Singer Michelle Williams waited patiently for the love of her life, and she found her happily ever after with sports chaplain Chad Johnson.
The couple recently announced their surprise engagement and shared their joy with fans/
Williams and Johnson met at a spiritual retreat in Arizona in March 2017 and established a friendship that blossomed into a beautiful love in July of that year.
Before they walk down the aisle in a fairytale wedding this summer, take an exclusive look at their gorgeous engagement photos. We can see the love!
Michelle and Chad met in 2017 at his spiritual retreat after she went through a bad breakup.
“I was in a horrible, dark place,” she told PEOPLE. “I just needed to go somewhere where I could get a message of hope and restoration, rejuvenation — get connected to God.”
The two met, become friends, and love found it’s way into their lives for the start of their happily ever after.
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The way Chad looks at Michelle is making our hearts smile.
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“We spent almost three months without even seeing each other, just building a strong foundation on the phone and through FaceTime; it was really built on friendship and communication,” Johnson told PEOPLE.
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Michelle is all smiles with her man in her arms and we love it!
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“What kept drawing me and drawing me at first was I felt like I could be myself,” the 37-year-old told the magazine. “My first name is Tenitra; my middle name is Michelle. I felt like I could be Tenitra: just ratchet, I didn’t have to have on any makeup, if I had to have on my hair bonnet — he just made me feel very safe in being myself.”
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For the 5-carat engagement ring, Johnson started a bank account over a decade ago just to buy the perfect woman her dream ring.
“On my 30th birthday, everybody came and celebrated me. The next day, I woke up alone. I was so lonely. I had a little pity party. My personal life was lacking so much, and I was living so single,” he told PEOPLE. “So as a response to that moment, I opened up a ring account, and for 11 years, I put $150 into a ring account. Every month I’d put money into that account; I would just say, ‘My wife’s coming; this is for my wife.’ I did that for 11 years.” Still, he admits it wasn’t always easy: “At 6, 7, 8 years in, I wanted to pull that money out and spend it on a sports car! When I had the moment that I knew Michelle was it, I was so excited to get that money and go buy that ring. There’s so much in that ring. That’s 11 years of my belief in my wife coming for me.”
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Michelle and Chad look like the perfect match.
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Before popping the question, Chad took a trip to Michelle’s hometown to ask for her family’s blessing for her hand in marriage. For the trip, he recorded the entire experience and used the footage during the surprise March proposal.
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“I started weeping and wailing when I see all these special people. Towards the end of the video, something in my head said, ‘Pull yourself together! He’s about to propose! Stop all this crying!’,” the singer revealed of the poolside proposal.
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Michelle and Chad are wasting no time with the wedding plans. The couple plans to tie the knot this summer in a traditional, small, intimate and private wedding. Michelle already has her dress!
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The newly engaged couple definitely slayed these photos!
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Michelle wanted to approach this relationship differently than all her previous ones so she kept her relationship a secret from all her friends–even Beyoncé and Kelly–until she was sure he was “the one” and he was!
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The happy couple is all smiles; they just have love written all over their faces!
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We’re wishing these two a lifetime of wedded bliss!
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