Rafael and Nineth met on the eharmony dating website. Rafael initiated the communication between them, they began messaging through the website, messaging lead to exchanging numbers, exchanging numbers lead to the day they first met on Sunday November 19, 2017. According to Rafael, it was love at first sight. For her, she was opening her heart to the possibility of love.

The weekend before Rafael popped the question, he told Nineth to be ready on a Sunday morning, and to bring a change of clothes. He took her to one of his favorite spots; Newcomb's Ranch. They went for a walk up a mountain top, he asked her to sit down on a rock, he stood standing by her side and began to list the reasons why he loved her. She thought to herself, this is the moment, much to her dismay, she walked down the mountain top without a ring. After Newcomb's, he drove her to Malibu for lunch. During lunch Rafael told her he wanted to walk along the beach. She thought to herself, he will ask then. They walked along the shore, watched the sunset, and called it a night with no ring. On Sunday March 3, 2019, Rafael told Nineth to be ready by 2 o'clock and to dress warm. They drove north on PCH to Point Dume in Malibu. The photographer was already in place. Rafael had to play it cool and keep Nineth distracted so that she wouldn't spot the photographer in the bushes. Rafael knew that the sunlight wouldn't last much longer, so he gave the signal to the photographer, reached for the ring in his pocket and got down on one knee....