When Julienne Marie Cordova Abad and Francis Abad woke up on the morning of October 10, 2025, they expected nerves, butterflies, and maybe a few happy tears. What they didn’t expect was a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, right before their civil wedding.
According to a report from SunStar Cebu, the ceremony was set to take place inside the Qimonda IT Center in Cebu City when the tremor hit at 9:43 a.m., following a major offshore quake near Davao Oriental. The shaking reached Intensity IV in Cebu, forcing everyone to evacuate the building, including Julienne, who fled in her white dress.
But while many would have postponed, this couple decided to do the opposite. With the ground still settling beneath them, they took their vows under the open sky, turning a near-disaster into one of the most unforgettable wedding moments of the year.
“I was nervous. I thought our wedding might be cancelled because of what happened,” Julienne told SunStar Cebu.
Minutes earlier, she and Francis had been preparing to walk down the aisle or in this case, down a government hallway for their civil ceremony. But as the tremors rolled through the city, everyone was ordered to evacuate.
With crowds gathering outside, Julienne and Francis faced a choice: call it off, or keep going.
“I didn’t care if it was hot under the sun or where we would get married,” Julienne said. “The weather didn’t matter. What was important was that our wedding would continue and our loved ones were with us.”
That determination led them to the most spontaneous wedding venue Cebu has ever seen , right in front of the Qimonda building rotunda, surrounded by employees, passersby, and curious onlookers who happened to witness a love story that refused to be shaken.
Francis recalled trying to find a safe spot outside for the ceremony. His first suggestion, the parking area, was quickly rejected because of the risk of falling debris. Then he noticed a statue near the main building entrance.
“I saw the statue in front of the Qimonda building and thought it was safer there. If another earthquake happened, we could easily run since it was near the exit,” he explained.
And so, under the mid-morning heat, with the sun beating down and the crowd cheering them on, the couple said “I do.”
“It was so hot,” Francis admitted. “We were all sweaty, but the judge continued the ceremony with us. I’ll never forget that.”
Presiding over the impromptu outdoor ceremony was Judge Claire Eufracia Pagayanan of Branch 15, who deserves her own standing ovation. Despite the chaos, she didn’t hesitate to carry on.
“Even if there’s an earthquake, nothing can stop your wedding,” she told the couple, a quote that will likely live on in Cebu wedding folklore for years to come.
The Abads’ unforgettable wedding happened amid a string of strong earthquakes that rattled parts of the Philippines in October 2025.
The magnitude 7.4 quake that struck offshore Davao Oriental triggered aftershocks felt across Mindanao and the Visayas region. Cebu, though spared from major damage, experienced noticeable shaking, prompting building evacuations and safety inspections across the city.
Yet amid uncertainty and tension, this couple’s love story became a brief and beautiful reminder of Filipino resilience. Even when the ground trembles, life, and love, must go on.
It’s hard to imagine a more symbolic wedding day. The world literally moved beneath their feet, and yet Julienne and Francis stood firm. Their story resonates not just because it’s romantic, but because it’s so real.
There were no chandeliers, no perfect weather, no curated Pinterest backdrops, just two people, their families, and a whole lot of faith that love can withstand anything, even the earth itself.
And maybe that’s the kind of love we should all hope for: the kind that holds steady when everything else is shaking.
From indoor vows to outdoor courage, Julienne and Francis’s wedding in Cebu will go down as one of 2025’s most inspiring “love conquers all” moments. It wasn’t glamorous or polished, but it was profoundly human, a real-life reminder that the best weddings don’t have to be perfect. They just have to be true.
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