• Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Madeline Salter is engaged to Joe McBride
• The proposal took place on April 27 outside Hotel Drover in Fort Worth, Texas
• The couple celebrated afterward with a surprise engagement dinner party at Hudson House in Frisco, Texas

Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Madeline Salter is now a bride-to-be!

The America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders star, 28, got engaged to sports card investor Joe McBride, 24, outside Hotel Drover in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, April 27.

“I had no idea that this was happening,” Salter tells PEOPLE. “I thought I was just doing a normal content photo shoot, and then I was surprised by my future husband with the biggest smile.”

McBride, who owns Vicious Cards, pulled off the surprise with the help of Salter’s agent, Traci Glieden at The Digital Dept. They fooled Salter by convincing her that she was meeting with photographer Merissa Bradford for a branding photo shoot. A few minutes into the session, McBride appeared and popped the question on bended knee.

“I’m gonna be honest, I thought he was surprising me to go take me out to dinner afterwards, but nope, he was proposing,” Salter says. “It was at my favorite hotel and with my favorite person on the planet earth, my best friend.”

McBride presented the influencer with a 14-karat yellow gold marquise-cut diamond ring. The stunning sparkler has 19 diamonds in total.

“It features a marquise-cut center stone set vertically, with marquise and round diamonds on each side in a soft, leaf-like cluster,” Salter explains. “The band has pavé diamonds for extra sparkle, and the elevated setting lets in light to make it really shine.”

McBride and Salter soaked in their engagement bliss by walking around Fort Worth together. The private time doubled as a stalling period, as a surprise after-party was waiting for the couple at Hudson House. Bradford just needed enough time to beat them to the Frisco restaurant.

After a quick change and makeup touch-up at home, Salter headed to the “quiet dinner” with McBride.

Salter was shocked when she walked in and saw 35 of her family, friends, and Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders teammates there to celebrate.

“The fact that I got to celebrate with my friends, family, and future in-laws was the perfect way for a perfect engagement,” she tells PEOPLE.

Salter and McBride first met at the McAllen International Airport in McAllen, Texas. At the time, Salter was traveling for an event with the Dallas Cowboys while McBride was with his Utah Valley University baseball teammates to play against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

As Salter boarded the plane, McBride thought that she was “the prettiest girl he had ever seen.” Once it was his turn to board, he made a move by complimenting her glasses as he walked by her seat in the front.

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After landing at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the pair crossed paths again while waiting for the same train. McBride made sure he was in the same car as Salter, and the two started chatting. Later on, they connected on Instagram and exchanged phone numbers.

Salter and McBride became “best friends.” They texted and FaceTimed for an entire year before they went on their official first date in Utah.

Read the original article on People