Everything You Need To Know About Michael Wilson Hardy’s Wife Caleigh Ryan

For HARDY (real name Michael Wilson Hardy) and his wife Caleigh Ryan, it was love at first sight.

When HARDY snuck into Ryan’s direct messages on Instagram in 2018, their romance got underway. Ryan was a student at the University of Mississippi, while HARDY was on tour with Florida Georgia Line. At the time, they were living on different sides of the nation. The two have been dating ever since they didn’t actually meet in person when he got a job at a theater close to Ryan’s college.

Although HARDY told sources that he was confident in Ryan from the beginning of their relationship, the couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary in October 2023.

“I loved her after the third time that we ever hung out,” he said. “It was the realest thing I had ever experienced. I actually told her I loved her at Stagecoach, out in the crowd.”

Ryan told sources that although her husband is renowned for being a genre-bending artist, she considers herself fortunate to have seen the “softer side” of the well-known singer.

“He is very caring and very thoughtful and a very loving person,” she said. “A lot of people don’t get to see that. It just makes it feel that much more special to me that I get to share those moments and sides of his personality with him.”

HARDY revealed to sources in May 2024 that he and Ryan were planning to grow their small brood. “We’re thinking about getting a cat and a dog,” he stated. “I think we’re gonna get a Tibetan Mastiff.”

So, who is the wife of HARDY? Everything you need to know about Caleigh Ryan’s connection to the country music artist is provided here.

Ryan was the first person HARDY saw when she showed up on his Instagram “For You” page. He then sent a private message to the resident of San Diego.

“We just started talking about San Diego and how she goes to Ole Miss and my family’s Mississippi State thing,” HARDY told PEOPLE. “We kept in contact until I had a show nearby her school and told her I’d love to meet her there.”

When HARDY performed at The Lyric Oxford, a nearby venue close to the University of Mississippi campus, the two got together formally. She “dragged” her roommates along for moral support, Ryan recalls.

She remembered, “I was just chugging my drink — I was so nervous. I was like, ‘Oh my God.'” as she saw him enter the room. Following their initial nervousness, HARDY and Ryan grew close and started dating on April 19, 2018.

“Once we met each other, there really was no one else,” Ryan said. “We never entertained anyone else. It was just so easy.”

In 2019, Ryan earned a degree in marketing and corporate relations from the University of Mississippi.

She was in her third year of schooling when she and HARDY first started messaging, and while they had discussed marriage early on in their relationship, her studies came first. Ryan told PEOPLE that before they were married, it was crucial for her to complete her education and launch her profession.

Ryan promoted events on campus as a student ambassador for a number of brands while attending college, such as Kellogg and A&E’s Lifetime. She works in the hospitality sector as a marketing coordinator for Graduate Hotels in Nashville, according to her LinkedIn page.

On August 23, 2021, after three years of dating, HARDY proposed to Ryan. The famous Lyric Oxford theater in Mississippi, where they had first met, was the setting for the memorable moment when HARDY proposed to her amid rose petals.

On October 29, 2022, HARDY and Ryan tied the knot at Diamond Creek Farms in Nashville in front of 350 of their closest friends and family. The bride exchanged her custom-designed dress from Haut Bridal and Naama & Anat for a smaller “exit dress” for their after-reception celebration. Prior to the wedding, the newlyweds also made the decision to have a private first look and exchange vows.

“We want the ceremony to be like 30 seconds long. We just want to have a big party for everybody,” HARDY exclusively told sources ahead of the big day.

He added, “I’m trying to avoid having a complete meltdown in front of everyone, and I don’t think I could get through vows at the altar, and she’s the same. The vows will be for us. It doesn’t have to be for everybody else.”

A-list attendees were in abundance during the celebration, with singer-songwriter Smith Ahnquist—who married the couple—ranking among the most significant. The couple also had a tattoo station where visitors could obtain tattoos with love or wedding themes, in addition to a DJ and live band.

Journey’s “Faithfully,” which they originally heard on a road trip two months into their relationship, struck a chord with HARDY, and it became their first dance together as a married couple. He said he “got choked up” when he considered how difficult it may be to juggle his burgeoning job with his new love.

“There’s a line in ‘Faithfully’ that says, ‘They say that the road ain’t no place to start a family,’ and that line just shook me because I was so worried,” he said. “Now, years later, we’ve been able to balance all that stuff.”

“But that was just such a huge moment for me because how hard that line hit me assured me how much I loved her. I wanted to always make sure that she came before any of that,” HARDY added.

In Nashville, HARDY and Ryan settled the summer before their wedding and took possession of their first home together.