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Derek Hough, 37, and Hayley Erbert, 27, are engaged after seven years of dating! HollywoodLife spoke with the man who designed and brought the proposal to life, Troy Williams of Simply Troy Lifestyle + Events, EXCLUSIVELY to learn all the behind-the-scenes details of the special moment. “I am very proud of how it turned out, and I adore them and love them very much. This happened in their living room,” he gushed.
The first secret Troy spilled was that while the happy couple announced the news on June 2, Derek got down on one knee on May 23! He then revealed where it happened. “He told me that he wanted candles and there were 250 candles. To be able to do that and surprise her, in their own living room, was really touching,” he noted. The candles and flowers were provided by Los Angeles-based floral shop In Blume. He added that Derek and Hayley were out of their house for eight hours to ensure their living room was decorated and ready for the big surprise. Derek popped the question almost as soon as they walked in, according to Troy. He was there to witness the sweet moment, seen above, which was captured by New York City-based photographer, Anée Atelier.
Troy also revealed it wasn’t an easy feat pulling off the surprise, even though Hayley was far away from her home as the space was being decorated. “It is very hard to pull one over on Hayley. One of his best buddies and I were playing things behind the scenes. We were working around the [home] cameras and Derek was deleting apps off her phone to make sure she didn’t know,” he recalled. “We knew all of the tricks. It was literally mission impossible.”
Troy has been close to Derek and his equally talented sister Julianne Hough for quite some time, as he’s known Julianne since she was 18 years old and planned her wedding to former husband Brooks Laich. Therefore, getting to work on one of Derek and Hayley’s most important life events was special to him. Speaking of the newly engaged pair, Troy said, “They are such an adventurous couple. They have such a special love story.” He continued, “Derek wanted to make it really special for her and their home is their sanctuary. They were able to enjoy it before they left for France.”
Derek and Hayley jetted off to France for the popular Monaco Grand Prix for Formula One’s annual race at Circuit de Monaco at the end of May. Derek shared a video of his and his fiancée’s travels on his Instagram page on June 1 (seen above). The video featured clips of their private jet ride to France, footage of their time at the racetrack, and video of an uber-luxurious yacht they enjoyed a night on. Of course, they were engaged at the time, but the public was unaware.
Derek asked Hayley to be his wife with a sparkling oval diamond by Canadian jeweler, Paris Jewellers. The pair announced their engagement with the photo of Hayley wrapped around Derek. They both captioned the photo, which was shared on each of their Instagram pages, “It’s only the beginning…the beginning of forever.”