Newlyweds travel 46-hours to get to their reception

AN Ennis couple who got married in Rome on April 17 almost didn’t make it back to their wedding reception in the Woodstock Hotel because of flight disruptions caused by volcanic ash last week.
Erica (nee Casey) and Robert Boland married in San Silvestro en Capite, Rome on Saturday, April 17.
“We arrived in Rome on Monday, April 12. Most of our guests arrived over on Wednesday, April 14, just before all of the disruptions to flights. Two of our guests couldn’t make it over at all as their flight was cancelled. We heard on Thursday that all flights in and out of European airports had been cancelled but figured that it would be fine again within a day or two. We got married and had a small reception with about 30 guests who came over for our wedding,” Erica said.
The couple were due to fly back on Wednesday (April 21), two days ahead of their reception in the Woodstock Hotel last Friday night.
“There were some last minute things to organise and luckily we have great friends who sorted these for us, because effectively we were stranded. We had planned on having a few days on our own, a mini-honeymoon in Rome, before flying back but nobody could leave, so there were a number of our family with us,” she added.
With the absence of flights, they travelled by coach with some of their wedding guests and other stranded tourists, from Rome, via Switzerland, through France to Calais, where they got the ferry to Dover.
“The coach then brought us to London. My cousin met us there and drove us to Holyhead and we got the ferry to Dun Laoghaire. Then we drove to Dublin Airport to collect our car and then back to Ennis. In all, we were travelling for 46 hours to get home for our reception. We were wrecked but it was worth it. We couldn’t miss our own wedding reception.
“While it was stressful not knowing whether we’d make it or not, we were still more or less in our newly-wed bubble so we just made the most of it and made it into a bit of an adventure,” Erica said.
The couple made it back late on Thursday night, with less than 24 hours to put the finishing touches to their wedding party.
“We had a few hours sleep and then got the last few things sorted in the hotel. I had time to get ready for the reception and we had a fantastic time on Friday night. It was a long way home but it was worth it. We certainly won’t forget the lengths we went to get to our own wedding reception”.