Hunter Fieri Says He Designed Fiancée Tara Bernstein’s Engagement Ring with Pickleball in Mind (Exclusive)

When it came to designing fiancee Tara Bernstein’s engagement ring, Hunter Fieri thought of everything.

While talking to PEOPLE about his and Bernstein’s love story, Guy Fieri’s eldest son revealed that he took every factor into consideration when creating her ring, because it had to be “perfect.”

“We’re very open, and while we were talking about wanting to get married, we looked at some rings and I got a sense of what she wanted,” Hunter, 27, tells PEOPLE. “And then I worked with my friend to make a custom ring for her, and I wanted it to be really special.”

“My goal in life is that you do this once, and when you do it once, it has to be perfect,” he adds of the custom sprinkler. “So I made a ring for her that I think symbolizes my love for her.”

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But he wasn’t just thinking about his love for Bernstein while creating the work — it was also her love for the cucumber.

Tara Bernstein/Instagram

While working on the ring, Hunter said he told the designer, a “longtime friend,” that “the goal with pickleball is to never take it off.”

“And so [the designer] she made the band a little thicker, but the crown was a little thicker, so if she hit it with a ball or a paddle, you’re not going to kick that rock off of it,” she tells PEOPLE. “So I made it a little more durable, a little bigger, just for the fact that I don’t want her to take it off.”

But, “if you’re going to the water park, you’re going to the ocean,” it may have to be removed, he admits, and Bernstein adds, “Yeah, I don’t want to lose it.”

“You’re dealing with someone who’s perfect,” Hunter says. “It has to be perfect.”

Hunter Fieri and Tara Bernstein.

John Nacion/WireImage

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However, when it comes down to it, the couple – who got engaged last month – say they’d be happily engaged even with a cute ring.

“I could give her a Haribo Ring Pop and I believe she would still be happy with me,” Hunter tells PEOPLE, though he says “I would never do that.”

His fiancee agrees with that.

“Oh, my God, of course,” she said. “You’re my best friend and that’s the meaning behind it, and to me it’s just like, I love you and we’re together forever.”

“You’re stuck with me,” she adds.

Elsewhere during their chat with PEOPLE — which, fittingly, was on the pickleball court — Hunter and Bernstein also talked about their unlikely encounter with the lovely.

“It all comes back to the Super Bowl,” says Hunter, who attended the 2023 NFL Championship Game for Dad Guy’s Flavortown Tailgate.

Bernstein, who also ended up at the tailgate, found herself on stage with a friend. “We’re all dancing, having a great time,” Tara recalls. “I turned around and I said, ‘Hey, can you take a picture of me?’ And that was Hunter.”

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“That was literally it,” she says with a laugh, adding that he returned the phone to her and they went their separate ways, eventually entering the stadium to watch the Super Bowl with their groups. “We haven’t exchanged contact information, nothing.”

As fate would have it, Hunter and Bernstein crossed paths on the concessions during the game.

“Literally by the ketchup and mustard stand, we’re standing there just chatting, just talking and hanging out,” he says, adding that the pair “bonded really quickly.”

“And the next thing we know, it’s game over,” Hunter adds. “We missed halftime.”

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About a week and a half after the Super Bowl, the couple started dating. A few months later, they became official Instagram. Nine months after their first meeting, they got engaged.

“I’m nervous and I’m so happy with the emotions,” she recalls of the proposal, and Tara adds, “I was in tears after… It was really, really nice.”

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Source: HIS Education