Town battles to give bride her day

Town battles to give bride her day

21 October 2015

A MASSIVE community drive is underway to ensure the wedding of a Portaferry bride-to-be goes ahead on Friday.

Leonie Kelly has been forced to find an alternative venue for her wedding following the sudden closure of the Portaferry Hotel where her reception for 110 guests was booked.

Mother-of-two Leonie said she was devastated to learn the hotel had closed and very stressed by efforts to find an alternative venue at such short notice.

She confirmed offers have been made from people throughout the community, keen to help the troubled bride, including an offer from the union Unite, which represents staff of the the Portaferry Hotel, to stock a bar or provide bus transport for guests to an alternative venue.

The hotel’s head chef, Paul Wilson, has also offered to cook the wedding meal elsewhere, while the owner of the nearby Slip Inn pub, Danny McCarthy, has made his kitchen available.

As a result of these offers, Leonie said she thought the wedding might now go ahead in the local community hall, but was afraid to be too hopeful that everything could be sorted out in time.

“We have been planning this wedding since January and the hotel was the first place we booked because we wanted to make sure we kept everything local,” she said.

“Although I had heard the hotel might be closing, I was then told it would be fine for the wedding so this has been a huge shock. I still don’t know what is going to happen and it is three days away.

“I think it might be in the community hall or else there will be no reception at all.

“We have been trying to sort this out since Monday but I am not hopeful because although we have the offer of a kitchen and a chef we still need to source the food at such short notice.

Portaferry Hotel manageress, Martha Tumelty, said her top priority was the bride-to-be.

“My priority at the moment is to get Leonie sorted and then I will be able to think about myself and the rest of the staff and what the closure of the hotel means for us,” she said.

“The wedding booking was made through me and I cannot help but feel responsible.

“The hotel is run by its staff who are also very much part of the community and we will do everything we can to make the wedding a great event. If it goes ahead in the community hall we will decorate it so it fits the occasion.”

Davy Edmont, from the union Unite, said they had offered their help, which he said was probably a first offer of its kind.

“If we can step in and help make this a special day then that is what we will gladly do,” he said.

“This is important to our members in the community of which we too are part. We will step up to the plate.”

Beannchor, the owners of the Portaferry Hotel which was leased to a tenant, have also offered help to the bridal couple.

Beannchor director James Sinton said they were keen to offer assistance despite the fact the tenant had full operational responsibility for the running of the business.

“When we discovered that a wedding was booked in the hotel for Friday, we took steps to assist the bride and groom with finding an alternative venue,” he said.  

“I spoke with the mother of the bride on several occasions yesterday to try and find a solution for their wedding reception, also ensuring they were not out of pocket. 

“We are under no legal obligation to do this but given the tight timescales, we wanted to do everything we could to help during what I am sure is a very stressful time for the couple.”