Beauty Amid Chaos: This Couple's Lipa, Batangas Wedding Became More Unforgettable Due To Taal Volcano Eruption

Couples who are about to get married always pray for good weather on their big day. A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event that takes months to prepare, so they can only hope that everything about it goes as planned and is perfectly executed. There are always unforeseeable and unavoidable things that could happen on the wedding day itself, but what do you do when a natural disaster occurs? Evan Gonzales and Kristine Peren decided to make the most of their special day and chose to be happy despite the state of calamity.  

January 12, 2020 started as a bright and sunny day in Lipa, Batangas. The smiles on the faces of Evan and Kristine matched the brightness of the sunshine that day. However, as they were getting close to saying their "I dos," the unexpected happened: eruptive activity at Taal Volcano in the province of Batangas began to be felt. The smallest active volcano in the world and one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines spewed a sky-high column of steam and ash, prompting the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) to raise the alert level to 4 on Sunday night. Earthquakes also occurred, following the ash and steam explosion, and ashfall has even reached Metro Manila. 

The volcano last erupted in 1977—that's 43 years ago! What are the chances that, on Evan and Kristine's big day, a historic event of such magnitude would transpire?! In the face of unthinkable tragedy, they found joy in each other's arms instead. They chose to remember and immortalize this moment with a picture-perfect shot against the background of the giant ash cloud that showed beauty amid chaos.  

Their wedding may not have turned out exactly the way they imagined it to be, but at the end of the day, they still feel blessed that they were able to celebrate their love with the people closest to them and, more importantly, they're all safe.  

Get to know this couple and read about their wedding straight from real bride Kristine:

When did you and your husband meet?

"September 2014"

How long have you been together?

"3 years and 3 months"

What are your current occupations?

"Evan is a civil engineer while I am an industrial engineer."

"Some of our guests went home early kasi lumilindol na raw sa area nila, but many of our guests still stayed and finished the reception program. After the reception, we felt sad for some of our suppliers who were from Manila, because they couldn't go home. I think some of them looked for hotels where they can stay in since it was apparently zero visibility in SLEX due to ashfall.

Details:

Photographs by NicePrint Photo

Here's how you can help those who were affected by the Taal Volcano eruption: click here.