Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott Are in ‘Exploratory’ Phase of Wedding Planning: ‘Not in a Rush’ (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Zooey Deschanel tells PEOPLE she and fiancé Jonathan Scott are in the “exploratory” phase of thinking about their wedding

• The Merv actress and the Property Brothers star met in 2019 and have been engaged since 2023

• Deschanel says she and Scott are “not in a rush” to walk down the aisle because “we’ve been together so long”

Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott have been engaged since 2023, but the actress says she and her fiancé are in “not in a rush” to walk down the aisle.

Asked about wedding planning, the actress, 45, tells PEOPLE in an upcoming issue, “It’s more exploratory.”

“We’re not in a rush because we’ve been together so long, so it’s not like we’re like, ‘We gotta get married.’ I’d rather find the right place, the right place and situation, so that it’s really special and fun,” says Deschanel, 45, who shares kids  Elsie, 10, and son Charlie, 8 with her ex-husband Jacob Pechenik, a film producer.

At the Dec. 4 premiere of her new movie Merv, she added, “The bar is high for throwing a party. So it has to be really good. So that’s why its taking a long time.”

Monica Schipper/Getty

Jonathan Scott and Zooey Deschanel on Sept. 9.

HGTV star and licensed contractor Scott, 47 — who met Deschanel in 2019 on the set of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke — also recently told PEOPLE  “there’s a lot of stuff we want to do” for their eventual wedding day.

“I think we want to have a warm wedding and haven’t figured out where that’s going to be yet. We literally haven’t made any plans yet. We’re busy with all of the kids’ stuff, and so we’re really just chauffeurs to the kids’ social lives,” he added.

Though both Deschanel and Scott are both hardcore Christmas lovers, Scott said they would “absolutely not” have a holiday wedding.

“No, I think there’s something for us that’s magical about the holidays and Christmas being when Christmas is,” he continued.

Jesse Grant/Variety via Getty

Jonathan Scott and Zooey Deschanel on Dec. 4.

Deschanel, has long been a lover of the Yuletide season. “I’ve loved Christmas ever since I was a kid,” she tells PEOPLE. “It was my favorite holiday and a very important part of my childhood.”

Not to mention adulthood: Deschanel starred in the 2003 classic Elf with Will Ferrell and has released two holiday albums with M. Ward, her partner in the music duo She & Him.

Says Deschanel, whose top seasonal activities include catching a performance of The Nutcracker and throwing holiday dinners with Scott: “I love pretty much every Christmas thing.”

So it’s fitting that her new movie Merv is set during the holidays — even though that wasn’t the main draw.

“I wasn’t thinking like, ‘Oh, I’m doing a Christmas movie.’ I was thinking more, ‘I really love this rom-com,’ ” says Deschanel, 45. “If somebody offered me, like, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, I would be like, ‘I kinda did that!’

Merv  is a furry departure from that 1970 favorite. She and Daredevil actor Charlie Cox play Anna and Russ, exes sharing custody of their adorable dog, who’s depressed that his owners are no longer together.

Dana Hawley/Prime

Zooey Deschanel and Charlie Cox in ‘Merv.’

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Cue a madcap Florida vacation that just might reunite the former couple. “I’ve known so many people to break up but share a dog, and there’s all this stress and strife,” she says.

The Emmy-nominated actress shows off the quirky comedy chops in projects like New Girl, the Fox series that launched in 2011. Cox says watching her work was like getting a “master class,” while Merv director Jessica Swale calls her “effortlessly lovable and sparkly onscreen.”

Merv is streaming on Prime Video on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

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