Well before actor Liam Hemsworth proposed to Miley Cyrus, he had to wear down her dad Billy Ray to win his approval.

But it’s not because Billy Ray has a problem with Hemsworth; rather, he didn’t think the young couple–Hemsworth is 22, Cyrus just 19–was ready for something so huge as marriage, and was concerned about the pressures of their fame getting in the way. And although the two have been dating for three years, a source says Billy Ray is hoping their engagement will be a long one. The pair actually broke up briefly but reconnected, saying they did it to test their relationship.

“Billy Ray was just worried about Miley still being a teenager,” the source said. “On top of that, there’s the whole entertainment world thing, where so many young stars get married young, and then it falls apart fairly quickly.”

Hemsworth popped the question on May 31st and since then Miley has posted several tweets about how happy she is, which would make any father soft-hearted. And the very fact that Hemsworth, who is reportedly old-fashioned, wanted to make sure Billy Ray gave his blessing before he took the big step shows that he is serious in his intentions.

Twitter was all aflutter yesterday as news broke of the engagement and Hemsworth fans everywhere died a little inside.