Zac Brown and jewelry designer Kendra Scott became engaged in July, two months after making their first public appearance as a couple at the American Music Awards (AMAs). During an appearance on TODAY with Jenna and Friends on October 28, Scott opened up about the proposal, revealing that it took place in Africa.
The jewelry and fashion designer told Jenna Bush Hager and Leanne Morgan that Brown had set up a barge trip for them. “We came up on a boat, and we got off and there were elephants on the banks and hippos in the water,” she recalled. “It was golden hour. We danced together on the boat, and we listened to that song, ‘I may not be your first, but I’m your last.’”
“At that moment he kind of got down on one knee and I got on my knees with him and we both were crying. I don’t even know if we said yes or what happened. It was just like, I think I just said ‘Yes, yes, yes’ before he even got out ‘will you marry me?’”
When asked if she knew the proposal was happening, Scott joked, “When we pulled up, and I saw the lanterns, I was thinking, ‘Honey, if you aren’t doing it right now… you’re missing an opportunity, because this is something out of a movie.”
Brown proposed to Scott with a pink diamond ring, and Scott, who knows her way around jewelry, shared that she was more than happy with the singer’s choice. “He did great — he did it all by himself,” she gushed. “He said, ‘Baby, it’s the rarest, just like you.’”
Both Brown and Scott have previously been married and have eight children between them; Scott shared that the group includes four boys and four girls aged 11 to 24.
“We are just having the time of our life,” Scott said. “And the family, I mean, that’s what’s so beautiful is when you meet somebody, and you fall in love, that’s incredible. But then when you see your family connect, and how beautiful they all get along, it’s overwhelming how happy that is.”
Brown has publicly raved about his fiancée on multiple occasions, including an October 5 interview with Fox News where he called Scott “an amazing human being.”
“We share so much in the way we love our family, the way we protect our people and our business, the way that we fight for good things in our philanthropy, the way that we choose to try to help each other,” he said. “I had to figure out a way to do it.”
Like Scott, Brown has enjoyed their two sets of children getting to know each other and becoming one big family.
“They’re all incredible in their own individual ways. As are my kids. They’re very different, but they’re all extraordinary,” the country star explained. “So it’s just a super, super blessing for us to have a harmony together within our families and be centered around that and just to have a life partner that’s on the same page, and we can support each other and help each other with our dreams and help to like… maybe weed out and say no so we have more time to just lay back and enjoy life.”
The couple is gearing up to celebrate the holidays with their blended families this year, according to Scott, who told PEOPLE, “We’re going to have about 25 people between friends, and then Zac and I have eight kids between us. We’re like the Brady Bunch — four girls, and four boys.” Kendra Scott and Zac Brown’s Thanksgiving dinner will take place near Austin, Texas, at Scott’s barn, and will include all eight of their children.
Scott says Zac Brown will be the chef this year, as she gushed, “Zac is an incredible cook.” Later adding, “He’s next level. He’s had a cookbook out. And then my son [Cade, 24], he’s also a chef. He’s been working in restaurants since he was 18. So the two of them take care of the food, and I just take orders, like a sous’ chef. I’ll cut vegetables, or whatever they tell me to do.”
