Alejandro Agudelo and Mariana Nava.Photo:Aileen Ayala Photography
Aileen Ayala Photography
A woman has gone viral on TikTok for predicting her engagement just moments before it happened.
A half an hour before Mariana Nava, 26, got engaged to Alejandro Agudelo, 27, on Dec. 14, 2024, the bride-to-be predicted her proposal. Nava recorded the private moment after she came to the realization and posted the video on TikTok, amassing 3.5 million views. Now, she’s opening up to PEOPLE about how she knew a diamond ring was in her near future.
Nava’s suspicions sparked shortly before her engagement, when her boyfriend of eight years began dropping “subtle, but not that subtle” clues, such as inquiring about her nail appointments and talking more about their future together.
Mariana Nava and Alejandro Agudelo.Aileen Ayala Photography
The biggest hint was when Agudelo suddenly took an interest in shopping.
Nava guessed that a proposal was in store, but didn’t know it would be happening on her birthday until Agudelo began acting strange about their celebration plans.
“There was one specific plan at 4:30 p.m. that he kept emphasizing as ‘something we just had to do.’ No details, just that it was happening,” Nava says. “Every time I asked if it was dinner, drinks, or an activity, he’d dodge the question. And then he started asking me what I was going to wear, which he never does.”
During their drive to the “mysterious” afternoon plan, Agudelo’s “leg was shaking nonstop.”
“He kept checking his phone every two minutes like he was communicating with whoever was helping him orchestrate it all. That’s when I really knew,” Nava recalls.
When the couple parked outside the chapel inside St. Andrew Catholic Church, Nava was “almost certain” the proposal was happening right then and there. Nava and Agudelo met at their hometown church in youth group when they were just 16 and 17 years old, respectively. Nava understood that an engagement at the church would be a full circle moment.
“In that moment, I felt everything at once — peace, nerves, excitement. Peace, because I knew this was right. Nerves, because I had no idea what was about to happen. Butterflies in my throat, but the best kind,” Nava says. “I was ready. I couldn’t wait.”
At the same time, she was “confused” because there were three people on their knees praying inside, and she would have never expected her “very private” boyfriend to have such a public proposal in front of strangers.
“[It] felt off,” she says. “I couldn’t picture him doing that.”
After taking a moment to pray, Agudelo leaned over and whispered, “Come with me.”
“He meant to the front of the chapel, where the cross was,” Nava clarifies. “My heart started racing, and I instinctively said no, I was too nervous with other people around. He just chuckled and said, ‘Babe, it wasn’t a question. Come with me.’ And that’s when I knew. A thousand percent. My heart was pounding in the best way.”
“In that moment, I lost the ability to speak. I just nodded, over and over, yes,” Nava says. “I kissed him, I hugged him, and for a second, I even forgot about the ring. I just wanted to hold him after such a beautiful moment. Then, he slipped the ring onto my finger, and I snapped back to reality.”
Alejandro Agudelo and Mariana Nava.Aileen Ayala Photography
Nava realized that the three praying strangers were actually two photographers and Agudelo’s sister.
“It was the most special moment of my life, one I still replay over and over again,” she says.
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Nava never anticipated her pre-proposal TikTok to go viral.
“I wanted to capture the moment of how I felt beforehand, just in case it happened,” she explains. “And honestly, I thought it would be cool to show him later, like, ‘See? My intuition knew. I know you way too well.’ "
She continues: “When I finally showed him the video, he loved it. He was so grateful I had taken those few seconds to record that little moment before everything unfolded. It’s forever going to be one of the most special parts of our story.”
The duo didn’t romantically connect until they were 18 and 19 years old and ran into each other at a mutual friend’s party. From then on, they were “inseparable.” Nava and Agudelo plan to get married on Nov. 15 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
source: people.com