Ever since Lainey Wilson and Duck Hodges announced their engagement in February of 2025, people have been eager for wedding details from the country singer and former NFL player. However, with both of them having such busy schedules, planning a wedding has been a challenge.
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Even Wilson admitted that wedding planning "hasn't been exactly easy," as cheekily, this year has been "a bit of a whirlwind." While we might not be getting a wedding date from the couple just yet, we have been getting hilarious stories from their early relationship, and this first date story definitely takes the cake.
To set the scene, Hodges took Wilson to a dive bar called Silverados, which impressed Lainey because she knew right then, "this boy likes to ball on a budget." It was there that Hodges entertained Lainey with the backstory behind his name "Duck," which comes from his college football days.
"He said he was playing football at Samford (University), and the coach there (said), 'You remind me of one of my favorite quarterbacks ever, and his name was Duck.' And he had an excellent season that year. And so the whole team started saying, "It's Duck season; it's Duck season!' So that's how he got Duck."
This is where it gets good. According to Lainey, after hearing that story, she felt compelled to follow up with something equally as good. So, she told Duck that her friends also had a clever nickname for her - Goose. "On our first date, I told him that people call me Goose. I was lying, but he fell for it. I think he was like, 'Oh, I'm in love.'"
Even though they don't actually share nicknames in common, these two definitely seem like the perfect match.
Finding Time Hasn't Been Easy for Lainey Wilson and Duck Hodges
Although that first date took place in 2021, Lainey and Hodges didn't make their public debut until 2023, while walking the red carpet at the ACM awards.
Wilson has often shared how, with being a touring artist and working as much as she does, it can be challenging to find time for their relationship. This is understandable because Duck also has a career in real estate, following up his busy football career.
She shared with People, "You have to definitely carve out the time. It has to be something that you're very aware of, and you're like, 'Okay, I've got a day off here in 10 days. I've got to dedicate that day to spend time with my person.' And we both need that and deserve that, and it's always great. We just try to soak up those moments as best as we possibly can."
We hope that these two get some time together in between life's busy moments and planning the wedding of their dreams. Selfishly though, we hope we get the inside scoop on that wedding sooner rather than later.
Photo by: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Golden West
