"We're trying to build some momentum that is going to propel us to a midseason climax," executive producer and writer of Sunday's episode Daniel Cerone tells THR.

Wedding bells are upon us on The Mentalist.

It was six years in the making, but Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) finally tied the knot. But their wedding wasn't exactly on the books. With the CBI team called in to investigate a murder that took place at the same destination where a wedding was about to be held, the case began to take its toll on Rigsby and Van Pelt. Through Rigsby's quick thinking, his impromptu proposal at the wedding reception took everyone by surprise. Their no-frills wedding was intimate and simple.

The Red John mystery also took center stage with Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) spending their efforts on suspect Sheriff Tom McAllister (Xander Berkeley), who has only appeared twice before, after finding out that the culprit wasn't fond of heights.

In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer and writer of Sunday's episode Daniel Cerone broke down the key storylines and discusses what's next.

What challenges did you face as you sat down to write this episode, knowing it was a big one for fans?
This was one of the harder stories I've ever had to break because it was really three big stories. On the one hand, you see that we are truly exploring one of the Red John suspects and that very much provided the tension and danger of the episode. On the other hand, it's the wedding of Rigsby and Van Pelt, which has been six years in the making. That's a huge emotional story and that provided the heart of the episode. But on top of all that, we have a homicide. At the end of the day, we are a crime procedural and we can't really shortchange that. The challenge was combining all three of those into a satisfying story and still giving each storyline the weight and worth that it deserves.

Were there discussions on how you wanted to depict the Rigsby/Van Pelt wedding?
There were definitely discussions but for me I enjoy the kind of drama that sort of hit you sideways and perhaps unexpectedly. With promotion and publicity, it's not a surprise that Rigsby and Van Pelt will get together in this episode. But the way we bring it up in the episode can be surprising. It's not a coincidence that they are getting married the same week that we're having a homicide investigation at a wedding reception. In fact, the homicide in this case is the casual element that forces Rigsby and Van Pelt into the world of a big wedding and stirs up a lot of [feelings] and forces them to face a lot of their hopes and dreams that they have. It's been six years up with ups and downs like any relationship, yet here they are still together; there have been psychopathic fiances and baby mamas. For a long time what kept them apart was there were no office relationships permitted at the CBI and once that fell to the wayside, as writers, it was the question of what's stopping them? Why can't we get them together? I felt it was a very honest thing to explore where they were in this universe where they could take that step.

Now that Rigsby and Van Pelt are married, do other characters -- especially Jane and Lisbon -- warm to the idea of taking the next step?
Yeah, Lisbon and Jane is something we discuss as writers. It's something we're very aware the fans have interest in. In terms of the future with what happens after Red John and the dynamics and the relationships, that is something we're still exploring. We're very much aware of the interest and desire of Lisbon and Jane. They have a great need for each other and they're each other's support systems because they've been through so much together. It's fair to say we'll explore different aspects of their relationship.

What's next for Rigsby and Van Pelt as a married couple?
We're going to have some fun with them initially getting married, having to deal with issues that new couples deal with. But beyond that, in terms of the back half of the season, we're still exploring where that goes.

Since we know the identity of Red John will be revealed later this season and this episode focused solely on Sheriff McAllister, was that a particular challenge focusing on one suspect?
It was fun! The things we've been teasing and hinting for five, six years, we get to dig in and write. Narrowing the list down to names and putting faces on those and being able to get to know those suspects in really what amounts to a handful of episodes. It's exciting for us. Some of these people will start falling off the list very quickly too. One already has. We're trying to build some momentum that is going to propel us to a midseason climax and this is the first step, exploring Sheriff McAllister.

What was your favorite scene to write?
I really enjoyed a couple of the Jane/McAllister scenes, the tension that exists there, but at the end of the day, it was the emotional stuff that I got caught up in, writing Rigsby's abrupt proposal. And in particular when Van Pelt sits down with the bride and convinces her she needs to get married because Van Pelt has experience with giving up on a relationship when she shouldn't have.

This Sunday on CBS’ The Mentalist, the CBI team found themselves heading to not just one wedding (to draw out a killer) but a second ceremony, as well (for happier reasons).

Executive producer Daniel Cerone, who penned the episode, spoke with TVLine about giving Wayne Rigsby and Grace Van Pelt (and the couple’s fans) their due, shared one of his favorite scenes and revealed whether, amid all the romance, a Red John suspect got crossed off the list.

WEDDING DAY STRESS? NAH! | “The wedding aspect of the show was the easiest part because it was the most honest part,” Cerone shares. “It’s something that we’ve been building to for a long time, so there were a lot of authentic emotions to explore.” It was all the other stuff going on that made the episode a challenge. “It was a big episode in three aspects. One is the wedding,” he notes. “Two, it’s the first time that we really explore a singular Red John suspect in full detail, and that provides tension. And then of course we have a case.”

GIVING RISGBY/VAN PELT FANS THE BEST GIFT | “The fans deserved a nice payoff, particularly those that have been with the show since the beginning,” Cerone says of the pressure to deliver a great Big Day. “Since the pilot, there was a romantic attraction between Rigsby and Van Pelt, and there have been many, many ups and downs through the years — psychopathic fiancés who ended up with bullets in their heads and baby mamas. It’s been a pretty wild ride for them!”

