Walker Montgomery, son of country legend John Michael Montgomery, is engaged to Tigirlily Gold's Krista Slaubaugh. The country artist proposed to his girlfriend of nearly two years on May 26 in North Carolina, surrounded by the serene Blue Ridge Mountain forests.

Krista, who is one half of her country music duo alongside her older sister, Kendra Slaubaugh, "I was overwhelmed in the best way." She added, "You wait for that moment your whole life, and I just wanted to remember and soak it in as much as possible."

Walker planned a surprise trip to the "foggy and romantic" Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands, North Carolina. Krista didn't suspect a thing, thinking Walker booked a massage for her the following day. That evening, Walker drove his girlfriend to a beautiful cottage-looking house, known as "The Farm," where they walked down a stone path wrapped around the property that revealed a small pond featuring a fountain spraying droplets upward, which cascaded back down and sent gentle ripples across the water's sparkling surface.

Walker was "a little nervous" because he wanted everything to go "perfectly," especially since he'd been planning the special moment for "months." Since their arrival, he'd been "praying it didn't rain," but there was some downfall earlier in the day, causing him and Krista to "nearly fall over." "But we were holding on tight to each other," Krista noted.

It was when the pair stopped on the pond's small dock that Krista began putting the pieces together. Between Walker's "very nice" words and his "huge bouquet of flowers," Krista "knew what was about to happen." Her "stomach started to tighten" and she admittedly "did black out for a bit" when Walker took her by both hands before dropping down on one knee.

"He said, 'Krista, I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?' " the "Shoot Tequila" singer recalls. "I said 'yes' and immediately leaned down to kiss him. He then stood up and slid the ring onto my finger."

Krista's "perfect" engagement ring from The Diamond Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky, features an elongated, radiant-cut diamond on a gold band. "It's elegant but still is modern and feels like me," Krista says. "With the gold band, it's a ring that 40 years later I will still love just as much. Also, it's so shiny!! He did GREAT."

After Krista accepted Walker's proposal, she remembers the fellow country artist asking her, "You said 'yes' right?" They "both started laughing and crying."

"Obviously, there were some happy tears, but after the proposal I felt such excitement and joy," she says. "We had known for a while now that we wanted to spend our lives together, so the main feeling was joy and excitement. I couldn't have imagined it more perfect."

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Walker adds, "Almost immediately afterwards the sun started shining down on the dock by the pond that we were standing on. It was perfect!"

The couple, who even had mutual band members at one point, met in fall 2023 when Walker had a concert in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time, the "I Love the Way You Love Me" singer hit on Krista "in the most indirect way possible."

Krista recalls, "There was a group of ladies there that asked him during his meet-and-greet if he knew Tigirlily Gold, and he said, 'Ya. Tell the tall one I'm in love with her.' (I'm the tall one to clarify)."

"I was pretty obsessed from the very beginning to say the least," Walker says. "I'd never met someone so beautiful and elegant."

A few weeks later, Walker and Krista went on their first date. Walker remembers laughing "so much" and instantly knowing he'd "found something special in her." By Valentine's Day, Krista knew Walker was "the one."

"I had never felt so understood and safe by another person, and he had written me a note that made me happy cry," she says. "It all clicked in that instant. This man was going to be my husband."

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