Galway hotel saves local couple's wedding after Glasson Lakehouse cancellation two days before event
Galway rallied to save this newlyweds day after an outbreak of norovirus at Glasson Lakehouse forced them to find a new venue in less than two days
After two years of planning for their dream wedding, a Galway couple thought there was very little left to do but get married – until, less than two days before they were due to say “I do”, they received the phone call no couple expects - their hotel venue had to close because of an outbreak of norovirus.
With 153 guests ready to travel, suppliers booked and an entire weekend of celebrations planned, Aimee Palmer from Knocknacarra and Cathal Nolan from Barna were suddenly facing the possibility that the wedding they had spent two years organising might not be able to go ahead.
They were devastated – but within minutes, Galway got to work.
Family and friends started ringing hotels, restaurants and venues across the city and west of Ireland. Friends enlisted colleagues to help. Phones were passed around, contacts called and every possible option explored.
And somehow, within around three hours of that first devastating phone call from management at Glasson Lakehouse outside Athlone, the key pieces of an entirely new wedding weekend were in place.
The biggest challenge was finding somewhere that could take on a wedding reception for 153 people on a Friday in August with less than two days’ notice.
Then came the call they desperately needed – the Salthill Hotel had the Friday available and said yes.
Valerie at the hotel became Aimee and Cathal’s main point of contact and, within 30 minutes of agreeing to take on the wedding, she was sitting down with Aimee’s sister, with Aimee and Cathal joining on FaceTime, and working through the plans for their entire day.
The hotel team not only took on the wedding itself but managed to accommodate guests who suddenly needed somewhere to stay.
For those they couldn’t fit, another Galway rescue effort began, with family and friends opening their own homes to Aimee and Cathal’s friends.
And the emergency choice of venue came with an unexpected twist.
Aimee’s parents celebrated their wedding at the Salthill Hotel in 1988. Her sister Kayleigh followed in 2022 – and now, completely by chance, Aimee would be getting married there too.
A venue chosen in the middle of a frantic afternoon suddenly became somewhere with a special place in her own family history.
Aimee and Cathal – now living in Dublin after also spending time living in Australia – suddenly found themselves bringing their wedding home to Galway.
And while the Salthill Hotel team got to work on the reception, the rest of their wedding weekend was being rebuilt around them.
Cathal’s granny, Maureen Nolan, helped secure St. Ignatius Church in Galway for the ceremony, while Fr Tommy Marrinan, who had originally been due to marry the couple, was able to rearrange his plans and still be there to marry them.
Their Thursday night plans also needed a new home. Aimee and Cathal had been due to have dinner at Glasson Lakehouse with their immediate family and bridal party. O’Grady’s on the Pier stepped in at short notice and found room for all 17 of them.
Then there was Day Two to sort – and Blackrock Cottage didn’t receive one call asking if it could help; it received six.
Six different people, all trying to save the same wedding, contacted the Galway venue to see if there was any chance it could accommodate Aimee, Cathal and their guests on Saturday.
The team at Blackrock Cottage, which has recently opened a new event space behind the main cottage, threw themselves behind the celebrations, putting together a drinks reception and food and hosting the wedding party from 3pm until midnight.
Wedding suppliers changed their own plans too. Singer Conor Clinch travelled from Dublin to Galway, while Mike O’Connor from Bellissimo arranged for a hairdresser from his salon to step in for the bridesmaids at short notice.
Aimee’s hair and make-up team also rearranged their plans and came down on Thursday evening so they could be there for the early start on Friday morning.
Again and again, people who could have quite reasonably said it was too difficult instead seemed to say the same thing: we’ll make it work.
By Thursday night, barely 24 hours after Aimee and Cathal had been wondering whether their wedding could happen at all, they were sitting in O’Grady’s surrounded by their closest family and friends on the eve of their wedding.
And on Friday morning, Galway had one final contribution to make; the sun came out.
“When we got the call on Wednesday, we were absolutely devastated. We’d spent two years planning everything and suddenly, less than 48 hours before we were supposed to get married, we didn’t know if any of it was going to happen," said Aimee, now enjoying her honeymoon in Sorento.
“We both grew up in Galway, so to see our home city rally around us like that was incredibly special.
“By Friday the sun was shining, everyone was in brilliant form and there was just this feeling that we couldn’t believe we’d actually pulled it off. After everything that had happened, I think it made us appreciate the day even more.
“We went from thinking our wedding might not happen to having a weekend we’ll never forget. We’ll never be able to properly thank everyone who helped us,” she added.
Cathal's dad Tom Nolan was equally grateful for Galway pulling out all the stops.
"The people we met every step of the way couldn't have been nicer; they were incredible," he said.
Aimee and Cathal may not have had the wedding weekend they expected, but arguably they got something even better - a reminder that, when they needed it most, home showed up for them.