to decide not to be bridesmaid 4 weeks before wedding?

[sponkle]

the hotel in Ireland is full and the bride is expecting me to 'not to worry about it we'll sort something out, & that I'll 'just have to bunk down with someone' ie a complete stranger as I don't know any of her friends.

Father Finlay McInley?
Father Dermot O'Brien?
Father Patrick Mahoney?
Father Sean Flaherty?
etc

with all due respect dear.. grow up and book your own hotel, and get a taxi. There is actually more than one hotel in Ireland

Whats your problem about staying at someones house? You will find that they host will more than likely be the most hospitable person you have ever stayed with, and you will get a fantastic full cooked Irish breakfast the next morning

Seriously though, why do you have a problem with this? Clearly you will meet the person beforehand and its only one night. You might even make a new friend.

Enjoy the wedding.

Check with the bride - when we went to a friend's wedding I tried to ring the hotel but was told it was fully booked, but actually it was because the bride had pre-reserved all the rooms so that her guests would be sure of having a room. I didn't think to mention it and it was only when my friend asked that we realised and she got on the phone to them so that they could release a room for us.

worth a try?

Thanks to everyone for their input on this, it has been really helpful, i never expected to get so many replies! I have contacted the hotel this morning who even said that they were surprised the bride hadn't reserved me a room but that they are fully booked that night, I think there are other weddings there that day too, however they have put me on the waiting list and will call me if there is a sudden cancellation. I have booked the nearest B&B even though I need to be there by 10pm and will arrange a taxi. I have thought about thislong and hard and taken all your comments on board and have decided that the right thing to do is to be there for my friend whatever, just hope she turns back into her old self after the wedding!

Ha ha chipmonkey!!

Fair play to you, that's a grand plan sponkle.

SEriously, in five yrs, you'll BOTH be up to your knees in young children and there won't be a fag paper between you in terms of 'where i'm at in my life now and where she's at in her life now' kind of blahdeeblah.

Anois... Cá bfhuil an fekin wedding though?

Interestingly , did you know that an Irish breakfast is the same as an English breakfast but htey just list the ingredients in a different order. An Irish guy told me this in Gran Canaria. An Irish breakfast is 'tomatoes, mushrooms, egg, beans, sausage and toast' and an english breakfast is sausage, egg, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and toast.

There you have it.

Oh, I'd love a cooked breakfast of any nationality right now! Let's face it though, girls, we're never going to find out where the wedding is!

Elizabeth, you forgot the black and white pudding!

I would go just to get a full nights sleep with out children, and a hotel miles away would be excellent because I could leave early and read my book

And you forgot the bacon Elizabeth! LOL (peachys pointless post of the day that)

It is rare to get offered white pudding in an English breakfast. Actually you don't get offered black pudding that often. And i have only ever seen beans on the breakfast menu of the sort of hotel in Ireland that is catering for American guests.

Right, Peachy, we'll obviously have to make our own breakfast as Elizabeth's clearly not up to the job!

maybe they were thinking 10 am?!

ohhhh....dur sorry,

Like they meant she'd need to be back to check out at 10 am?

I'm sure they just mean you have to check in by 10pm when you first arrive - once you've done that you'll have your own key and can come back any time you want. I've never been to a B&B with a curfew!

Have a lovely time - lots of B&Bs are much nicer and friendlier than hotels anyway.

BTW, N Irish breakfasts also have potato bread and soda bread

There is no way the B&B will impose a 10pm curfew. No way! It must, as nappyaddict said, meant to check in.

Where is the wedding? Let us help!

Also - What kind of Irish breakfast only has tomatoes, mushrooms, egg, beans, sausage and toast? GreenElizabeth - I think that guy was pulling your leg.

First of all, you almost always get soda bread or farls, and normally wheaten as well. And generally a bit of pudding, white or black (though I think they got the black in just for me every time i was there, as noone else ever seemed to eat it!) Jesus, I'd love an Ulster fry right now..

There is a difference between an Ulster Fry and an Irish breakfast though .

There is indeed. Ulster fries are done in lard, but taste heavenly..

SPooooNKLE
Come back and tell us where the feck the wedding is.

I am going to add "feck" to my list of words to be used EVERY day!!!

You know Sponkle doesn't WANT to tell us where the wedding is precisely so that she doesn't have to be put up with someone's mam/aunty/cousin/random -person- from- school -who-lives-in-the-area...

Wedding is obviously in Dublin/Galway/Cork/other city with a dozen hotels and B&Bs within spitting distance of the reception venue and OP is too scared of us to come back and admit it!