Mag Life

Rachel + Jorge

February 11

Photos: Poppy Seed Images

Rachel + Jorge

How a Coffee Table turned to a Proposal

Our story begins not with love at first sight but with spite and salty air. In our hearts and careers, we are both intensely tied to the sea. Jorge is a Mariner, and I used to ship out as a field biologist. Despite having attended the same university and graduating in the same year, I first met my now fiancé Jorge in 2016 after being severely burned by love. A friend of mine (who is now our Best Woman) had also just been dumped and invited me out for drinks to hate on men. While at the bar, one of her male friends was defending the people who had just broken our hearts. Being the dynamite that I am, I piped up, jumped in-between my friend and this man, and asked her, “Is this guy bothering you??” to which she very quickly corrected me by introducing this man as one of her best friends…Jorge. Over the next few years, we would have various encounters while out, but nothing ever came from them. In early 2019, this same friend had her birthday party hosted at Jorge’s flat in downtown Galveston. The flat was crowded, and there was nowhere to sit, so I popped over to Jorge and asked if I could sit on his coffee table. He said yes, and later came over to sit with me by asking, “Hey, can I sit with you?” That night sparks and ice cubes finally flew and we were falling in love. Fast forward to April 30th, 2021. Engagement Day. As one could expect in the Galveston springtime, the morning started dreary and raining. Jorge and I woke up in the Historic Tremont Hotel, grabbed coffee, and the surprises began. Jorge directed me to a limousine outside of the hotel, which drove us a few blocks down to our apartment. At our apartment, one by one, some of my closest friends greeted me with big hugs and squeals as they came down the stairs and out the door. To my greatest astonishment, one of my best friends, who lives on the other side of the country, made her way down the stairs, only to put me into a state of shock. She and Jorge had been planning her arrival for months. At this point, Jorge told me goodbye as the girls, and I piled into the limo. As the day went on, more and more of my closest friends arrived on the island. Jorge had planned a day full of pampering and memories for myself and my friends while he continued to prepare for the evening. We had private massages brunch and got our nails done at the Grand Galvez Hotel through a rotating schedule. We headed down the street for a pirate-themed escape room to fill the afternoon. There would have been a harbor tour on a sailboat, but the rain had other plans. As the sun began to set, all of my closest friends were now in my apartment as we scrambled to get dressed. We were then met by Liz at Poppy Seed Images, as my friends and I waltzed down the street to meet my almost fiancé. My friends walked with me until we ran into Jorge’s family, at which point his father walked me the rest of the way to him. This meant so much to me as my own father had passed in 2018. I was led to the gorgeous Mardi Gras Arch in front of the Tremont Hotel. Jorge awaited with THE coffee table, rolled into the middle of the street. All of our closest friends and family stood on either side. He sat me down and asked, “Hey…Can I sit with you?” before giving me a rose to memorialize my late father. At this point, what was said is between us, and I will never forget the beautiful words spoken before Jorge got down on one knee and asked me to be his forever. We are now getting married on April 30th, 2022, and cannot wait to share this moment with friends and family. Why April 30th for these anniversaries? To keep it short, Jorge’s parents were married on April 26th, and his older sisters were married on the same weekend on April 27th and 28th, thus in keeping with tradition, our date is April 30th.