Paris Hilton is engaged to boyfriend Carter Reum

 Paris Hilton  and her boyfriend of more than a year, Carter Reum, are engaged! The latter popped the question on Saturday, February 13, but news of their engagement comes on Hilton‘s 40th birthday.

“This past year with COVID has accelerated so many things,” Hilton told PEOPLE. “As someone who traveled constantly, I had a chance to stay home and reevaluate what was important to me. My relationship and the time I spent with Carter was a gift. I’m excited for our next chapter.”

Reum also spoke about the next step in their relationship, saying: “I have gotten the unique opportunity to get to know the real Paris on a daily basis just the two of us during these past 15 months and I couldn’t be more excited and lucky to have her as my future wife and partner. She shines with her kindness, work ethic, authenticity and her voice in making the world a better place and she will do the same as a future mother and wife.”

Carter ended up popping the question while the couple was celebrating Hilton’s major birthday milestone on a private island. He got down on one knee with a ring designed by Jean Dousset, the great-grandson of Louis Cartier. For the big moment, Hilton was wearing a Retrofete dress and a Loschy crown while Reum looked dashing in an all-white suit.

Once Paris said, “yes!”, the newly engaged couple enjoyed an intimate celebration with family members, including Hilton’s sister, Nicky Hilton, and Reum’s brother, Courtney Reum.

Reum, who is a longtime friend of the Hilton family, started venture capital firm M13. He’s an author and an entrepreneur known for co-founding the liquor brand VEEV Spirits alongside his brother, Courtney.

Back in September, Paris told PEOPLE that she and her then-boyfriend had “gotten so close” over the past year during quarantine.

“This is the first time I’ve actually been forced not to travel and stay home,” explained Hilton, who traveled up to 250 days a year for work before the pandemic. “The silver lining is that I get to be with my pets and my boyfriend. We have gotten so close. The amount of time we’ve had together is what would normally take five years!”

Carter and Paris knew each other for 15 years before they began dating. As Hilton explained, “We just had this incredible chemistry. We had our first date and haven‘t spent a night apart since. It’s pretty amazing.”