Keifer + Shawna Thompson — Country’s Greatest Love Stories

Keifer and Shawna Thompson of award-winning country duo Thompson Square are a match made in country music heaven. She hails from Chatom, Ala., and he from Miami, Okla. They met at a singing competition after they separately moved to Nashville, but they didn’t instantly become a duo; instead, it was love first, singing second.

“We came in town to be artists, and we met really quickly, but we didn’t realize until a few years into our marriage that the best way for us to coexist was for us to be together all the time,” says Keifer Thompson. “Being apart and doing our own things … we just weren’t happy. We were happy doing music, and the relationship wasn’t suffering, but it wasn’t as good without her.”

While some couples need a little bit of time apart, the “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not?” hitmakers enjoy being together more than the average husband and wife.

“Keifer would be gone doing his own thing on the road, and I would be at home miserable and missing him. Now, we’re getting to do what we both love to do together,” adds Shawna Thompson. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

The two are pretty much adorable in every aspect — including their sweet engagement story, which involves carving pumpkins and Halloween.

“We had gone to get a pumpkin to carve out for Halloween,” Keifer Thompson tells Taste of Country. “Shawna cleaned out the pumpkin, because I don’t touch the gooey stuff. I had put the ring at the bottom of the pumpkin, and [when] she came back to put the candle in, she pulled it out, bawling.”

But what she thought was a diamond was actually a piece of glass; he didn’t have enough money at the time for a real piece of bling. The week of their wedding, he replaced the glass with a real sparkler.

After 20-plus years of marriage (they were married in May of 1999), the madly-in-love couple is continuing their standing as a fan-favorite country duo — and an inspirational husband and wife.