Jennifer Hart Recounts Romantic Engagement Proposal from Rob Ricotta: 'He Gave Me Zero Hints'

Courtesy Jennifer Hart Rob Ricotta and Jennifer Hart

Earlier this year, country music songstress Jennifer Smestad changed her professional name to Jennifer Hart. And if all goes as planned, she will also soon change her personal name to Jennifer Ricotta.

"He's a songwriter, a drummer, an actor and a voiceover actor," Hart, 30, raves to PEOPLE following her recent engagement to 32-year-old Rob Ricotta. "There's nothing he can't do. He even does home and studio designing. The only thing I found that he can't do is foosball."

The Arizona native reminisces with a laugh about the man that came into her life when she was least expecting it. "We actually met in a writing session that he wasn't supposed to be at," Hart remembers. "I was not wearing makeup or anything. I wasn't expecting a guy to come over to my place."

Courtesy Jennifer Hart Rob Ricotta and Jennifer Hart

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After that fateful writing session, there was another one, and then another one after that. And with every song they created together, Hart says she found herself falling for him more and more. So, she went and made the first move. And the rest is history.

Coincidentally, one of the songs that the two wrote during those initial writing sessions was about Hart's sister, titled "Find Me Here." And when it came to recording a demo for the heartfelt song, Hart decided to bring her mom along — to not only give the sweet song a listen, but to also share her opinion on her daughter's sweet new man.

"My mom met Rob very early on, and — I didn't find this out until probably a couple years later — called my sister right after she met him, saying, 'I think I just met Jen's future husband,'" remembers Hart, who officially started dating Ricotta on Aug. 5, 2019, exactly one year to the day after Hart had broken up with her ex.

Fast forward to last month, when Hart and Ricotta embarked on a hike with some friends at Stephens Gap Cave Preserve in Woodville, Alabama, a trip that would ultimately result in Ricotta popping the question Hart had long been waiting for.

Courtesy Jennifer Hart Jennifer Hart and Rob Ricotta

"Rob reserved this cave for us," says Hart of the picturesque setting for their engagement. "We hiked down to the cave and the only thing I remember him saying is, 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you.'"

Hart says she initially thought he was joking, but then, Ricotta got down on one knee and gave her the ultimate surprise. "He gave me zero hints," she says of the lead-up to the proposal.

Making the moment even more special was that right after the proposal, Ricotta led Hart back up the cave, where he had a cello and violin player playing the song "18," which Hart co-wrote alongside songwriters Paul DiGiovanni and Derrick Southerland with her future fiancée in mind. The ring Ricotta slipped onto Hart's finger in that secluded cave also had a special story attached to it.

"The center diamond of the ring that he proposed with is the same diamond that my grandpa used to propose to my grandma," says Hart, who went viral in May of 2019 with her touching song "Half the Man." "My real ring hadn't come in yet, so for him to use this ring instead meant so much to me."

In fact, Hart says she will now wear this ring with her actual engagement ring, which arrived a few days after Ricotta's proposal.

Robby Stevens Jennifer Hart

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"This ring is just absolutely gorgeous," she says. "I had a family friend growing up who was a jeweler and I always thought it would be really special if he made my engagement ring. Rob reached out in 2020 over quarantine, and they started designing [the ring] together. While working on it, the family friend retired, but he still agreed to finish my ring."

The couple is now hard at work planning their nuptials, which they hope will take place either later this year or the early part of next year.

"We don't want to wait too long," Hart says.

There is also the added stress of being able to fit a date into the two's already packed schedules.

"I had my 30th birthday, my debut EP 1992 was released, and I got engaged all in the same week," she states with a laugh. "My life has just completely shifted. I'm excited to get married to him. I'm still going to continue making music, and he's going to still continue all his stuff. We will just be doing it officially together."