Entertainment TV Vanessa Hudgens Says It 'Feels Amazing' Being Newly Engaged: 'You Feel So Safe' Hudgens and Tucker announced their engagement in a joint Instagram post on Feb. 9 By Kimberlee Speakman Kimberlee Speakman Kimberlee Speakman is a digital writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work has previously appeared in Forbes and she has also worked in broadcast television as a reporter for Hawaii-based news station KHON2 News. People Editorial Guidelines and Dave Quinn Dave Quinn Dave Quinn is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE. He has been working at the brand since 2016, and is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book, Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of the Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It. People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 14, 2023 01:10PM EDT Close Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Vanessa Hudgens has found comfort in her engagement to Cole Tucker. The High School Musical star, 34, told Today's Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager about her refreshed confidence as she prepares to walk down the aisle to Tucker, 26. "It feels amazing. It's so funny, I was talking about this with Cole…. People are always like, 'Does it feel different? [Do] things feel different [getting engaged]?'" Hudgens shared on Friday. "That was always my question normally, but now I get to be asked it." "And you know what, it actually does," she continued. "There's a sense of security. You feel so safe. It's the best thing ever. I love being a fiancée." Vanessa Hudgens Gushes Over Engagement Ring from Cole Tucker: 'I Get Distracted by It All the Time' The actress, who first showed off her ring on Instagram on Feb. 9 in a joint post with her baseball player beau, said she knew almost immediately that he was the one. "I knew. After our first weekend together, I called my sister and was like, 'I think I just found my future husband,'" she said, noting that she was immediately drawn in by "who he is." Hudgens also responded to Tucker's tweet from back in 2012 when he was a teen about being "in search of: A girl who's down to watch High School Musical with me and scratch my back." "I know it really is so funny," acknowledged Hudgens, who played Gabriella Montez in the Disney film series. RELATED VIDEO: Vanessa Hudgens Is Engaged to Professional Baseball Player Cole Tucker The couple got engaged in February, about two years after they started dating. Hudgens told PEOPLE last month that the engagement had surprised her, though she knew the moment would eventually come — she just didn't know when. "I was extremely surprised," she says of Tucker's proposal. "We had definitely talked about it, but I did not expect it to happen the way that it happened and the moment that it happened. It definitely caught me off guard and I was bawling my eyes out." Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker's Relationship Timeline Hudgens said the wedding was still in the planning stages, but she was knee-deep in it and already overwhelmed. "It's a big daunting thing — so much goes into it," she says with a laugh. "Like Gwen Stefani said, this s--- is bananas." Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Hudgens first sparked dating rumors with Tucker in November 2020 when they were seen holding hands in Los Angeles. The pair met on a Zoom meditation group call, and Hudgens later revealed she made the first move. "I get on the Zoom, and I'm like, 'Who is that?'" she shared on The Drew Barrymore Show in May 2021. "I found him, and we started talking." They made their relationship Insta-official on Valentine's Day that year. She continued, "If I want something or someone, I'm going after them. I fully just slid into his DMs and was like, 'Hey, it was nice to meet you.' So I think there is no shame in making the first move."