‘American Idol’ Alums Gabby Barrett and Cade Foehner Engaged

Wedding bells will soon be ringing for American Idol alums Gabby Barrett and Cade Foehner, with the couple getting engaged during a recent trip to Los Angeles.

The pair shared with PEOPLE that they had taken the trip to participate in pre-marital counseling and visit their pastor when they realized they were staying at the same hotel they had been at when they met and first spent time together during Season 16 of Idol. The two were planning on taking photos for a friend’s portfolio, but the photographer first suggested taking some shots in the room where they first met.

“She started taking the pictures and then she said, ‘Hold on I need to switch lenses.’ Cade start saying all these sweet things and I didn’t think anything of it because he normally does it all the time,” Barrett recalled. “But I noticed he kept going on and on and then he eventually said, ‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’ Then he got down on one knee and he asked and I said, ‘Yes!’”

Foehner had already purchased Barrett’s ring, and revealed that he had been planning on popping the question sooner rather than later.

“I’ve been thinking about proposing for quite a while,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s getting harder and harder to be apart. Doing all the traveling we have to do, sometimes we have to go a month without seeing each other. That’s a little much for me, so I decided to go ahead and do this thing!”

To celebrate the news, Barrett, 19, posted a photo from the shoot of herself leaning in to kiss her fiancé and holding out her hand to show off her new ring.

“Foehner has a nice RING to it…,” she captioned the shot.

Foehner also shared a snap from the day and wrote, “Not a day nor hour more can I wait for you to be my bride. Ladies and gentlemen, the future Mrs. Foehner!”

Barrett and Foehner began dating in early 2018 after meeting during the singing competition, with Foehner sharing that Barrett’s faith was one of the biggest things that drew him to her. While they acknowledge that some people may think they are too young to marry, the couple shared that their religion is a major part of why they feel comfortable taking the next step.

“We do not date like most people do,” Foehner said. “We strive for a biblical relationship, so that requires a lot of strength in other areas. We are trying to be holy in our relationship. So we cannot physically do five years. We both know — we’ve talked about it and prayed about it.”

“What’s the sense in sitting around and waiting around to be married?” he added. “I’m ready to do this thing and when I’m 80 years old I’m going to look back at the time I wasted not being her husband.”

Photo Credit: Instagram / @cadefoehner