This Bride Walked Down the Aisle Through Water at Her Church Wedding After Typhoons Hit the Philippines

After a pair of typhoons hit the Philippines in July 2023, not even the inclement weather and flooded aftermath could deter one couple from tying the knot. Dianne Victoriano and Paulo Padilla were planning on getting married at the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, but once tropical cyclones struck the area, their ceremony venue became filled with water. Instead of postponing their big day, the duo decided to proceed with the service. “When we saw the church flooded, we just resolved to push through the ceremony no matter what,” Victoriano told The Independent. “It didn’t matter if the guests refused to come because of the situation. What’s important is that we wanted to be married, that the two of us were there, and that our families were with us.”

On July 30, 2023, the bride’s cousin, Maria Jasmin Halili, posted a video of Victoriano walking down a flooded aisle with her parents. The footage shows the trio making their way to the altar in ankle-high water. Per the clip, Victoriano was wearing a voluminous ball gown with puff sleeves, a sweeping train, and a cathedral-length veil, which were partially submerged in the floodwaters. On her left side, the mother of the bride was dressed in a light pink beaded gown, and on her right, the father of the bride was sporting a navy suit and rain boots. Both of the bride’s parents joined their daughter in wading through the water. Once she neared the altar, two men helped lift Victoriano’s soaked gown, so she could climb up the stairs to the altar.

The video also demonstrates that the couple’s guests appeared to be unfazed despite standing in the still water. From the pews, the couple’s loved ones watched the bride make her descent down the aisle. Friends and family were shown smiling, waving, wiping away tears, and taking photos on their smartphones. According to photos that Halili captured, although guests showed up in their best attire, some of them even took off their shoes.

The Philippines has been experiencing torrential downpours for the past week due to Super Typhoon Doksuri and Typhoon Khanun. Doksuri reached the island on July 27, 2023, and Khanun arrived July 29, 2023, which started as a tropical storm but reached typhoon status the following day. Due to severe flooding, the government of Bulacan declared a state of calamity. Weather forecasters predicted that the storms would move out of the region by August 1, 2023.

Another wedding disaster has also been in the news recently. One bride, Brooke of TikTok account @anotherbabblingbrooke, posted a video of herself on May 10, 2023, where she exposed “the worst first dance wedding photos,” which were taken during her nuptials in October 2022. Brooke explained that she spent $3,000 on the images, but when she got them back, they were out of focus and blurry. “They’re just bad, all the way around bad,” she summarized. Brooke decided to contact her photographer to see if the photos could be fixed, but the vendor has been unreachable, per the TikTok post. “I just don’t know what to do at this point,” she cried. Many of her followers commented on the video, validating her feelings and offering to re-shoot her wedding for free.