As I said 'I do' the church shook ..guests ran out screaming; IRISH GROOM ON QUAKE THAT NEARLY ENDED WEDDING DAY.

Byline: MICHELLE O'KEEFFE

AS Irish groom Ian Devine said "I Do" to his Italian bride the earth moved - quite literally.

Ian was in the middle of pledging his love to bride Monica D'Agostina when the 800-year-old church on a hilltop in Monte Cassino shook on Thursday.

Terrified wedding guests fled the ceremony fearing for their lives as the earthquake hit 3.9 on the Richter scale.

It caused the roof of the chapel to look like it was going to collapse and the columns tremor.

But Ian, from Drogheda, Co Louth, and Monica never moved standing steadfast beside each other at the altar in the midst of the chaos.

BLESSING

And once they convinced friends and family to come back inside they insisted the priest continued with the blessing and they tied the knot.

Yesterday the delighted newly-weds said they plan to call their first born child Terremoto which means earthquake in Italian.

Ian said: "I was just beginning to say my vows in Italian and just had 'I take you Monica' out of my mouth when the whole church started to rattle.

"I couldn't believe an earthquake had struck just as I said my vows to the woman I love.

"There were 110 Italian guests at our wedding and they all went running out of the church screaming as they knew they were only about an hour away from L'Aquila where people were killed in an earthquake four months ago.

"But the 60 Irish guests just sat there wondering what was happening and if they should flee too.

"I just stood there gob smacked - I couldn't believe what was happening and that it happened at the most important part of the ceremony.

"I didn't know what to do but Monica was so calm and I just stayed beside her.

"The whole building was wobbling and I thought the roof was going to come in.

"As our guests fled the church we were shouting at them to come back as we wanted to get married.

"Many were scared to come back in but we convinced them to and the priest asked us if we wanted to continue or if we wanted to move outside.

"We said we wanted to continue in the chapel and despite the earthquake it was the best day of my life, Monica looked beautiful.

MEMORABLE

"The earthquake made our special day even more memorable. I guarantee all our guests will remember it."

"Monica asked me if it was an omen but I said it wasn't. If we can stand by each other during an earthquake on our wedding day we can get through anything.

Ian, 32, who works in Dublin Airport and 36-year-old air hostess Monica met each other after they moved into the same apartment complex in Drogheda in March 2007.

After he proposed to her in Paris last October the happy couple decided to get married in Monica's native region of Italy.

She joked that they were heading on their honeymoon to Sicily and hoped Mount Vesuvius would not erupt while they were there. Monica said: "There was no way I was letting an earthquake stop me from marrying Ian.

"When the church began to shake I knew immediately it was an earthquake as this area is prone to them.

"I didn't run and I definitely didn't want Ian to run either.

"I was as cool as a cucumber. Ian was panicking but he stayed beside me as our guests scarpered.

"I just told Ian to marry me right now - we just needed our close family to stay.

"A lot of the Irish guests were still in the church anyway as they didn't seem to know what was going on but most of the Italians ran outside as they knew it would be safer.

"I arrived at the church in a Ferrari and the driver couldn't get out of the church fast enough when the earthquake started to make sure his car was alright.

"We had a little trouble getting people to come back into the church but when they did we continued with our vows.

STRANGE

"The strange thing is I said to Ian the night before our wedding that I thought there was going to be an earthquake on the day.

"Earthquakes are quite common in the area and I said I wouldn't be surprised if it happened on our wedding day.

"But I definitely did not expect it to happen as we started the vows.

"The church would have experienced many earthquakes but the priest said that in 40 years he has never experienced it happen during a wedding ceremony.

"We are heading to Sicily for our honeymoon so let's hope Mount Vesuvius does not erupt. We have had enough excitement already."

CAPTION(S):

CARNAGE Scene of last quake in town in which several people died PICTURESQUE Church on hill RELIEF Happy couple relax outside church after ceremony ROMANTIC They begin their vows just before the quake strikes CALM AFTER THE STORM The ceremony continues after guests were persuaded back into church in Monte Cassino