The band was playing their jubilant music loud and clear, the Silver Stars all lined up in their sparkling uniforms, and the cheerleaders waved their shimmering pompoms in the air as Trainer Pablo Riera knelt down on one knee in the middle of the crisp green field.
The homecoming football game had more than one victory for Riera, other than the bulldogs winning the game against Akins that night. He got that “yes” from his longtime girlfriend Christine.
Planning the extravagant proposal took a lot of time and hard work, which Riera was ready to face and accomplish.
“I was planning the proposal for about four months and had asked the Silver Stars, cheerleaders, and marching band to help out with the proposal,” Riera said. “I had purchased the ring about a year before the proposal and when I moved down to Austin, that is when I started to plan the proposal.”
Not only did Riera have a lot of hard work to do, but the Silver Stars had to practice what they were going to do at the proposal too so everything would be just right.
“Our directors told us a couple weeks in advance that there would be a proposal at the game and so we practiced what we would do instead of doing our normal victory line routine,” senior Kate Buffler said. “We were in a curved shape to where she would walk down and not see Pablo then we opened up and she saw Pablo and the cheerleaders holding up the signs that said will you marry me.”
Not only did the Silver Stars, cheer team, and band know about it ahead of time, but one girl from the yearbook staff knew about the proposal in advance to make the night picture perfect.
“I knew a couple games before the actual proposal that Pablo was going to propose to his fiancé because I was going to take pictures,” junior Jamie Dorsey said. “The moment was just really cute because it was just a great moment to be part of something that special for someone.”
Not only did Riera want a yes from his fiancé but he also wanted a yes from her little daughter she brought to the game with her.
“I asked her daughter, Isabella, if I could marry her mom and she was very happy as well and wanted me to give her a hug, getting a yes from her daughter made me feel good,” Riera said.
Rierra made sure to incorporate whats most important to him and his girlfriend in the proposal as well: family.
“Family is a big part of both mine and Christine’s life so I had both of our moms flown down from Miami to come watch me propose and be part of the proposal,” Riera said. “After I proposed the mascots went and got our moms and brought them out to Christine.”
With both mothers in on the plan, keeping it a surprise got a little tricky at times.
“There were many times where our moms almost let the secret get out of their mouths but they always stopped themselves and Christine never suspected a thing,” Riera said. “Now when we go back and talk about those moments. Christine says she didn’t even notice that they were even talking about it,” Riera said.
Capturing those perfect moments was extremely important for Dorsey since Riera had come up to her personally and asked her to get pictures of their special moment.
“I was really excited but also nervous because I wanted to make sure I got the best pictures I could get for Pablo because this was a special moment for him and I really wanted to capture that perfectly,” Dorsey said. “I was asking my dad what equipment I should take and what lenses I should take and which lenses I should use; I had to prepare quite a bit for this proposal too.”
After all that preparation for the big moment, the suspense-filled moment just before getting an answer was the biggest part of the night for Rierra.
“I was ecstatic when she said yes and her daughter was there too which made the moment even more special, this was a big step in my life and it made me very happy,” Riera said. “Now it’s on to planning the weeding.”
That night, Rierra went home as an engaged man looking forward to hearing wedding bells soon.