April Lyka Biorrey-Nobbis with her husband Erwin and bridesmaids. RR Production

Gulf Today Report

This is the height of desperation. Onion prices have spiralled so much in the Philippines that when Filipinos depart from the shores of the UAE for their home country, they take with them kilos of onions. All because there is an acute shortage of onions, which are priced at nearly $11 a kilo in the Philippines. They are costlier than chicken and are being treated like gold.

Now, thanks to the huge costs, onions have assumed a new role. They are not just a staple for the stomach, but also for bridal adornment: a Filipino bride converted the onions into a floral bouquet for her to carry down the aisle during her wedding.

Now, you would call her crazy for ditching flowers for onions: a bouquet of roses certainly looks more elegant any day than the onions. But the red onions made the bride’s red-letter day all the more special.

The bridesmaids also wore onion wreaths.

According to a report in a section of the media, April Lyka Biorrey-Nobbis, from Bingawan, Iloilo City, ordered a sack of onions online which came four days before her wedding. The couple had put aside 15,000 pesos for the bouquet of flowers. But the onions cost 8,000 pesos.

It was then that the flashbulb moment struck the bride: why not convert the onions into a bouquet?

She suggested the idea to her husband-to-be Erwin, who immediately agreed to the proposal.

But then, there was an issue, as is customary for the Christian bride: she has to toss the bouquet of flowers over her shoulders, and whichever girl catches it is next in line to wed. The couple were ready to address this issue too: they skipped the tossing custom, and gave away the onions to the godparents and bridesmaid to be kept as souvenirs.