For some couples, a dream wedding comes with a beautiful venue, perfect weather and a carefully planned ceremony. For one Filipino couple, however, their big day came with something a little less expected: a church filled with floodwater.
Leian Lieza Galang and Gilbert Chico went ahead with their wedding despite hip-deep floodwaters inside Saint John the Baptist Church in Hagonoy, Bulacan, north of Manila. Instead of postponing their special day, the couple decided to walk through the water and say “I do” anyway.
The wedding took place on September 1 as heavy monsoon rains continued to affect parts of the Philippines. The church had reportedly been partially underwater for almost a month, and the parish had advised the couple to postpone the ceremony because of rising floodwaters.
But the couple had other plans.
“They love each other. Nothing could stop their union,” wedding photographer Mikko Rey Alfonso told reporters.
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A Wedding Day Like No Other
Dressed in a white off-shoulder wedding gown and carrying a bouquet of white flowers, Galang carefully made her way through the murky water inside the church to meet Chico at the altar.
Her wedding gown even had to be altered so that the train was shorter and easier to navigate through the floodwater.
The groom, meanwhile, arrived with his bride aboard a rickshaw with an elevated chassis. The unusual ride helped keep their wedding outfits dry before they reached the church courtyard.
Once inside, however, staying dry was no longer really an option.
“We were in complete uniform. We did not mind that our gown and coat got soaked,” he said, as quoted from AFP.
The ceremony itself was shortened but still went ahead. The parish priest declared the couple husband and wife during the late-morning ceremony, with fewer than 15 people attending.
Even the wedding rings made their way down an aisle surrounded by water, with a young boy seen carrying them through the flooded church.
Interestingly, the couple’s wedding was not originally supposed to happen this way or even this soon.
Chico, who works as a rigger in the Middle East, had planned to get married in December. However, an ankle injury from a recreational basketball game brought him home earlier than expected.
With the unexpected time off, the couple decided to move their wedding forward.
Then came the flooding.
Rather than waiting for the water to disappear, they chose to continue with their plans. Parish staff also did their best to make the unusual situation feel as special as possible.
The result was a wedding that was certainly different from what the couple had imagined, but one they are unlikely to ever forget.
