Hotel service: A very civil sort of ceremony

Time's running out and the bride's getting stressed. Hair appointments have overrun and plans for a leisurely, champagne-fuelled lunch followed by a
gentle procession out to Clarinbridge are in disarray.

Because the time slots allotted to marrying couples in Galway's registry
hotel are so tight – 40 minutes from start to finish – and because you're
warned that if you miss your slot you miss your wedding, the tradition of
arriving fashionably late is one best to skip.

It is then that a hidden advantage of getting married in a hotel becomes
apparent. Hotels have rooms – loads of them. One urgent call later and a suite for the bridal party to get dressed, eat and, crucially, drink room-service champagne has been sorted.

Which is more than can be said for the groom. I'm not sorted at all. Hair
appointments were unnecessary but weeks of answering "are you nervous
yet" questions have me frazzled. The best man advises a brandy. In more
traditional wedding venues, getting a stiff, nerve-soothing drink moments
before you get married is problematic unless you're prepared to wrestle the
altar wine from the priest. Here, however, there's no problem. Drinks are
dispatched quickly and downed faster.

While a motor hotel on the fringes of Galway's industrial heart isn't Venice, it is a sight more romantic than the grounds of a one-time TB hospital
where the city's civil weddings used to be conducted. The bright and airy room sits just 60 people, making the drawing up of the guest list a more ruthless but less complex matter than tradition demands.

A stereo sits discreetly in the corner and plays our carefully selected music
as the bride enters – better to have Johnny Cash sing at your wedding than
someone covering his songs, badly. In a matter of minutes, the "I dos" have
been done, the readings read, rings are on fingers and the effortlessly efficient and always smiling registrar has the wedding certificate signed and sealed.

Then, before making way for the next wedding party which has rolled up the
drive, there's just time to mingle and take a few pics. After tha,t it's on to an
alternate location for the first of two receptions spread over a long weekend.
Two wedding parties doesn't seem excessive given that the civil affair was
such a low-key, hassle-free – and distinctly civil – affair.