Married at First Sight Alum Cortney Hendrix Is Engaged to Boyfriend Sherm - See Her Gorgeous Ring

Married at First Sight alum Cortney Hendrix has found her happily ever after.

After more than a year together, Hendrix's accountant boyfriend, Sherm, recently popped the question, PEOPLE confirms exclusively.

"March 6, 2014, I received a call from Kinetic Content that I was going to be married at first sight. I remember it because it was the day before my mother's birthday," says Hendrix, 31. "March 6, 2020 is the day that Sherm got down on one knee and asked me to be his forever.

"This day brought everything full circle for me. God has showed up in such a big way in our lives. I did not know that this is what love felt like," continues Hendrix, who was previously married to Jason Carrion (the firefighter wed Celebrity Big Brother alum Roxanne Pallett in January). "After everything we both had been through, we didn't know it was possible. We are both grateful for our past because it let us to each other, made us grow through some of the darkest times and prepared us for this relationship and a lifetime of love and partnership."

Sherm - who also ended a previous marriage about six months before meeting Hendrix - tells PEOPLE he was initially "skeptical and reluctant to commit."

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"Early on in our relationship, Cortney and I would stay up into the early hours of the morning talking and connecting on so many levels. I didn't envision having serious talks about my future with another woman any time soon, but here I was," says Sherm, 29. "I hadn't ever enjoyed being with someone as much as I enjoy being with Cortney, and I knew this is how a marriage should be."

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After asking for Hendrix's parents' blessing in December, Sherm began working on her custom engagement ring.

"Cortney had mentioned she liked emerald-cut diamond rings, which are not exactly in style right now. I wanted to give her the ring she wanted, and wanted it to be timeless, unique and as complex as the late-night talks we have," he says.

Bringing in a sketch of the ring to Jared, Sherm then spent the next 10 weeks perfecting the bauble and finalizing proposal details.

"I planned a trip up to Boone, North Carolina, and had planned to propose in the mountains. As the date got closer, I sensed Cortney was anticipating my proposal ... [so] I changed my original plan," he says.

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The day before their planned trip to the mountains, Sherm surprised Cortney by popping the question at a hotel room he was staying in for work.

"I asked her to pour us some wine, and she grabbed the glasses without noticing the ring and turned around to me on one knee with a ring pop," he says of the unexpected moment. "She always said I could propose with a ring pop and that would be enough! She laughed and asked 'Is this for real?' I grabbed the wine glass while on a knee and handed it to her, and she noticed it this time and said 'Yes!'"

Celebrating their engagement in Boone, the newly engaged couple are happily planning their future together - and already looking forward to expanding their family.

"One of the greatest qualities I see in Cortney is her commitment to the partnership marriage becomes. I've come to realize her ideal dream wedding is much more about marrying the right person and much less about the spectacle many modern weddings have become," says Sherm. "I couldn't be happier or more excited to marry Cortney and start a family of our own."

The latest season of Married at First Sight airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Lifetime.