Hoda Kotb Canceled Her Destination Wedding—Here's Where She and Fiancé Joel Schiffman Will Likely Tie the Knot

Despite having their sights set on a destination wedding, Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman are pivoting their plans to say "I do" closer to home, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The couple became engaged back in November 2019 during a beach getaway in Mexico—and originally planned to return there next month to tie the knot. "It was actually supposed to happen in November and Maria Shriver called me. She's like, 'It's still on my calendar. Is it off?' I go, 'Yes, it's off! I thought I called you!'" Kotb told People.

She added that their new plans are going to look much different—and will involve staying local, as opposed to going abroad. "My guess is we'll do it in the summertime," the Today Show host said. Kotb also noted: "Of course it's going to be a beach wedding, and we'll probably do it somewhere around New York."

Kotb shared that she won't be deviating from their closer-to-home big day—now set for 2021—and that she and Schiffman are planning micro-wedding this time around. "I think, just because, why would we [travel], given what's happening? And I don't know how quickly people are going to be able to travel again," she said. "So I think it may be a little bit more intimate than I had anticipated just because of that."

While their wedding plans have changed over and again during the COVID-19 outbreak, one thing was always constant during quarantine: their relationship. Kotb knows she is marrying her perfect partner. "I do know that and that was confirmed. I think, sometimes when you're in tight quarters, you wonder, like a lot's being revealed. He's a world-class dad and one of the kindest people I think I've ever known, and you can see how someone is when they're under pressure," Kotb said of her fiancé. "We've had good times and every relationship goes through its valleys and we seem to have both had our valleys before we met. So I'm sure there are valleys ahead. But in this moment, he's been really amazing."