Wedding Date on Nov 5, 2016

From The Bride: Andrew first met Rachel a few nights after she passed the Texas Bar Exam, on November 5, 2014, while she was out celebrating with friends a few days after receiving the great news; at that point in time, November 5th was Rachel's best day of her life. Although their initial introduction was brief, November 5th would soon represent an even more important and significant day, in not only Rachel's life, but also Andrew's and the life that they would share together. Fast forward to November 22, 2014, when Rachel was invited by her friend (now bridesmaid) Megan to attend the Dallas Margarita Ball, a local charity event benefiting Toys for Tots. Little did Rachel know that Andrew would also be in attendance. In fact, he was standing in as his then-roomate's girlfriends date to the event due to his roommate being out of town for the weekend. Rachel and Megan ended up at Andrew's apartment as a precursor to the event, as Megan was a mutual friend of all parties in attendance. Andrew will never forget seeing Rachel again the night she walked into his apartment before the Margarita Ball. They had an instant spark that carried throughout the night, which was impossible for their friends not to notice. Andrew is a phenomenal insurance broker and salesman. However, Andrew often jokes that his best brokering and selling skills were put to the test when he finally convinced an initially reluctant Rachel to to be his girlfriend, saying that she is the best brokered deal of his career that will never be topped. Although it took Rachel some time to realize that Andrew's calling her on the phone instead of texting, and asking her out on dates weeks in advance instead of waiting until the night before, were not weird or abnormal behaviors, but actually those of a mature and thoughtful man, she quickly fell in love with Andrew's wit, charm, intelligence and determination. After a few months of dating, Andrew and Rachel were inseparable, spending more time together than is probably normal for a new relationship but neither of them tired from seeing each other everyday; the more time they spent together the more they fell in love. Rachel could have never foreseen that November 5th would carry any greater meaning than it did the day she passed the Bar Exam, and now both Rachel and Andrew can say that November 5th is the best day of THEIR lives! Proposal: Even at the beginning of their relationship, Andrew and Rachel both knew that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together and if they could have been married without people thinking they were absolutely crazy, they probably would have done so about 6 months in. Marriage came up in conversation casually, and purposefully, especially by Rachel, frequently. Andrew loved to keep Rachel guessing whether or not he was getting even remotely close to proposing and had great fun consistently egging her on by pretending like he was proposing, finding many creative ways to get down on one knee but not pop the question. In November of 2015, Andrew decided to give Rachel a hint regarding the proposal: that it would be by the end of the first quarter of 2016 (because they are both nerds and often speak in terms of fiscal quarters to one another). When Rachel really wants something, she is relentless in her pursuit. She asked Andrew almost every day in December when he was going to propose and not once did Andrew give in to her persistent questioning. She now admits that she was likely extremely annoying, and Andrew agrees. After the first week of January 2016 came and went, Rachel was sure that Andrew would wait until the very last day of the first quarter of 2016 to propose and Andrew was absolutely LOVING it. Little did Rachel know that since November 2015 Andrew had been designing her engagement ring, talking to her parents on an almost daily basis scheming and planning the engagement and getting her friends in on the proposal, as well. Rachel thought that on January 16th Andrew and her would be joining their good friends and mentors, LoriAnn and Keith, to celebrate both Andrew and Keith's birthdays at restaurant in Dallas. When Andrew picked Rachel up for dinner that night in an Uber, Rachel was, of course, running a little bit behind. Once she got in the car, pretty grumpy that Andrew had already called her two times to hurry up and come downstairs, she immediately noticed that their Uber driver was going the wrong direction to the restaurant (which was West of her apartment and they were heading East), and, per usual, she did not hesitate to correct him. Andrew and the driver both quickly muttered something regarding the road to the restaurant being blocked off by an accident. Annoyed, Rachel began staring at her phone, answering emails and text messages until the car pulled up to The Joule Hotel. When the car stopped, Rachel looked at Andrew and asked, "What are we doing here?! We are going to be late; this isn't the restaurant we are supposed to be meeting at." That is when he looked at her, smiled, and said, "Will you just get out of the car?" Once out of the car, Rachel noticed that the glass doors to The Joule elevator were open and that that was where they were headed. Once to doors closed and the elevator started moving, Rachel asked Andrew, "Is this it?! Is it really happening?!" Andrew calmly and coolly smiled and said "yes" and as the doors were opening to the rooftop terrace, grabbed Rachel's hand and asked, "Are you ready for this?" The rooftop was beautifully decorated with flowers and a cake with a perfect ring box sitting on top. Rachel could hardly keep her legs from buckling and the tears from streaming, but Andrew started to say some absolutely beautiful and important things to Rachel (if only she could remember them all) and while she nodded and stared at him, it felt like they were the only two people on that rooftop... except that they weren't! Andrew had flown Rachel's parents out to Dallas to be there for the engagement and Rachel was moved to tears (again) at this thoughtful and meaningful gesture. Following the proposal, cheersing with champagne and taking pictures with the photographer that Andrew had hired to document the special event, Rachel, her parents and Andrew all headed down to one of The Joule's restaurants to celebrate. Upon arrival, Rachel began crying (again) because Andrew had planned another surprise - dinner with their closest friends, co-workers and family to help the newly engaged couple celebrate. Needless to say, Rachel was COMPLETELY surprised by the proposal and Andrew did a phenomenal job coordinating and planning the entire thing over more than 3 months; Rachel could not have dreamed of a more perfect proposal by any man more wonderful than Andrew. Andrew will forever be able to call the proposal the best secret he has ever pulled off. Andrew and Rachel were married on November 5th on The Joule's rooftop, the same place Andrew proposed on January 16th.