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An Arizona couple has opened up about how they got engaged at a Cracker Barrel less than a year after a chance meeting at the restaurant chain led them to fall in love.
Josh Rivera, 38, was waiting for a table at the restaurant’s Casa Grande location on September 1, 2020, when he took a seat in one of the rocking chairs on the front porch.
After Rebekah Facciuto, 36, sat down next to him, they struck up a conversation that lasted until lunch. Their hookup turned into an impromptu first date that neither of them wanted to end.
“I’ve never felt like this about someone I just met before,” Rivera said. People. “I prayed, ‘Please let me know this person, even if he’s not going anywhere, please give me the privilege to meet this person because I really like who he is.'”
Josh Rivera, 38, of Arizona, proposed to Rebekah Facciuto, 36, at Cracker Barrel, where they met on August 14, 2021.
Less than a year earlier, Rivera was waiting for a table outside at the restaurant’s Casa Grande location when Facciuto sat in the rocking chair next to him.
They struck up a conversation that lasted until lunch, and their connection turned into an impromptu first date that neither wanted to end.
Knowing that the music teacher was a cellist, he asked her if she wanted to check out the surround sound system in her new car and listen to a cello song she had just heard.
To his delight and surprise, she agreed.
Rivera and Facciuto they exchanged numbers and developed a close friendship before asking her out on an official date.
Nearly a year after they met, the chaplain and youth pastor were ready to propose, and he knew exactly where he wanted to.
“I had no doubt that he wanted to propose to Rebekah at Cracker Barrel,” he said. “I started to get sick with love after my first meeting with her, and Cracker Barrel played a huge part in that feeling.
“I knew I had to propose to her in the same place where we met and fell in love.”
The couple were joined by family and friends when Rivera popped the question, including Facciuto’s daughter, Elise.
Before proposing to Facciuto, Rivera asked Elise if he could be her ‘extra dad’
Rivera and Facciuto were serenaded by their favorite singer, Taorin Wells, during the romantic proposal at Cracker Barrel
“I had no doubt that he wanted to propose to Rebekah at Cracker Barrel,” Rivera told People. “I knew I had to propose to her in the same place where we met and fell in love”
On August 14, 2021, Rivera and Facciuto were serenaded by their favorite singer, Taorin Wells, before taking a knee in front of their family and friends, including their daughter, Elise.
‘Will you let me be your extra father?’ he asked Elise, who immediately agreed.
Rivera and her future stepdaughter shared a hug before turning to Facciuto.
“You are living proof that when you are willing to expect God’s best, he will give it to you,” he gushed.
‘I love you with all my heart, and there’s no one in this world I’d rather spend the rest of my life with than you and Elise.’
Rivera then shared videos of the performance and his touching proposal On Facebook.
The couple had a church wedding in Tucson, Arizona on September 5, 2021. They had a second ceremony where they read the handwritten vows in a hot air balloon on November 5, 2021.
River and Facciuto’s nuptials were followed by a Star Wars-themed reception
In January 2022, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child together. Fittingly, Facciuto had her baby shower at Cracker Barrel.
River and Facciuto welcomed their son, River Rivera, on August 5, 2022
‘Thank you Cracker Barrel for this amazing opportunity!’ he wrote. ‘Thank you to everyone who came out and a special thanks to Tauren Wells for the surprise of her life!’
The couple had a church wedding in Tucson, Arizona on September 5, 2021. Two months later, they had a second ceremony where they read the handwritten vows in a hot air balloon on November 5.
Their nuptials were followed by a Star Wars-themed reception.
In January 2022, the The couple announced that they are expecting their first child together. Fittingly, Facciuto had her baby shower at Cracker Barrel.
They welcomed their son, River Rivera, later that year at August 5.
“We don’t believe in luck, but we do believe that the meeting on that day in September was meant to be,” Rivera told People.
“We will always remember that special moment on the Cracker Barrel front porch in the rocking chairs.”