After five years together, Brooke Eden and Hilary Hoover are ready to make their love even more official – they are now engaged! The love birds celebrated their eternal love for one another with not one, but two proposals, each romantic in its own way.
“Our thing has always been 50/50,” Eden tells PEOPLE of her and Hilary’s relationship. “We started dating on Dec. 8, 2015, and by Christmas of 2015, I had bought us matching necklaces that said ’50/50.’ That’s just how equally yoked we’ve been since the very beginning.”
“So I guess that was represented in our proposals, as well,” added Hoover.
Their multi-day proposal began during a surprise trip planned by Hoover.
“Am I going to be a fiancée this weekend?” joked Eden as she recalled the romantic getaway.
Sure enough, her instincts were correct, though things didn’t go exactly to plan. Armed with a set of cards to distribute throughout the weekend, the couple set off for Sedona, Arizona and arrived… though their luggage did not. That didn’t stop them from enjoying their time together, throwing one bathing suits and heading to the pool. Once she entered the water, Eden was presented with a final card from her future bride.
“I’ve been giving you cards all day long because I knew I wouldn’t have the words to say, so I guess this would be the time to ask, will you be my wife?” read the note within.
The couple returned to their home in Nashville with Eden’s ring finger draped in her new bling, but what about Hoover? Well little did she know that her musical fiancée had been planning another engagement for just a few days later.
Eden told Hoover that they’d be getting dressed up for a PEOPLE interview to talk about the Sedona engagement and the opening of the new Virgin Hotel. However, when they arrived, the rooftop terrace was empty.
“Yes,” Eden announced, “I’m proposing to you.” The couple’s Maltese-Yorkie-poodle mix Dolly even took part, bringing out the rings as part of the proposal.
Dolly’s appearance wasn’t the only big surprise Eden had planned. She also invited many of their friends and family members to celebrate the special moment.
“It was just the cherry on top of all of it,” Hoover says of the guests. “Obviously, I would have loved a proposal that was just us, but I was so overwhelmed to see everyone there. I just never imagined my whole family being in Nashville. I kept looking at her [Eden] like, ‘I’m impressed with you. I knew you were up to something, but you had to do a lot to get all these people here!’”
Adds Eden, “Her whole family is vaccinated. All of our friends are vaccinated. We’re vaccinated. So it was like, let’s go!”
The couple plan to wed sometime next year, but for now, will enjoy their engagement and their new sets of rings. Eden and Hoover had picked out stacking ring sets last year. The songstresses set includes four rings: two diamond-studded, tiara-shaped bands that surround a diamond solitaire and feature a V-shaped gold band. Hoover’s set includes five bands: two diamond pavé bands, one accented with turquoise, a diamond solitaire and tiara-shaped bands that mirror Eden’s.
“You can change them out or reorder them,” Eden says about the quartet and quintet of rings. “We just thought they were so fun.”
Eden publicly celebrated her love for Hoover through her music, releasing three new songs and videos (all co-starring her bride-to-be). Eden will share more about her love for Hoover in a special letter she penned for Sounds Like Nashville during Pride Month, which begins June 1. Stay tuned for more!