“Oh Lord, I Better Start Saving Now”: Lainey Wilson Shares Engagement Ring Details, Wedding Planning

Lainey Wilson said she and fiancé Duck Hodges knew they were together for the long haul early in their relationship. It’s a good thing, too. Hodges was there at the beginning of Wilson’s career, so he’s witnessed every stage of her climb to the top of country music. The last four years also gave him time to plan ahead for Wilson’s engagement ring—which he needed.

Wilson was clear from the beginning that she wanted a knuckle-busting diamond.

“Right when we first started dating, we knew pretty much immediately we were going to be in each other’s lives,” she said. “It just felt that natural. As a joke, I had texted him some big dreams of, ‘This is what I like.’ He was like, ‘Oh Lord, I better start saving now.”

When it came time to start thinking about an engagement, Wilson said Hodges combined many of the designs from the pictures she sent him four years ago to create the ring he proposed with.

“I said yes,” Wilson said of the proposal. Hodges popped the question a few days before Valentine’s Day at George Jones’ former estate. “It’s a tiny, tiny little thing,” she joked of the ring. This arm is a little bit more toned than it was a month ago,” Wilson said of her left arm.

Lainey Wilson Sent Duck Hodges Pictures of Large Engagement Rings

Wilson posted photos of her proposal, showing the planning Hodges put into the moment. There were roses strewn around, framed pictures of the couple, and white candles atop an outdoor staircase that led into the former Jones home. Snapshots show the couple kissing, Wilson covering her face, displaying her new ring, Hodges grinning broadly, and Wilson holding her hand up, showing the world her new ring.

“4x4xU forever ❤️,” she captioned the pictures.

The Louisiana-bred country singer originally had an inkling Hodges might propose that day but convinced herself otherwise. Wilson didn’t want to be disappointed if it didn’t happen. When she called her sister to talk about it, her sister got off the phone quickly.

The couple had been discussing visiting Jones’ estate for a while, and Hodges tabled the idea again while at the Super Bowl.

“He was like, ‘We need to go next week,’” Wilson said, explaining they planned the visit with her manager and another person. “We were just going to go check it out. Then, as we pulled up, I realized that there were different plans. He had it all set up.”

Lainey Wilson Wants to Make Wedding Planning a “Priority”

Mutual friends introduced the couple in Nashville years ago when Wilson’s career was still taking off, and Hodges still played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. While little is known about how long the couple has been together, Hodges left the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020 and football in 2022. Hodges and Wilson officially unveiled their relationship on the 2023 ACM Awards red carpet.

Wilson describes Hodges as her biggest cheerleader, best friend, and someone in her corner “no matter what.”

“He’s one of my biggest champions,” she said. “I can bounce things off of him. He knows just enough about the music business to not drive me insane. It’s nice to be able to go home to somebody who doesn’t have a dog in the race, and I can separate these worlds. Because it is my world, it is important to be able to go home and turn it off. He makes it real easy to write love songs. Hopefully, he’s not in here because he’ll get the big head. He’s a good person.”

Wilson said the couple hadn’t started the wedding planning process.

“We need to really sit down and make that a priority,” she said. “I’m sure it’ll be something that’s just very simple.”