Nick Viall and Natalie Joy Have Country-Chic Welcome Party for Wedding

Nick Viall and Natalie Joy are kicking off their wedding celebrations!

The Bachelor alum, 43 and Joy, 25, welcomed family and friends on Friday, April 26 with a “country chic” themed party ahead of their nuptials.

In a joint Instagram post on April 26, the couple posted a series of images from the chic event, showing them as they posed, laughed and danced together. Several shots in the series of black and white photos included the couple next to white horses.

“Welcome to the welcome party!!,” the caption on the joint post read.

Meanwhile, friends and guests at the event posted photos and video on their Instagram Stories which the bride-to-be then shared on her own account. Remi Bader posted a video of the couple posing in their outfits for the event — Joy wore a cream silk and lace dress with a lace train that she teamed with cowboy boots and a gold choker, while Viall sported a black suit, matching black cowboy hat and a bolo tie with a turquoise clasp.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME,” Bader wrote over the image, tagging the couple, which Joy then reposted.

The bride-to-be also reposted a sweet photo of herself kissing Viall at the party, taken by TikTok star Erika Priscilla. Meanwhile, Bachelor alum Genevieve Parisi posted a sweet video of the couple smiling together as they sat at a table next to other guests while a speech was heard in the background.

“Natalie called anyone and everyone to the mic,” she jokingly wrote over the sweet clip. Other videos shared by Parisi showed Joy holding what appeared to be her baby daughter, River Rose Viall, who was born on Feb. 2, and twirling in her outfit in front of a crowd of guests.

Joy also reposted an Instagram Stories video from Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley, which showed the couple standing in front of guests at the party as Viall gave a speech thanking attendees and sweetly telling Joy he would “cry tomorrow,” referring to their wedding day.

Leading up to the festivities, Joy told PEOPLE that the event is just the start of their celebration which will bring together 170 guests — including Bachelor Nation‘s Jared Haibon and Ashley Iaconetti and Jojo Siwa — for two days of fun and celebration.

“I figured since we’re in Georgia, it would be fun to really lean in and kind of have cowboys and cowboy hats and boots and kind of just have the animals roaming around,” Joy tells PEOPLE.

“I figured since we’re in Georgia, it would be fun to really lean in and kind of have cowboys and cowboy hats and boots and kind of just have the animals roaming around,” Joy tells PEOPLE.

In addition to country music, barbecue, and cornhole, the couple also brought in a mechanical bull. “It’s just very relaxed and fun!” says Joy.

Viall adds that that the whole two-day celebration will have a laid back, but classic vibe to it. 

“It’s kind of like a Vogue on the farm,” he says.  

The pair, who are parents to 2-month-old daughter River, told PEOPLE before their big day that they were excited to enjoy the special celebration. 

“It’s a bit nerve wracking because we planned our wedding from scratch… Everything’s just like this blank, beautiful canvas,”

The Bachelorette alum added that he can’t wait until the two are husband and wife, though he suspects nothing much will change the love they hold for each other. 

“Natalie and I very much have intertwined our [lives]. We’re just kind of fully diving into us. If nothing else this [wedding celebration] solidifies that we do everything together and thankfully enjoy doing it.”