A ‘CRUSHING’ MOMENT | After causing a young couple’s Napa wedding to be canceled after a guest is murdered, “Jane realizes that to track down the killer he needs to put the wedding back together,” Cerone reviews. “So, being the mentalist that he is, he shoves Van Pelt forward to talk the bride into getting married.” And as Van Pelt recounted for the bride all the hurt and regrets she herself has lived through — while Risgby looked on through the one-way glass — “Amanda [Righetti] just crushed that scene.”

I GET MISTY…. | Everyone cries at weddings, right? Even the cast and crew who watched this relationship blossom over six seasons? “It was really fun to watch [Rigsby's proposal] Wedding in Redbecause the actors committed to it so fully,” Cerone says. “A lot of times with actors you are trying to find emotions to access to play a scene, but in this case I think both [Righetti and Owain Yeoman] were there, really excited for it and feeling it. Everyone on the set was absolutely rapt.”

HIGH ANXIETY | Can Sheriff McAllister be ruled out as a Red John suspect, having demonstrated he doesn’t actually suffer from vertigo? Or is no one ruled out until someone is proven to be the sinister slayer? “It’s the latter,” Cerone says. “In a certain respect, suspects will fall to the wayside quickly. Some have, and some will continue to. But if they’re still inquiring at the end of an episode, they’re still in part potential suspects.” Next Sunday, Homeland Security agent Robert Kirkland lands in Jane and Lisbon’s crosshairs. As Cerone most simply puts it: “If they’re not dead, they’re alive!”

After five seasons of on-and-off romantic tension on The Mentalist, Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) finally tied the knot on Sunday's episode, after being inspired by another couple's wedding. (Fortunately, Rigsby and Van Pelt's nuptials weren't marred by the murder of a family member the night before, however.)

"It's been fun exploring the relationship," executive producer Daniel Cerone tells TVGuide.com. "From the beginning [creator Bruno Heller] had a plan for the show to run many years, and we didn't want to get them together permanently too soon, because we wanted to sort of play all the drama that exists in real relationships, in terms of missteps and mistakes and failures and fears. And we feel like we've really mined that over the years, and mined it honestly."
So what finally made them take the plunge, and how long will the newlyweds' honeymoon period last? Check out our full interview with Cerone to get answers to those burning questions and more:

They finally did it! What made the writers and producers decide to have Rigsby and Van Pelt get hitched?
Daniel Cerone: The hopeful heartbeat of the show has always been the Rigsby and Van Pelt relationship. That relationship and that interest and chemistry was alive from the very first stages of the show. ... Once we made the decision to get them back together ... there really was nothing to prevent us from taking the organic last step into the marriage. It sort of creeped up on us in the same way that we're hoping it creeps up on the characters. ... And in that same fashion, we tried to bring that question up organically between them in the episode. Like, "OK, we're back together. What is stopping us?"

It's been widely reported that Owain Yeoman and Amanda Righetti are leaving the show, though CBS hasn't confirmed that. Do you see this as not only a happy ending to their story line, but also a final gift to their fans?
Cerone: Without commenting on what the future holds, I do think it's a gift. I think whatever happens with them, this is an important step, and we feel like this is earned. We feel like we're ridden the ups and downs and we've been on this roller coaster with them. ... This should be a reward, both for [the characters] within the reality of our show, and for the fans who've sort of cheered for them all along. It is a happy ending for them.

What finally brings Rigsby around? Is it safe to assume that he had no idea Van Pelt still carried such a torch for him until he overhears her conversation in the interrogation room?
Cerone: We've always written him as a guy's guy, and, in a sense, that means clueless, particularly when it comes to romance and relationships. ... Van Pelt's dropping hints, as a woman often does in a relationship, and [he] is just missing the hints. That sort of opened up the opportunity for us to have a homicide occur in a wedding environment, which organically places them right into the hothouse. I mean, throwing Rigsby and Van Pelt into a wedding environment is like throwing Colonel Sanders into the chicken coop. It's going to bring stuff up. ... The fact that they're investigating a homicide that takes place the day before a wedding that stirs up all these emotions in Rigsby and Van Pelt that they have to confront.

What can we expect going forward as they adjust to married life?
Cerone: We are, at the end of the day, a procedural show, and any character stories that we do have to wrap around cases. So, even in this episode, we had to fold the wedding into a weekly homicide case. But in terms of their happiness, in terms of their togetherness, we want to present a completely happy and fulfilled Rigsby and Van Pelt. ... We want it to be real. We're having a little fun in some future episodes. They're dealing with some early issues that newlyweds often deal with ... the new emotions and the new reality of their situation.

So they get at least a little bit of a honeymoon period?
Cerone: They don't have a great, long honeymoon. We give them a mini one, because Red John is afoot and that's a story that we're tracking closely. So we don't want to take our foot off the pedal, in terms of the suspense of the early season with the Red John storyline.

Speaking of the Red John storyline, Sheriff McAllister (Xander Berkeley) is the suspect this episode focuses on. Is his dislike of birds a clue or Easter egg, given that there were several birds in the house where Red John lured Lisbon (Robin Tunney) in the season premiere?
Cerone: I will say, yes, that's an Easter egg. But I will also say that there will be multiple Easter eggs for various Red John suspects. Some will pay off and prove fruitful, and some will not. But we do want viewers leaning forward and paying attention, and to those who are paying attention, we anticipate a satisfying payoff. ... The good news is fans don't have to pay attention for that much longer, because in the first third of the season we're bringing this whole thing to a head.