Courteney Cox and Jimmy Kimmel
Randy Holmes/ABC/Getty
09/23/2014 AT 07:15 PM EDT
Case in point: Courteney Cox‘s recent engagement to Snow Patrol rocker Johnny McDaid.
McDaid first told Cox’s daughter, Coco, that he wanted to marry her mom, the actress explained to Jimmy Kimmel on his talk show Monday night. That led to an elaborate plan that McDaid and Coco hatched together – but which almost went off the rails several times on the crucial night.
It was the night of Coco’s 10th birthday in June, and they were set to have dinner at her godmother Jennifer Aniston‘s house.
“They made a plan to count down from three, and when they get to one, he was going to get on his knee and say, ‘Will you marry me?’ and she was going to say, ‘Will you marry him?’ ” Cox says. “They planned it out. They found the perfect tree with three branches that led to one trunk. It was just beautiful.”
But then, Coco got bored and kept jumping the gun.
“We were at the bar having a drink, and she said, ‘Three!’ And Johnny’s like, ‘No, not now!’ ” Cox recalled with a laugh.
Luckily, it all worked out – and soon Cox, 50, will be married to her rocker beau, 38. Cox also spoke about their age difference Monday, recalling how nervous she was going to Snow Patrol gigs early on.
“I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be so embarrassing,’ ” she said. “Here I am, the older woman. I know about rock ‘n’ roll, you know. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll … all these hot girls with short skirts looking beautiful. And I’m going to be like Grandma.”
But in the end, she said, laughing, “I was literally the one with the shortest skirt.”
