“The Voice” Alum Billy Gilman Marries Anthony Carbone on Stunning 45-Acre Horse Farm in Rhode Island! (Exclusive)

The country music star and Carbone, who first met in 2022, got engaged on a rainy night in September 2023 after attending a Pam Tillis concert

Country music star Billy Gilman is married!

The "One Voice" singer — who was runner-up in season 11 of The Voice — tied the knot with his partner Anthony Carbone on Friday, Aug. 23, in his home state of Rhode Island. Gilman, 36, tells PEOPLE the couple chose their venue, a 45-acre horse farm, because it fondly reminds him of his childhood spent visiting his grandparents on their own sprawling horse farm.

When the Grammy-nominated musician first saw the picturesque venue, he was "blown away," he recalls. Carbone, who spent a lot of time on the horse farm while growing up in Rhode Island, adds that the property "just felt like home."

As the couple dove into planning their big day, they had one simple goal in mind, Gilman says: "All we said was, 'We want good people, great food and great music.' That's it. What else do you need?"

The wedding, Carbone, 32, notes, was "not about the pomp and the fuss of everything — but about what it all means to us."

The pair exchanged vows surrounded by around 115 guests — the majority of whom were family members. "I just really wanted to keep it simple, with the closest core of our family and friends who have watched our love story grow every single day," he explains.

Gilman's best friend of 20 years, Kim Bruna, officiated the ceremony.

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Not surprisingly, Gilman and Carbone put a lot of care into the music selections for their special day. Both fans of old-school tunes, they chose "very European jazz fusion music" for the cocktail hour, followed by "Motown and feel-good music" with some country thrown in for good measure. To "get the dance floor going" after dinner, Gilman says, the playlist switched to party music, from The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" to "Cha Cha Slide."

Gilman surprised his new husband by singing him a special song, and the pair shared their first dance to "My Love" from the TV series STAR.

Food also was a top priority for the couple. The self-described "foodies" hired Providence-based Pranzi Catering, which put together a trial menu ahead of the wedding that Billy says "literally tasted like it came out of our own kitchen."

During the two-hour cocktail reception following the ceremony, guests enjoyed passed hors d'oeuvres including bacon-wrapped scallops, New England clam chowder, ahi tuna wonton cups, bruschetta and chicken and waffles. A plated dinner followed, with a menu featuring parmesan-crusted filet, Statler chicken and pumpkin ravioli with a sage cream sauce.

The couple chose a two-tier cake by Casale Cupcakery, and also served a selection of other desserts. In addition, they gave their guests custom Dunkin' donuts as favors.

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Gilman and Carbone first met through mutual friends at a Providence bar the night before Thanksgiving in 2022. Carbone recalls that they immediately "hit it off" and started talking. After that night, he says, "we just kind of stayed in touch and life just kept bringing us together again and again."

Gilman — who publicly came out in 2014 — tells PEOPLE he, too, was instantly smitten. "[Carbone] sat down, and I immediately knew … it hit me over the head like a hammer," he remembers, while admitting that he felt a bit hesitant about jumping into a new relationship at the time. "We met up again and that's when I said, 'I got to follow my heart.' I said [to Carbone], 'Would you want to go on a first date?' "

"[We've] been inseparable ever since, leading up to this one getting on his knee," Gilman adds. "I'm super grateful for our friends, that's for sure. It's just, when you know you know."

"We got really close, really fast," Carbone agrees. "We've had relationships before and dated other people, but we just really couldn't be a day apart."

Carbone says their relationship began with a solid foundation of friendship that had the pair sharing many deep conversations about life and their goals and values.

"That was just such a deep part of my heart where not only is he the love of my life, but he became my best friend in that moment, and to me, that's, I think, the basis of everything, and I think that's how everything should start. I think that's somewhere when the best relationships flourish the best," he explains.

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The couple got engaged on a rainy night on Sept. 24, 2023, after attending a Pam Tillis concert in East Greenwich, R.I., with Gilman's parents. Carbone knew it would be the perfect occasion to pop the question, as Tillis is Gilman's "idol" and the artist who first sparked his interest in pursuing a music career.

Carbone proposed using two rings that he actually purchased years ago when he was a hopeful 18-year-old on a trip to Aruba with friends. The group went into a jewelry store to browse, and Carbone, on a whim, purchased two men's rings — one gold and the other silver.

"Being as corny and sentimental as I was, even back at 18, I told myself, 'These will be the rings for the love of my life one day,' " he recalls. "I kept them in a drawer and they sat there for 12 years."

When Carbone got down on one knee in the pouring rain and asked Gilman to marry him after the concert, it was "like a perfect movie scene," the "Roller Coaster" singer says. "I was sobbing — but he couldn't tell with the rain."

He tells PEOPLE that was the moment he knew he had found "his home" in Carbone and was finally "safe, in the truest sense."

"I'm home. This is my home for good, for bad," he adds of finding love with his now-husband. "I'm truly grateful that [Carbone] is that kind of a human because I never thought I would find it."

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