‘The Bachelorette’ Alum Hannah Brown Engaged to Adam Woolard (Exclusive)

Hannah Brown has found her forever!

The former Bachelorette, 28, got engaged to boyfriend Adam Woolard on Aug. 24 at Bolt Farm Treehouse in Whitwell, Tennessee, PEOPLE exclusively confirms.

Brown originally thought she and Woolard were going to the farm to support the property’s owners, Seth and Tori Bolt, who they’re friends with. Little did she know her family would be staying on the property to surprise her for the special moment.

“I feel like I have been so busy with putting roots down in our new city Nashville and starting my new podcast I hadn’t really thought about it much so if he did slip as he was planning, I did not catch on,” she tells PEOPLE. “We had talked about getting engaged, but I felt so content and safe in our relationship, I wasn’t rushing it.”

“(I loved) not only the intimacy of the surprise by ourselves, but also how we were able to celebrate with friends and family. And the surprise. I love surprises,” she adds. 

The newly-engaged couple started dating in 2021 after meeting on a dating app. Since then, they’ve adopted a dog together and embarked on a cross-country move from Santa Monica, California, to Nashville. 

Prior to dating, Brown was a contestant on Colton Underwood’s season 23 of The Bachelor. She was then casted as The Bachelorette for the show’s fifteenth season, where she met her ex-fiancé, Jed Wyatt. 

Reflecting back on their relationship, Woolard tells PEOPLE he knew Brown was The One only a few months into dating.

“The weekend she met my family after a few months of dating. It was so effortless, like she had been a part of the family for years,” he says.

“If I had to choose one quality I love about her, it would be her authenticity,” he says. “She lives and acts from the truest part of herself despite outside influence. But also that smile and how she lights up a room.”

Brown, on the other hand, says there wasn’t a specific moment for her when she realized she loved Woolard. “It’s been the accumulation of moments that have made me feel loved and seen and accepted in a way I never have,” she says. 

“I love his calming presence and big heart. And how he accepts and loves all versions of me…even the crazy version,” she adds.

Woolard proposed with a 3-stone ring from Ring Concierge. All three stones are round brilliant cut diamonds.

Woolard says he and Brown looked at rings in Tuscaloosa to get a feel for shape and style on Nov. 25, 2022. This, he says, is when he decided on the 3-stone style. 

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“I fell in love with the meaning,” he tells PEOPLE. “The 3 stones represent the past, present, and future. I love how our relationship started and I’m so excited for our future, but the biggest stone in the center represents where we are right now in the present, and that is always my favorite part of our relationship.”

The Bolts also tell PEOPLE they were “honored” to be part of the couple’s engagement. “They’ve stayed at Bolt Farm Treehouse several times and it says a lot that we’ve become their special place,” say Seth and Tori. “It’s our greatest joy to help our guests create unforgettable experiences and memories that will last a lifetime.”