Professional Ballroom dance Karina Smirnoff has a full plate these days; the five-time U.S. National Champion’s name has been included in the line-up with Ralph Macchio for the upcoming season 12 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” despite having a wedding to plan.
Smirnoff became engaged to MLB player Brad Penny, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, this past October, but didn’t make the announcement until November in order to give them time to celebrate with their families.
The proposal was a surprised pulled off by her manager and fiancé, Smirnoff shared with PEOPLE in November, after the 33 years old dancer was told the president of Twitter wanted to meet with her.
“We went to this restaurant and [my manager] got on her phone and said ‘this guy is killing me,’ and got up and walked away,” Smirnoff told PEOPLE. “Then Brad walked in and it still didn’t register. He got down on one knee and he opened the box and I said, ‘Thank you’. I honestly didn’t expect it.”
Perhaps the thank you was for the 4.5 carat Asscher cut diamond engagement ring that Penny proposed with, complete with channel set Princess cut diamonds around the band, after all Asscher are rather popular among the jet set.
A destination wedding, Smirnoff recently shared, is in the works for next January.
“It’s perfect. I think we found the perfect place,” Smirnoff told E, while filming a PSA for the Creative Coalition at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. “But I can’t reveal it just yet because it’s like, we want to confirm it.”
Despite the destination though, Smirnoff, who is used to putting on a show after dancing with celebrities like Mario Lopez, and Billy Ray Cyrus, and next with will make sure she gets her dream dress.
“Big fairy-tale [dress],” she told E. “I want that train to be as long as Hollywood Boulevard because it’s like, you only get to wear it once. I want it to be memorable. Like a princess.”