New date!

Although COVID still continues, we have decided to still have our reception. We were hoping for improvements in the situation by this time, but we just cannot change our date again. We completely understand if you are unable to make the reception. The safety of our guests is our top priority. In order to ensure this, we will have a few requests from our guests. 1) Please DO NOT do nonessential outings for 1 and 1/2 weeks prior to our Reception date. Please quarantine as much as possible. 2) Please let us know if you have gotten your vaccine prior to our wedding and plan on attending. 3) We request that you have a COVID PCR test done prior to the wedding, even if you have gotten vaccinated. If you test positive, please stay safe and do not come to the wedding. 4) If you have symptoms of COVID, please do not come. 5) We request that everyone wear a mask during our event. Masks may be taken off for eating and drinking. We understand these are difficult requests, but we really want to make our experience and everyone else's the best it can be with maximum safety during this time. Thank you for understanding and we cannot wait to see you all!

PPE: Masks and hand sanitizers will be readily available to guests upon arrival. In case, however, please arrive with your own masks as you greet friends and family. Dinner: Our catering has increased safety in which they will serve us our food so there will not be any shared utensils to serve with. There will also be a plexiglass divider between the food and the guests. We are trying to seat our guests with their families or "people in their covid bubble". Tables will be spaced out. Dinner will be outside, weather permitting. Venue: Our wedding venue is helping us safely host the affair outdoors. Weather permitting, the ceremony will be outside. Blankets will be provided to guests. The Room Block: Our hotel has listed numerous ways it is safely welcoming and hosting guests during this time. Please review The Driskill and Spring Hill Suites policies and standards amid COVID-19. Testing: We ask all guests take a COVID-19 test in the days leading up to the wedding day. If your test is positive or you've been in contact with someone who has been positive in the last 14 days, we ask that you please stay home and take care of yourselves. Here's a list of places to take the test. -https://covidcheck.hctx.net/ Temperature Checks: Our venue and vendors will be taking temperature checks at the door to further minimize risk. If you don't feel well, please stay home. Transportation: We will not be providing transportation in order to minimize contact in a vehicle. Therefore, please plan accordingly to drive yourselves or to use uber. Guest Interaction: Please minimize handshakes, hugs and simply socially distance as needed. We understand human contact is something that is missed, but the risk is high.

The year was 2014. The place, Galveston, Texas. The day was one of those incredible south Texas summer days that one cannot enjoy because the heat will melt your skin. It was the week before our lovebirds would start medical school at UTMB (GO SHARKS!), and as part of the orientation, there was going to be a talent show. That is where our story begins. Eli came to support her friends, Michael and Monisha. Little did she know that one of the performers was going to be her future husband. Alonso, without a hint of fear, performed his rendition of “four chord songs” by Axis of Awesome. As Eli saw him perform, she thought “This guy sure cannot sing…But he is mildly attractive”. At the end of the show, Eli came up to the stage to meet her friends, with whom Alonso too had become friends with over their shared interest in guitars and performing, and that is when Alonso first saw Eli. “Like a radiant angel amongst mere mortals” he thought to himself. Fast forward to start of the school year when Monisha invited Alonso and Eli to study. It was during these study sessions our heroes’ feelings for each other started to grow.

After a long 8 hour flight from Houston, we land in London, England on the morning of May 8, 2018. We were tired and barely got sleep on the flight (thanks economy!), but it didn't matter cause we were about to start the vacation of our dreams. And little did I know that I was about to have the best day I could ever have imagined. The plan was to meet up with Alonso's cousin for a breakfast before the "Changing of the Guards." Alonso kept trying to change the plan on me, and because I'm so stubborn, I keep telling him that I can't miss the "Changing of the Guards"!! Unfortunately, we had to find our baggage storage before we could go and adventure for the day (my only complaint of booking with Airbnbs). And to add on top of that, I decided to wear my shoes without any socks. So, there we are, walking around the streets of London, trying to search for a tiny shop with my feet throbbing with every step I took. And then we made a turn, and I saw Buckingham Palace. I was breathless and felt relieved, and it finally hit me that Alonso and I were on this amazing vacation together. We kept walking and made it to this beautiful park. We start looking at our phones to figure our next plan, but then I see these girls giggling and looking over at us. One of them comes up and asks me if I speak Spanish, I answer "Yes", and then she states said " Can you help me find..." and opens up the map of London that reads "Will You Marry Me?" I looked over at Alonso as he got down on one knee and couldn't even think that I needed to say Yes!

As I stood there at our terminal, minutes from boarding our flight, my mother called me and told me how I would definitely (not maybe) lose the ring if I went along my original plan. She told me my cousin and my niece were in London, and that they will help me make a plan, so that the proposal will be the day we land. We managed to develop the proposal of the century in what seemed like a blur! What came next was 8 hrs of me nervously sitting in a plane with no way of contacting my team in London. The wheels of the plane had barely touched the ground before I quickly rushed Eli through the tube and streets of London trying to get her to the meeting zone at the planned time. I kept telling Eli how much I loved her and how happy I was with her and how excited I was for our trip. She seemed grumpy due to the rushing (later found out Eli was having shoe issues hence grumpiness). We make it to Buckingham's Palace, and I spot Green Park, the proposal spot. My hand constantly reaching into my pocket to make sure I did not prove my mother right. We walked over and I panically search for the two Mexican girls pretending to be lost tourists my cousin had messaged me about (they were friend's of my niece). Once I saw them my heart leaped, I began to hyperventilate, and sweat profusely. I seemed like Frodo with fingers in my pocket constantly rubbing the ring. The girls came over, and with flawless execution, asked Eli if she knew Spanish and told her they were lost. They then opened a map of London with the words "Will you marry me" written on it. I do not know if Eli even read the sign because I probably kneeled down the fastest anyone has ever kneeled down ever (told you I was nervous). I was so nervous I could barely even get out the words will you marry me. She gave the response every person proposing is dying to hear: "are you serious?" After she realized that indeed I was being serious, she yelled "of course" and the rest is history.