A newlywed couple are singing the praises of staff at a local hotel who went above and beyond, rescheduling their wedding without any fuss after the groom had to undergo heart surgery two weeks before the original wedding date at the venue.

On March 5, 2022, Carole Cummins married Adrian (Aidie) Rogan, her partner of 19 years, at the Manor House Country Hotel in Co. Fermanagh. However, just over five months earlier, on the couple’s original wedding date of October 2, 2021, Aidie was in hospital recovering from heart surgery.

Carol, who is originally from Mountjoy, Co. Tyrone, spoke to The Impartial Reporter about how staff at the Fermanagh wedding venue took the stress out of rescheduling her wedding last minute as she and her husband-to-be dealt with his health.

“That hotel is absolutely amazing,” said Carol, who explained that although she and Aidie live in his hometown of Drumaness, Co. Down, she chose the Manor House as their wedding venue as her parents were married there.

“My parents got married there 43 years ago. My mum is originally from Enniskillen,” she said.

Talking about the tumultuous journey to their wedding day, Carol said: “We got engaged in December 2019, then in January time we went to the Manor House and the guys were just so professional.

“And we were like, ‘yep, the Manor House is good enough for us’. So we set the date then for October 2021.”

Two weeks before their wedding date of October 2, 2021 Aidie went for a hospital appointment.

“He was getting breathless and thought, something is not right here,” explained Carol, noting that during his initial appointment, Aidie was advised to get a scan at the Ulster Hospital.

Following the scan, it was discovered that Aidie had a fault the valves in his heart.

“A regular person has four valves but Aidie was only born with three.

“Because they were working so hard, he needed a valve replacement,” said Carol, going on to explain that it was determined that Aidie required surgery.

“Aidie rang me to tell me that he had been told he would have to undergo a 12 hour operation and that he’d be lucky if he’d be out within five weeks.

“We knew at that stage that we needed to cancel the wedding,” said Carol, adding: “So I rang the Manor House and because the wedding was meant to be two weeks away, I was like, ‘I’ll pay’ and they said, ‘no don’t be so silly, that’s the least of your worries, you get Aidie sorted’.

“They said, ‘get him home and then come back to us and we’ll see what’s available’,” she said.

In total, Aidie was in hospital for seven weeks, spending five weeks in the Ulster Hospital and two weeks in Dublin.

“Aidie got out of hospital, he’s now actually going back to work this week. As the weeks went on, he got stronger and better,” said Carol, adding that the Manor House were able to reschedule their wedding to March 5 of this year.

“Through it all, I just thought they were so good when I cancelled and then, with the wedding, they were just so accommodating.

Carol and Aidie Rogan. Photo: Robert OBrien

Carol and Aidie Rogan. Photo: Robert O'Brien

“The staff made it. They were just so helpful and lovely,” she told this newspaper.

When asked how it felt to finally marry the love of her life, Carol explained how she reacted to the announcement from the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council registrar that they were now husband and wife.

“I didn’t even kiss him, I ended up hugging him, shouting, ‘yes!’ and running down the aisle showing off my wedding ring and coming back dancing to ‘Congratulations’,” she laughed: “It was just a fun wedding.”

“It’s been a long time coming but it was worth every second of it,” Carol told this newspaper.