Model Shaun Ross Engaged to Actor David Alan Madrick — All the Details on Their At-Home Proposal

Shaun Ross and David Alan Madrick are ready to tie the knot.

On July 7, the model and recording artist proposed to the Black-ish star after three years of dating, PEOPLE can exclusively announce.

"I had been planning it for about a year," Ross tells PEOPLE, sharing that he originally wanted to pop the question on the couple's anniversary.

But after speaking with a close friend, Lonparny clothing designer Lee Donaldson, Ross decided to take the spontaneous route by proposing right in the couple's Downtown Los Angeles apartment.

"He gave me the inspiration of just doing it at home in the spur of the moment, and that's what I did," Ross says. "I did it inside of the house. To be honest with you, I felt it. I meditated on it and that's how I ended up doing it."

Ross also got the inspiration, and blessing, from Madrick's mother saying, "I reached out to his mom and I asked her and she was very ecstatic. She was just like 'You only live once.'"

"My mom absolutely loves Shaun," Madrick adds. "My mother's a hard woman to please and she definitely loves him and loves the way he loves me."

The intimate proposal was aligned with Madrick's own laid-back attitude.

"To me it was perfect. It was me and him in our home," Madrick tells PEOPLE. "He asked me to come inside to our dining area and he goes on with this speech and I'm like, 'Okay, this is so nice, thank you for this speech.' And then he pulls out the box and I'm looking at it [and] I'm looking at him," Madrick says.

Madrick says he felt like "one of those Barbies on the shelves, the one in the front, the one that gets picked," adding that the two celebrated the occasion by cozying up and watching Degrassi.

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He also remembers his partner's proposal speech, which he hopes to hear on their wedding day too. "It was 'I love you very much. You allow me to be myself and I feel very safe with you. And one of those things was [also] 'When you're not near me, I miss you and I like to have you close by me.'"

Ross' heartfelt proposal was complete with a show-stopping engagement ring — a custom OUI Collection ZOE Emerald Cut Diamond Eternity Band set with 19 custom-cut Lab Grown Diamonds at 9.5 carats, which was designed by Jean Dousset. The handcrafted ring took Dousset almost three months to make.

"I wanted to do something that was environmentally friendly," Ross shares. "I think that's something that we should all be doing at this point."

The New York natives (Ross is from the Bronx while Madrick is from Queens) first met 11 years ago when Ross slid into Madrick's Facebook Messenger DMs.

"I used to flirt with him when he was straight actually," Ross reveals, adding that he didn't realize that Madrick was the one until they started dating.

"I think it's about letting time go by and letting things just build," Ross says of the foundation of their relationship.

Madrick says that meeting Ross "felt like home."

"When I finally let my head rest on his shoulder it felt like I was always supposed to be there," he says. "So I think that was the moment for me when I was like, no, I'm kind of curious to see what happens here."

Although the couple is newly engaged, they've already started planning their 2023 nuptials.

"So one of our favorite locations is Tulum, Mexico," Ross tells PEOPLE. "We love that there's this hotel [Delek Tulum] there, it's very holy and wholesome, and very grounding," he shares of the location, which he and Madrick hope to reserve for their family and friends.

And while they have yet to map our their wedding wardrobes, they definitely want custom pieces crafted by black designers.

As for their family and friends, the couple's inner circle is already trying to help out with party planning.

"Everyone kind of wants a job," Ross says. "They all want to be flower girls and everyone is really excited."