Yearwood and Garth Brooks had been friends and musical partners before romantically seeing each other. According to Brooks, his first encounter with Yearwood felt like "that feeling when you just meet your wife". During this period, Yearwood and Brooks were both married to other people. For these reasons, they remained friends during the first half of their careers. Following Brooks's divorce and Yearwood's second divorce, the two began dating around 2002. They became engaged in 2005 when Brooks proposed to Yearwood onstage amidst a crowd of 7,000 in Bakersfield, California. The pair married on December 13, 2005. The wedding took place at the couple's home in Owasso, Oklahoma. Brooks's three children were also part of the wedding ceremony.