‘Toddlers & Tiaras’ Alum Eden Wood Is Engaged at 21: See the Former Child Star All Grown Up

Remember the tiny pageant queen with the platinum ringlets and the trophy case bigger than she was? Eden Wood, of TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras, is all grown up these days — and she’s swapping her sash and crown for a wedding gown.

Wood, now 21, is engaged to her boyfriend of nearly two years, Dean, 20. “When you know, you know,” she said, according to an article Today published on Tuesday, July 14.

Long before she was picking out bridal bouquets, Wood was one of reality TV’s most famous faces, known for her confidence and pageant trophy wins during Toddlers & Tiaras‘ late-2000s and early-2010s heyday. Per the report, her fame stretched well past TLC — she played Darla in 2014’s The Little Rascals Save the Day, released music, modeled, and built a social media following that’s stuck with her into adulthood.

Wood shared the happy news on Instagram in April, posting engagement photos with the caption, “Heart is full, hand is heavy, I’M A FIANCÉE.” In June, she shared photos from her “Something Blue Before I Do” themed bridal shower on Instagram, writing, “Feeling so blessed to have such amazing friends.”

According to Today, Dean popped the question after secretly designing a custom marquise-cut engagement ring and setting up a proposal on a hill overlooking the Arkansas countryside, complete with flower petals and two bouquets. Wood declined to share her fiancé’s last name.

Their love story, it turns out, goes back decades, per the report. The families knew each other long before the couple started dating, and once Wood told her mother who she was seeing, both moms realized the pair had once ridden the same haunted hayride together as 4-year-olds — Wood dressed as a witch, Dean as a cowboy. Dean’s grandmother even signed Wood’s birth certificate at the hospital where she was born.

Faith has anchored their relationship from the start. Per the report, Dean handed Wood a Bible with marked passages, ending with a sticky note that read, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Wood, who’s graduating a semester early from the University of Central Arkansas with a public relations degree and a minor in communications, says she hopes to open her own PR firm.

As for kids down the line? “I’ve told him before, if we have a girl, we’re going to have to put her in a pageant or two,” she said, according to the outlet. “I don’t think there’s a way around that!”