Lainey Wilson Talks Wedding Planning, Jokes Fiancé Will ‘Probably Be Using ChatGPT’ to Write His Vows (Exclusive)

The country star and her fiancé Devlin "Duck" Hodges got engaged in February 2025

NEED TO KNOW

• Lainey Wilson and fiancé Devlin “Duck” Hodges are prioritizing simplicity and fun over elaborate details for their wedding
• Hodges proposed in February 2025 at George Jones’ former home, a moment Wilson describes as one of the happiest of her life
• Wilson underwent an egg retrieval prior to getting engaged to plan for their future family

Lainey Wilson is taking wedding planning one day at a time.

In this week's PEOPLE cover story, on newsstands Friday, the country star, 33, says that due to her career demands, she and her fiancé Devlin "Duck" Hodges haven't had much time to iron out the details of their upcoming nuptials.

"We've been talking about it, trying to figure it out," Wilson says. "We just want it to be simple and we want to make that vow to each other and not be stressed out about what the flowers look like. I think we just want it to be about what it's supposed to be about — and, of course, we're going to have a dang good time."

As for those vows, Wilson is confident her songwriting talents will come in handy. She might even end up writing them as a poem.

“It’s a lot easier for me to communicate by rhyming words,” she says, adding that she doesn’t want to “show up” Hodges “too bad” since, she quips, “he’ll probably be using ChatGPT.”

Wilson first met Hodges, 30, through mutual friends in 2021. They quickly bonded over their love of Eric Church. "I was like, 'All right, this guy knows good music,'" she recalls.

In the early days of their romance, Wilson kept her "guard up" because she'd been "done pretty dirty in the past." But in the two years before she made their relationship public, she realized Hodges “loves Lainey way more than Lainey Wilson."

"He showed it to me pretty quick that he was going to be sticking around," she says. "He understands what it means to really work hard for something that you've always dreamed about doing. That was football for him. It was important to me to find somebody who could understand why I was so obsessed with this and that there was no other option than for me just to do it."

As Wilson grew her career, she says Hodges supported her every step of the way.

"He was driving the sprinter van, selling my merch," she says. "He definitely inspires a lot of my music — not even just the songs that I write about him, but also the songs I play him because he's a straight shooter."

In February 2025, Hodges proposed to Wilson on the steps of country icon George Jones' Franklin, Tenn., home. That morning, she says, "I thought something was off."

"He was acting a little funny, and he was like, 'Hey, do you want to go do that breathing exercise that you do?'" she recalls with a laugh. "I was like, 'What is going on with him?' Then I talked myself out of it because I didn't want to be mad if he didn't propose."

When Hodges eventually got down on one knee, "I was completely shocked," Wilson says. "It was so special, and what he said to me that moment, I'll never forget it. I mean, it was one of the happiest moments of my life."

Prior to the proposal, Wilson made the decision to freeze her eggs.

“I thought I was going to have to propose, so I was like, ‘Dang it, if he don’t hurry up!’” she jokes. “But it was a decision I already made. I found a window in my schedule, and as soon as I got back from touring in Europe, I started my process. I just made this a big priority.”

Two days after the retrieval, she started shooting Reminders of Him, her film debut. Though she says her “hormones were all over the place,” she found peace in her decision.

“I just wanted to make sure that when the time comes and I want to [have a baby], I will hopefully be given that opportunity," she says. "I think I'd make a great mama, and I think there needs to be more people in the world like Duck. So, it is definitely a dream of ours."

When they are home in Nashville, Wilson and Hodges like to keep date nights low-key, “hanging with our dogs, drinking an old-fashioned,” she says. “He can cook the best steak in Nashville. He’s just that place that I get to come home to and fill my cup back up.”

Looking ahead, Wilson hopes to continue performing — with her soon-to-be husband and their future children along for the ride.

“I’ll be taking them kids on the road and putting them to work,” she says. “Get them selling ­merch!”

For more from Lainey Wilson, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE on stands Friday.

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