Bachelorette - The Results are in

The once-scorned Bachelor beauty picked Jesse Csincsak to call her own Monday on the season finale of The Bachelorette, accepting the 26-year-old pro snowboarder's proposal with a big ol' teary smile on her face. Meaning, after visits with each other's families, some "alone time" in the Bahamas and weeks of soul-searching, Pappas, 26, picked Csincsak over 31-year-old account executive Jason Mesnick, both of whom asked her pop's permission for her hand in marriage.

"Jesse, would you accept this final rose?" Pappas asked her new fiancé. "I cannot believe that I'm going to marry this guy with the pink shoelaces!" she added, referring to his Day-Glo premiere-episode ensemble.

It may have seemed at first like Mesnick was the obvious choice, what with his tall-dark-and-handsomeness and his fearless declarations of love, established dependability and vows of forever.

But when did any red-blooded twentysomething automatically go with what feels the safest?

"I was so ready to be in love again," Mesnick said during the limo ride that carried him away from that oh-so-crappy moment in which he got down on one knee and she said, "No, I can't."

But "she wanted something I couldn't give her," he said.

And even though Csincsak wasn't exactly sure that he could give Pappas the world just yet, as he picked out a ring, he mused, "She's the one and that's all that matters."

The Colorado resident's initial visit with Pappas' family left a little to be desired in the minds of her dad, sister and brother, but some other relatives thought that Mesnick's single-dad status might "fast-forward her life five years," whereas Csincsak was more of a "free spirit," like her.

The Atlanta native maintained that she was still hashing it out in her mind until the 11th hour.

"I still have the piece of paper where I was doing my pros and cons, because it was never an easy decision," the already-engaged Pappas told reporters last week during a conference call, per Reality TV World. "It was always a very, very hard decision for me."

"How are you supposed to look at someone and tell them that you care about them so much but you can't choose them because you care about the other guy more? That definitely does not make you feel good about yourself. I can promise you that."

She managed, though.

"When you see the final episode, it's so good—you're going to laugh and you're going to cry. It's just a beautiful episode," Pappas said, describing herself as "very happy, in love and engaged."

Not that Pappas and Csincsak's picture-perfect moment wasn't without its share of controversy, as countless fans couldn't quite get their minds around why she booted attorney Jeremy Anderson during the penultimate rose ceremony.

"I've never had my heart broken like this," Anderson, who was apparently too "perfect" for his own good, told her following the very unprivate farewell. "Today could potentially be one of the worst days I've ever had."

"I knew I didn't feel the same," Pappas explained.

"You always second-guess and wish you had said something or not said something. Me being in Jeremy's position before, of course it was hard to see him at [the Bachelorette special] The Men Tell All, of course it was hard to know that I broke his heart and he felt led on. That doesn't make anyone feel good."

Pappas did give Anderson, who also showed up on tonight's finale to plead his case, a plug as far as his eligibility is concerned: "Jeremy would make a great [Bachelor star] because he has everything to offer a woman," she said. "If he wanted to be the next Bachelor, I would totally support him."

But it was Csincsak whose Tacori diamond ring shined the brightest in Pappas' eyes, and now she's got a wedding to plan…for sometime.

"We're definitely taking it day by day," Pappas said when asked whether they'd set the date.

But "it's going to be big," she added. "I have a huge family, there's no way I could cut down my list. We've already thought about it, and it's just ridiculous. It's going to be a big wedding, and I'm kind of a traditional kind of girl. I want lots of white."

And, like Trista Rehn, she might want cameras, too.

"I can't say I put a lot of thought into it, but I'm not really opposed to letting those fans into that part of my life," Pappas said.

A newly betrothed Bachelorette wouldn't have it any other way.