The couple, who first met in college and married in Turks and Caicos in 2006, share a favorite memory

Luke Bryan and spouse Caroline have “figured out” wedded life, 16 years in.

Addressing Individuals from Mexico, where he was featuring his yearly Accident My Playa live concert in late January, the nation star thought back about the couple’s #1 recollections from their 2006 wedding.

“We got married in Turks and Caicos. It was a really small wedding — just close family and friends,” Bryan, 46, told PEOPLE about the big day.

“There’s a photo of Caroline and me walking down the beach squeezing each other’s butts that we love. It’s our same personalities we have today — just so goofy.”

He added, “Whenever we look at our wedding album, that one always makes us laugh — it was and still is pretty funny. Great memory.”

Bryan also revealed that despite appearances, actually walking down the aisle that December day wasn’t guaranteed.

“I tried to windsurf and I threw my back out,” the American Idol judge admitted. “I had to go to a chiropractor and take a muscle relaxer to stop my back from freaking out!”

He and Caroline, who initially met at a bar during their school days, commended their “sweet 16” commemoration in December. They’re guardians to children Bo, 14, and Tate, 12, and furthermore helped raised Bryan’s nephew Until and nieces Jordan and Kris after the unexpected passings of his sister Kelli and brother by marriage Lee Cheshire in 2007 and 2014, separately.

“We went through the learning curve of what it’s like to go try to tackle this industry — we know the ups and downs and the tricky parts. And now we’ve settled into really enjoying all of the work it took to get to a comfortable place,” Bryan explained to PEOPLE. “We know we’ve done our best in life and love and marriage, raising kids and helping with my sister and her husband’s children. So now it’s just about segueing into the kids growing up. They can brush their own teeth and feed themselves!”

“Now we can branch off and Caroline can go have her own fun with her brand [Best Bad Influence],” he continued before joking that his wife, 43, is still always available for any career advice he may need.

“Anytime I do something on stage that might get a little outside my realm, she’ll always check me and put me back in my place — she says, ‘God, I wouldn’t do that anymore — you look kinda stupid.’”

In 2018, the “Country On” singer explained that he and Caroline dated on and off again throughout college before going their separate ways after he graduated.

“We were apart for 5½ years, which was kind of a blessing because I went off to Nashville, got all this going,” Bryan said at the time. “She finished college. She went and actually had a career.”

“When we got married, her career supported me when I was making about $10,000 a year,” he added. “She was the one bringing in the dough.”

In 2014, Caroline spilled about the romance — which started when they were attending Georgia Southern University — to PEOPLE.

“He was always a gentleman,” she said. “We hung out as friends first and he never made a move on me. I kissed him first! He was always so scared of making a girl feel uncomfortable, he wouldn’t cross a line.”

“In college, we used to go dancing in a club til 4 a.m., and he’s just as silly at home as he is on stage,” Caroline revealed. “He walks around dancing all day, just being goofy.”