Blake Shelton, 44, and Gwen Stefani, 51, broke the news of their engagement with a photo taken inside a chapel, which we’re now learning has “special” meaning. “Blake built a beautiful chapel for Gwen on his property in Oklahoma and he felt it would be really special to propose there,” a source close to the newly engaged couple, who revealed the happy news on Oct. 27, EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife.
The chapel has the sweetest backstory! “He originally built the chapel for Gwen because she is a very devout Catholic and he wanted to make her feel comfortable with her transition from LA to Oklahoma. Her faith is incredibly important to her and Blake knows that,” our source explains. Although Blake and Gwen are based in Los Angeles, they had quarantined for months on Blake’s country property in Oklahoma due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So, he felt that [the chapel] was the perfect place to propose because it has so much meaning to the both of them,” our insider continues. “Gwen loves the chapel so much and she even has a necklace with a charm of the chapel that she wears often.”
This proposal was five years in the making, after Blake and Gwen — who had met while serving as co-judges on The Voice in 2014 — began dating in the fall of 2015. “Blake and Gwen knew this day was coming and Blake did it on his own terms,” a second source, who’s also close to the couple, EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife. “Though their relationship has been followed closely and everyone wants them engaged and married, Blake and Gwen are doing things that is right for them as a couple and a family.”
“This engagement was a long time coming but for them it is the right time,” our second source adds. “They are very much in love and Blake and Gwen who have been married before are determined to make this their last marriage, they know they are each other’s soulmates.” This will be Blake’s third marriage after his first marriage to high school sweetheart Kaynette Williams and second to fellow country music star Miranda Lambert. Meanwhile, this will be Gwen’s second marriage after splitting from Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale in 2015 (the same year Blake split from Miranda).
Although Blake popped the question in his home state of Oklahoma, a source EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife this past September that he and Gwen were “all settled” into their new $13.2 million home in Encino, Los Angeles. “It’s in the LA valley area and not terribly far from the kids’ school and they love the neighborhood. Gwen is very hands on and there are multiple schools to think about since her boys [Kingston, 13, Zuma, 11, and Apollo, 6] go to different ones now to service their needs. They seem extremely happy,” the source told us at the time.