“I think at first we thought it wasn’t going to stick, especially when Trump became president in 2016, and then the coronavirus,” Ms. Garcia said. “But both our families really wanted to see it happen this time around, so we made it happen.”
It happened on the 20-year anniversary of the day the two brides “first hooked up,” as they put it.
In addition to the 60 in-person guests, their second wedding could also be seen by about 30 family members and friends watching live via Zoom. This brought the total number of guests to 90, including Ms. Garcia’s parents, Carol Garcia and Andrew Garcia of Long Beach, Calif., as well as Ms. Sims Garcia’s father, Ronald Sims, and her stepmother, Jan Sims, who live in Sahuarita, Ariz. (Ms. Sims Garcia’s mother, Teri Clark, is deceased).
Midway through their ceremony, the couple and their officiant, Julie Cantonwine, a mutual friend who became a Universal Life minister for the event, demonstrated how each ingredient in a Manhattan cocktail, their favorite drink, represented some area of the life they have cultivated over two decades.
“Bourbon is the foundation of the Manhattan cocktail, and so it symbolizes the strong foundation of our relationship,” Ms. Garcia said.
“The sweet Vermouth stands for all of the romantic, wonderful times that we have had together,” she said. “And the bitters reminds us of all those difficult times, all of the challenges we faced along the way.”
“Then comes the Amarena cherries on top,” she added, “which reflect the sweetness, goodness and kindness that have stood above anything else since we first met.”
