The Bachelor’s Juliana Reveals When She Knew Grant Ellis Was the One — and How Her Late Grandma Played a Role (Exclusive)

Warning: this story contains spoilers from the season 29 finale of The Bachelor.

Juliana Pasquarosa and Grant Ellis’ Bachelor love story began the moment she stepped out of the limo on the first night of the reality show’s 29th season - and so did the sparks between the franchise’s latest pair.

“You could tell there was a bit of an instant spark,” Juliana, 28, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue in a joint interview with Grant, 31. “I think it was in his eye contact and his body language when I got out… He was a lot taller and a lot more handsome in person.”

The pair got engaged in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Monday’s Bachelor finale, but say they felt comfortable with each other upon their first meeting.

“He calmed my nerves more than I thought he would,” with Grant adding that “she knew I was nervous, so she calmed my nerves too.”

Juliana brought a cannoli for the pair to share during that first night, a nod to her Italian heritage, and it wasn’t long before they shared their first passionate kiss.

“The instant connection that we had, I had no doubts,” she recalls. “I think I knew from night one that you were my man, but I was just trying to play the game and be fair and open-minded.”

Grant admits he also “felt the connection” that first night, but that it wasn’t until their one-on-one date in Scotland that he was certain Juliana was his forever person. 

“We definitely were attracted to each other, but on our one-on-one date in Scotland, when we shared our story with each other, that's where it started,” he explains. “Then we slowly but surely just kept growing and growing, and conversation after conversation we just continued to get to know each other.” 

“It was off to the races from there,” he adds.

The dreamy Edinburgh experience saw the couple share a romantic helicopter ride and a heartfelt castle-set dinner, and gave Juliana the assurance that the feelings were mutual. 

“I started to feel really secure that you were the man that I was hoping you would be,” she says. “I think it really just solidified that I was allowed to be vulnerable and be met with such compassion. That's when I was like, okay, I'm locked in.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Juliana’s sister signed her up for the show and the Newton, Mass. native is convinced her fairy tale ending was all meant to be.

“Everything fell into place,” she says. “Feeling like I had such a good backing from my family, and then finding out it was [Grant], who was number one on my list of who I was hoping it would be.”

Juliana’s grandmother died a few years ago and she also felt her with her throughout the Bachelor experience. “I feel her with me every day, and I just felt like she was up there making the road for me,” she notes. “I saw qualities in him that I was like, ‘Oh, she literally crafted a man for me.’”

Grant similarly feels he met the woman of his dreams in his new fiancée.

“She wasn't afraid to speak her mind and she didn't care what anybody thought,” he gushes. “She was going to stick up for what she believed in. That's something that was monumental for me and that's what really had me like, ‘Wow, this is a once-in-a-lifetime person that I'm meeting.’”

The happy couple reveal they are in “no rush” to get married, but they have no doubts they’ve found the right spouse for them.

“I feel so seen and heard and valued when I'm talking to you or around you, and I think those are the types of qualities that are so important in a relationship, and especially in a marriage,” Juliana says of Grant. “You always meet me with such compassion and love, and you really are my hype man.”

“I was looking for somebody with compassion and somebody with character, and I found that,” Grant says, adding that he finds Juliana’s heart to be her defining quality. “I have no doubt in my mind that she's an amazing person, that she's going to make an amazing wife, and I'm excited. I think we understand each other to our core.”

For more on Bachelor Grant and Juliana's engagement, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here. 

The Bachelor is streaming now on Hulu.