bride and groom sitting on the ledge of a wooden stage
Sarah Biren
Sarah Biren
February 22, 2022 ·  3 min read

Homeless Couple Get A Makeover And A Surprise Charity Wedding After Being Together For 24 Years

Rosalyn Ferrer, 50, and Rommel Basco, 55, are a couple in the Philippines. They have been together for 24 years but they couldn’t get the wedding they desired because of their dire financial situation. Getting enough food to eat every day was a more pressing issue. Their home is a small shack set up in an empty patch of land where they reside with their six children. Richard Strandz had a chance encounter with the couple when they were collecting plastic items to sell for food. Strandz owns a hair salon near their home and he contacted some friends to arrange a wedding package and makeover for the couple. This includes helping them process the documents for their marriage license and funds for a church wedding. However, they didn’t predict the pictures from their stunning wedding shoot would go viral. [1]

Homeless Couples Gets a Makeover and Wedding After 24 Years

In the photoshoot, Rommel and Rosalyn were dressed to the nines in a fancy suit and wedding gown. [2] Rosalyn explained, “I once dreamed of having a white wedding but that was when I was a little girl. It went out of my mind long ago. We never had enough money and all we concentrated on was getting enough food to eat each day. Now I feel so blessed that it has happened. I’m so thankful.

They met Richard by chance but their story had a strong impact on him. “I found out about how the two have been living together for more than two decades but cannot afford a small wedding,” he said. “I was touched by their love story so I contacted my friends who had a wedding supplies business and thought of surprising them with a charity wedding.”

Although the surprise began with the glamor photoshoot, Richard and his friends will also pay for the church wedding after the marriage license is processed. As Richard explained, “True love is something that should be celebrated. It’s very special, no matter whether you’re rich or poor.” [3]

Now their wedding album by Rab4love Studios, called “SA HIRAP at GINHAWA” or “through thick and thin“, has gone viral with thousands of comments praising the photoshoot. “True love is so simple, you don’t have to make it complicated,” said one response. “All you need is to be grateful of one another’s presence and learn to appreciate whatever you have.”

This story has been inspiring me,” said another, “about the true love, it’s above any boundaries and even they’re poor, they still have each other, sometimes we can’t see such kind of love in rich peoples.”

Read: This bride didn’t have a gown or photographer on her wedding day. A hospice caregiver helped her redo it, 77 years later.

Through Thick and Thin

Rommel and Rosalyn in their home in the Philipines
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn posing for their glamorous photo shoot
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn collect plastic to swap for money for food
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn finally got their "white wedding"
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn and their six children
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn are homeless and live in poverty
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel with four of his children
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios

Read: Widower beautifully recreates late wife’s pregnancy photos with their 1-year-old daughter

Rommel and Rosalyn wear another gown and suit for the photo shoot
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn in their wedding attire
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rosalyn explained, “I once dreamed of having a white wedding but that was when I was a little girl. It went out of my mind long ago."
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rosalyn said, "We never had enough money and all we concentrated on was getting enough food to eat each day."
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
"Now I feel so blessed that it has happened. I'm so thankful.”"
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
“I found out about how the two have been living together for more than two decades but cannot afford a small wedding,” Richard said.
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios

Read: Parents capture newborn twin’s short life with heart-stirring photos

Richard said, “I was touched by their love story so I contacted my friends who had a wedding supplies business and thought of surprising them with a charity wedding.”
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
As Richard explained, “True love is something that should be celebrated. It's very special, no matter whether you're rich or poor.”
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn lived together for 24 years.
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn live in a shack in an empty space of land with their six children.
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios

Read: Winston Howes’ Remarkable Love Story – A Family That Went Viral

They couldn't get married because finding food was more pressing issue.
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
After they get their marriage license, Rommel and Rosalyn will get their dream church wedding.
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios
Rommel and Rosalyn's love story has inspired people all over the world.
Photo credits: Rab4Love Studios

Keep Reading: The Man Who Biked From India to Sweden for Love

Sources

  1. “VIRAL: Homeless Filipino couple who can’t afford wedding gifted one.” Yahoo News. February 28, 2021
  2. “Homeless Couple Get A Makeover And A Surprise Charity Wedding After Being Together For 24 Years.Bored Panda. Hidrėlėy.October 2020
  3. “Homeless couple of 24 years who could never afford to marry are given a surprise wedding after a hairdresser saw them collecting plastic scraps to sell for food.Daily Mail. Latoya Gayle. February 26, 2021