“Hold that rock up, baby!” That’s how DK Metcalf broke the news of his engagement to Normani yesterday, while speaking to press after the announcement he would be traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a five-year, $150 million contract. With Normani watching him from the side of the stage, Metcalf jovially called upon her to hold up her engagement ring. “They got me good,” she said, holding her ring finger aloft and wearing a Steelers jersey.

Less than 24 hours later, the couple spoke to Vogue to share the story behind their whirlwind engagement, which took place on March 12 during a trip to Houston—ostensibly for spring break, to celebrate Metcalf’s sister and cousin’s birthdays. “Oh my goodness, honestly, I knew absolutely nothing,” says Normani, beaming from ear to ear. “As oblivious as oblivious can get, that was pretty much me.” Having approached the trip as simply an opportunity for their two families to spend time together, the R&B star spent most of the week undertaking a series of classic Houston days out: eating dinner at the iconic fried chicken joint Frenchy’s, shopping at The Galleria mall, and going to the rodeo. “I was just thinking, ‘Okay, cool. This is a great opportunity for our families to get together, enjoy each other, and spend quality time together.’”

On Wednesday night, Metcalf told Normani to prepare for a surprise birthday dinner for his sister. “I was thinking that I’m in on the secret, and it turned out that everybody else was in on the secret and I had no idea what was going on,” she recalls, laughing. After stressing about her outfit—and eventually running late, after stopping at the store to pick up a pair of heels—she arrived at Metcalf’s family home to find overflowing flower arrangements, candles, and a cellist and pianist playing. “My whole family’s there, his whole family’s there, and this is how clueless I was: I run and I hide, as if I’m about to be in on the surprise for his sister—thinking she’s behind us and that we’re all going to say, ‘Surprise!’” Normani adds. (The decor, Metcalf explains, was very much a group effort: “Her manager Lydia, my mom, and her mom all put our heads together to make it as fairytale-like and cute as possible, with all of her favorite flowers and colors,” he says, noting that he worked with creative producer Sasha Lance and local florist Stylish Floral Design Co to bring it to life.)

The proposal itself took place immediately afterwards, and was inspired by a movie night early on in their romance. “When we first met, we watched Juwanna Mann at my house,” says Metcalf. “There was a part in the movie where Vivica Fox’s character said, ‘It would just be nice to receive flowers on a Wednesday.’” So for the past few months, Metcalf sent her flowers every Wednesday, accompanied by cards with chapters of a story about how Normani found love, told in a fairytale style. After Normani arrived at the surprise event, Metcalf’s mother told her to go look at a card that was placed nearby, in an envelope with her name on it—and that’s when everything clicked. “At the very end of the story, I used both of our nicknames and said I had a question for her,” Metcalf says. “As she finished reading the final love letter, I came down the stairs, got on one knee and asked if she would marry me.”