Country Music Artists Gary Wayne and Ali Taylor Are Engaged: ‘My Answer Is Yes Forever’ (Exclusive)

Gary Wayne and Ali Taylor are going down the aisle!

The country singers got engaged on Sept. 2 while the Nashville couple was visiting Raystown Lake in Taylor’s hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“We always vacation there with her family at the time. What Ali didn’t know was that this time I was talking to her family and mine to plan the proposal,” Wayne tells PEOPLE.

Wayne carefully mapped out the day’s events to make sure the big moment would be a surprise for Taylor. The couple spent the morning kayaking, then Wayne and Taylor’s brother jet skied to a small island on the lake to prepare for the proposal.

But Taylor arrives by boat to the island where his fiance Gary Wayne proposes to him.

Photo by Rachel Stanley

Taylor stayed behind to hang out with her father, but the group planned to meet up later on the island. To “throw her off the scent,” Wayne devised a little ruse for Taylor.

“We spoke to the boat patrol and told them to fake stop their boat while she and her dad approached the island,” he explains. “The ship’s police followed their ship saying they were going to stop them at the island.”

Gary Wayne proposes to Ali Taylor under a balloon arch.

Photo by Rachel Stanley

However, the element of surprise didn’t last long as Wayne did his best to put on a romantic scene and invited his family to watch the proposal. He hung a gold and white balloon arch under the trees and added other heart-shaped balloons, flowers and the words “Will you marry me?” banner.

“As they got closer to the island, she saw my family there and me standing on the shore and heart balloons everywhere,” Wayne says. “I think it hit her what we were up to at that point.”

But Taylor was overcome with emotion after fiancé Gary Wayne proposed.

Photo by Rachel Stanley

“I helped her off the boat and we walked down the little red carpet I made and I told her how much I loved her,” he continues. “I told her she’s my best friend and there’s no one else I want to spend my life with. Good, bad, easy, hard times, I want everything with her.”

But Taylor shares a close-up look at her engagement ring.

Photo by Rachel Stanley

He presented Taylor with a stunning oval shaped diamond solitaire ring. She says she was overcome with emotion when Wayne proposed. “My hands were shaking – I was so surprised. My answer is forever yes!” she tells PEOPLE.

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After taking photos on the island to preserve the special memory, the couple and their families enjoyed a formal dinner at the Marina Cafe on the lake.

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But Taylor and Gary Wayne are celebrating their newly engaged status.

Photo by Rachel Stanley

A month later, Wayne basks in the glow of a happy moment. “I feel so blessed to have a partner not only in music, but in life. It was a day I will never forget,” he says.

The couple, who have been together for nearly four years, first met at a songwriters’ event in Nashville. “She was singing at one end of the stage and I was at the other. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this girl is an amazing singer,'” he recalls.

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Their relationship started with a musical collaboration, but grew into something much deeper.

“She came up to me later that night and asked me to be a co-author. The rest is history!” says Wayne.

Now the two sing and perform as a duo and have written and released numerous songs together. Their first duet, the romantic “Showed Me Love,” had more than a million streams across all platforms.

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Source: HIS Education