This post contains spoilers for Wednesday’s fall finale of Nashville.

It finally happened: In Nashville‘s fall finale, Deacon dropped to one knee and asked Rayna to marry him.

And unlike previous Claybourne proposals, Deke was neither drunk nor dying when he did so.

Also unlike previous attempts? This wedding, showrunner Dee Johnson tells TVLine, is actually gonna happen — and soon.

“He all but proposed at the end of last season,” the EP says, referencing Deacon’s hospital-room freakout right before his liver transplant. “But stuff happened, and there was a lot of emotion they had to get through. We knew they needed time.”

In essence, the pair has been behaving like a married couple since the beginning of Season 4, she adds. But “even though they were living together, they were like ships in the night, because they were in their own little trajectories, motivated by their own needs. He was doing The Beverly for his sister. She was trying to get Highway 65 out of the gutter,” Johnson says. “It pulled them further apart than they’d ever been, in a weird way.”

Bizarrely, if you’re feeling the need to send a thank-you to the universe re: the engagement, send it care of Boulevard’s impetuous former frontman.

“Markus was the catalyst for bringing them back together and Deacon saying, ‘No, we’ve got to make this happen,'” the EP adds. “‘There’s got to be no question in anybody’s mind that we are together.'”

So consider this your official save-the-date notice: After a short time jump, Rayna and Deacon will walk down the aisle this March, Johnson says. While the event might not be the Luke Wheeler-style extravaganza we saw planned last season, there’s a good chance there’ll be some famous friends — and familiar faces (like Judith Hoag’s Tandy) — in attendance.

After all, “You can’t get married without your sister there!” Johnson says, laughing.

Nashville fans, what did you think of the episode? Grade the fall finale via the poll below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!