Devin Dawson Marries Leah Sykes in Intimate Ceremony in Tennessee

Devin Dawson is a married man! The 30-year-old married longtime girlfriend Leah Sykes in an intimate ceremony in Franklin, Tennessee, located just outside of Nashville, with about 200 guests in attendance. Dawson and Sykes announced their engagement in March.

Dawson is nominated for a CMA Award nomination for Song of the Year, for Blake Shelton‘s “God’s Country,” and Sykes is an aspiring singer-songwriter, which is why they chose to write their own vows.

“We wanted to recite our own written vows in addition to traditional wedding vows,” Dawson told PEOPLE. “You better believe that two songwriters and artists wanted to write our own vows and promises!”

Dawson and Sykes met when they were both students at Belmont University, and it was love at first sight, at least for Dawson.

“After our first date I told my brother I didn’t want to let anyone else be with her,” Dawson recalled. “He told me to lock it down then! This is big because we never really talked love or relationships together at all.”

For Sykes, it took her a little longer – but not too long – before she realized Dawson was The One for her as well.

“I knew that he would always point me towards the things that were important and challenge me to be a better sister, daughter and wife,” she said.

Dawson previously opened up about their relationship, and how much Sykes changed him, for the better.

“We’ve been together for a little over two years,” Dawson told PopCulture.com. “I was not good at love before her. I would just would always mess it up, but I think when you find something that you have that feeling like I don’t want to let this go. You find a way to hold on. And so, we’re both really happy. I’m still trying to figure out why she said yes, and why she’s with me, but I’m not questioning it.”

There’s a significant age gap between Dawson and Sykes, but Dawson insists it doesn’t matter, at least to them.

“I’m eight years older than her, which I think if you like told me like five years ago that this is the girl I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, I would’ve probably been like, ‘I don’t know about that,’” Dawson stated. “But, again, until you experience it, you don’t really know what it’s like. And, she is an old soul. She graduated when she was 20; she is just always ahead of her time, and she’s such a hustler.

“For me, I need somebody that’s ambitious, and driven, and passionate, and talented,” he added. “And so, she’s all of that. I mean, I’m kind of pinching myself.”

The couple is enjoying a few days away at Blackberry Farms, a resort in Tennessee, before enjoying a longer honeymoon abroad in 2020. Dawson is also working on new music, which he plans to release in the near future.

Photo Credit: Getty / Mike Coppola