Nicole Richie and fiancé Joel Madden have set a wedding date, and it looks like she could be waddling rather than walking down the aisle.

Nicole Richie is set to marry her lover and the father of her baby, Joel Madden, in a last minute ceremony on 13th October.

Sources in American reveal the couple have decided to tie the knot in a lavish wedding in Laguna Beach, California next month.

The Sun

Well, I can only assume that the date is for this year, I guess organizing a wedding when you are a celebrity is a little different than for us average girls. Instead of getting the best deal for flowers, you’re getting the best deal on the exclusive pictures. Instead of shopping for a dress, you could get your stylist to bring a selection to you. Instead of worrying about being too pregnant and unwell to make those aisle preparations, you can just hire someone to make all the preparations for you and all you have to do is turn up. Looking really nice, or if not just get the exclusive pictures retouched.

Seems to take some of the fun out of it to me!

Nicole is lucky to have all that help – she’s going to be busy undertaking an alcohol education course.

The course consists of 52 hours of group counseling, biweekly face-to-face interviews with counselors and the completion of 12 hours of alcohol education. Attending 12-step meetings is encouraged but not required.

According to the Santa Barbara Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, the program hosts roughly 340 participants at any given time and will set Richie back $1,790, which she is required to pony up herself. Upon completion of the course, she will be eligible to get her driver’s license reissued by the state DMV.

On July 27, she was sentenced to four days in jail, fined $2,048, ordered to complete a minimum three-week alcohol-education course and placed on three years’ probation.

E! Online

Of course, Nicole has been court ordered to participate in the program, probably as part of the deal that got her in and out of jail in 82 minutes. I am impressed that Nicole is taking on more than what her sentence required, it shows a real commitment to staying sober and off the roads.

Nicole seems to be getting her act together, so I’m looking forward to her settling down and going back to her reguar day job of…er, being Paris’ best friend? An ‘It’ girl? What is it she does as a day job?

Picture note by Celebitchy: Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are shown outside Mr. Chow on 9/28. Thanks to WENN for these photos.