Getty Images, LinkedinEmily Maynard is ready to shed that Bachelorette label for good.
The Southern belle is engaged to boyfriend Tyler Johnson, E! News exclusively confirms.
Emily is "so excited," a source close to the bride-to-be tells us. "He proposed to her right after the New Year at her house in Charlotte."
It's unclear whether Tyler had already popped the question when Emily, dressed in full New Year's Eve party mode, wrote on Instagram, "It's going to be a good year :)"—but she was on the money, nonetheless.
And it sounds like her beau pulled out all the stops, like a true gentleman, when it came time to propose.
First of all, we're told that he asked permission beforehand from both Emily's father and her daughter Ricki's paternal grandparents, Rick and Linda Hendrick. (Their son, race car driver Ricky Hendrick, was engaged to Emily when he was killed in a plane crash in 2004).
Tyler then filled the house with flowers and candles, the source says. Ricki was there and Emily "knew immediately what was happening" when she saw her beau's display.
And of course she said yes—in between the happy tears!
"She was crying," the insider reveals. "She's super happy. He's her best friend."
And perhaps most importantly of all, Ricki "absolutely loves him. She adores him."
Emily is "over the moon," our source adds.
We're also told that the ring is not a traditionally cut engagement ring, but rather a gorgeous band encircled with diamonds, which Emily has been wearing with a stack of pavé bands.
The couple told only their closest friends and family—but good news is ultimately meant to be celebrated!
After losing Hendricks, the father of her young daughter, Emily was briefly engaged to Brad Womack after he popped the question on The Bachelor. She then accepted a proposal from Jef Holm on the season finale of The Bachelorette, which aired in July 2012, but they split up that October.
Emily met Tyler in church and a source told E! News in November that their relationship was getting "very serious."
In light of her romantic history, the insider said, "she's definitely going to hold off on getting engaged again until they are very, very sure and very close to marriage."
Consider the couple very, very sure! Congratulations to the lovebirds!