SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) — Hundreds of miles may have kept a South Florida service member and his fiancée apart on their wedding day, but the physical distance did not prevent the couple from exchanging their vows.
This Cinco de Mayo wedding may have been traditional in nature, but the way it was performed was far from the norm.
“Today we’re having a ‘nacho’ average wedding,” said the bride, Carolina Gomez.
Gomez said this isn’t exactly how she pictured her big day.
“I would have wanted a church wedding, a rustic barn look,” she said.
But Gomez said the ceremony, held in a cul de sac in Southwest Miami-Dade, had everything that mattered.
Wearing masks and practicing social distancing, family and friends came together to witness Gomez say her vows from their cars.
The groom, Jorge Chong, is a U.S. Air Force member stationed in Northern Florida. He participated in the virtual ceremony from the Panhandle.
The rest of the attendees were able to see him on an inflatable projector screen.
“It’s different. It’s not the conventional way, but I’ve been with Carolina for so long already,” said Chong, “and I just want to be together with her, part of her family, make her a part of my family and just be together with my best friend.”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic. Chong is unable to leave the base.
The couple had to move their wedding up, so the theme turned it into a drive-in Cinco de Mayo wedding.
“It is definitely different, but anything it takes to see her get this moment done is worth everything,” said Silvia Maury, a friend of the couple.
It was especially worth it for this couple, who have been boyfriend and girlfriend for four years and are now husband and wife.
“It’s Cinco de Mayo. We’re celebrating. We’re having the time of our life,” said Gomez.
Gomez and Chong had their “first dance,” and the bride and her father also shared a special moment.
While this may have not been a traditional wedding, it certainly taught the couple their first lesson in marriage.
“It’s going to be special, ’cause I married the man of my dreams, the love of my life,” said Gomez. “Since the moment I met him, I knew that he was the one.”
The happy couple said they hope to reunite in June and have a more traditional wedding in August.
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