Mario Rodriguez Graniel and Guy Rejwan were visiting Florence, Italy in November 2019, when Mr. Graniel said he felt “the time was right to discuss special plans for the near future” with Mr. Rejwan, who Mr. Graniel Has been. dating for three years.
“In gay relationships, there’s really no idea when to get engaged or who to introduce,” said 35-year-old Mr. Graniel, who works in Manhattan as vice president for the luxury fashion company Fendi.
“I just wanted to have that conversation with Guy to avoid miscommunication or confusion,” added Mr Graniel.
But when he brought up the subject of a meeting with Mr. Rejwan at dinner during their trip, Mr. Graniel discovered that the “near future” he was talking about was much earlier than he thought.
“Mario, you just proposed,” Mr Rejwan, 35, recalls saying. “Yes, I want to get married,” he said to Mr. Graniel, “and you just asked me.”
Despite his confusion, Mr. Graniel that he had no intention of ruining a precious moment with Mr. Rejwan, the director of Rejwan Group, a residential real estate investment firm in Manhattan that he started in June 2015.
“What the heck,” he said. “I just started working on it.”
Mr. Graniel, of Mexican descent, graduated summa cum laude from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Mr. Rejwan, an Israeli, graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They met in September 2013 at Columbia University, where they all eventually earned an MBA
“There was a spark from the day we met,” said Mr. Graniel, but the two never crossed the platonic line during their business school years. Instead, they chose to remain best friends, and during that time they lived in separate apartments in lower Manhattan, Mr. Rejwan on Prince Street and Mr. Graniel on Mott Street.
“You keep talking about Guy as a friend, but I think you’ve got more going on,” Mr. Graniel recalled saying. “Sometimes love isn’t that hard, sometimes it’s right in front of you.”
Mr. Graniel took over from there and sent a letter via email to Mr. Rejwan that he wanted to try to be more than friends. “I wrote to Guy saying, ‘I know it’s been a while since we talked about dating, but I think it’s about time.'”
Mr Rejwan said he was “overwhelmed” after reading Mr Graniel’s text. “That same night Mario visited me at my apartment and he never left,” said Mr. Rejwan. “We’ve been living together ever since.”
Soon after, they started hosting Shabbat dinners in what became their shared apartment on Prince Street. They also spent time getting to know each other’s family, to the point where their parents became close friends.
Before the two got engaged, Mr. Graniel, who live in Villahermosa, Mexico, with the couple to the family of d. Rejwan in Israel for Passover, celebrating the holiday with dinner at the home in Jerusalem where Mr. Rejwan grew up.
They married on January 23 at the couple’s apartment on West 15th Street in Manhattan. Fernando Harp, a cousin of Mr. Graniel and friend of the couple ordained pastors of Universal Life Church performed for eight vaccinated guests.
Neither parent was present, but they were all among the 115 vaccinated guests at a second celebration the grooms hosted on Jan. 29 at the Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca, a botanical garden in Oaxaca City, Mexico.
During the larger celebration, both grooms were walked down the aisle by their mothers, an emotional moment that took on extra meaning for Mr. Graniel, who may not have taken a chance to start dating Mr. Rejwan as his mother shared her feelings about their relationship.
“It came full circle,” said Mr. Graniel. “There was so much love in the air and everyone was crying. It was a very beautiful scene.”