Brett Young Explains Reason Behind Custom Wedding Band

Brett Young married longtime girlfriend Taylor Mills on Saturday, Nov. 3 in Palm Desert, California, the couple exchanging vows in an emotional ceremony in front of over 200 friends and family.

Now that they’re husband and wife, they’re both sporting a new piece of jewelry on their ring fingers, though Young’s is pretty different than a normal ring that slips over the finger due to an injury he sustained when he was younger.

“I dislocated [my ring finger] knuckle playing football when I was 12. And so if you jam a ring over it, it swells up and gets stuck on there,” he explained to PEOPLE. “When you’re that young, you never think, ‘This is going to affect me for the rest of my life.’”

To make sure Young could wear a wedding band, jeweler Steve Goldfarb of Alvin Goldfarb came up with an unconventional idea.

“He said that he could make a ring that clasps like a watch for me, so he made it from scratch with a clasp,” Young shared. “I’ve never gotten to wear a ring on this finger before!”

Mills’ wedding ring was designed by David Kodner, who created a diamond-encrusted band that coordinates with her engagement ring, a large oval diamond on a pavé band also designed by Kodner.

The couple exchanged rings during their vows, which Young said were the most difficult part of the day for him.

“That’s definitely the moment that was most difficult to get through and not sound like a big baby,” the 37-year-old confessed to PEOPLE. “I cried writing my vows. When you’ve been together for ten years, on and off, it’s really overwhelming to sit down and put into few words how you feel about somebody.”

While the vows may have been tough to get through, Young admitted that he was shedding tears pretty much the whole day.

“I cried when she was walking, I cried during my vows. I cried during her vows,” he told Taste of Country. “I cried when my dad was doing his portion of the ceremony. Hopefully it wasn’t ugly cries, I haven’t seen all the pictures yet.”

The California native’s father, Brad, is a pastor, and officiated parts of the ceremony along with Van Hazelitt, Young’s manager and groomsman.

“He’s done 1000 weddings,” Young told PEOPLE of having his dad play a part in the ceremony. “I’m his only son and he didn’t want to be the preacher for the entire wedding. He wanted to be actually attending his son’s wedding so my manager, who’s also one of my groomsmen and one of my close friends, slid in and did most of the ceremony. My dad didn’t come back until the official part. It was really special to have my dad but also to have Van.”

Photo Credit: Getty / John Shearer