In February 2019, Rachel had invited Megan Bonilla over to her house for a girls hangout. What started as typical girl talk on the couch in the beloved Phelp's living room, later turned into a matchmaking success story that would take them from friends to family in a matter of 6.5 years. It all started with a simple question from Rachel to Megan. "Hey Meg, do you have any cute single cousins?" To Rachel's surprise, the answer was "Actually, I do! His name is James, and he's close to you in age!" Rachel immediately talked Megan into spilling all of the details and asked her to pull up his Facebook page (Rachel remembers feeling immediately attracted to James by his singular profile photo. It was a picture of James holding his nephew Jack in front of a Christmas tree). Megan described James as a cousin who she always viewed as an older brother. A man that loved his family deeply and a fun person to be around. She said "I don't know why I hadn't thought about this sooner!" Megan immediately texted James about Rachel and the rest is history! Rachel later stole his number out of Megan's phone and from there started taking matters into her own hands. Within a month after the matchmaking conversation, Rachel and James went on their first date. On March 15, 2019, James picked Rachel up in his truck (Rachel loved the idea of dating a man with a truck) and they ventured out into Lakewood where they settled into their first meal together at Barrio and later had drinks at Buckeye Beer Engine. The conversation flowed so easily as Rachel talked about her travels and her life as an educator. James was beyond nervous and could barely finish his meal. James felt blown away by Rachel's stories and felt like this was all too good to be true. He loved the connections she already had to his family and was excited to see where this could go. 2, 430 days after that first date, James and Rachel are getting married! They're so excited to celebrate the next chapter of their lives together, surrounded by the people they love most! Timeline: March 2019: First Date June 2019: First "I love you" June 2020: Move-in day! August 2024: She said YES! November 2025: "I DO!"