. When you just have that feeling when you first see somebody.”

The pair shared their first dance to “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” performed by the couple’s friends Ty Herndon and Toby Freeman with Mary-Mitchell Campbell playing the piano.

The groom also wanted to incorporate their passion for music at the reception. “We're having a little jam session,” says Bryant. “We're going to have a DJ and everything, but I wanted to have just a time where there's instruments set up and where all of our friends, if we just want to get up there, and play for a little while. Not just a big jam type thing.”

Plenty of the couple's famous friends were in attendance for nuptials including guests Kathy Najimy, David Foster, Katharine McPhee, Kenny Ortega, Chely Wright, Jennifer Aspen and Broadway composer Andrew Lippa.

For Chenoweth, saying “I do” to Bryant has been a long time in the making. “It's about damn time!" jokes Chenoweth. “All my family would be saying that about me. But for me, this wedding isn’t a dream come true for me because I never dreamed it would happen. It's almost revelatory. Like if you open yourself up to love, to true love, what can happen.”

Adds Bryant: “The love that we have with God blessing us is a dream come true for me. It feels perfect.”