Bride's dream Irish wedding turns nightmare over ongoing Air Lingus strike action

Melissa, along with a group of 10-15 guests traveled from San Francisco to attend the wedding. Originally, the bride and two of her friends had included a long layover in New York City for some sightseeing in their plans before jetting off to Dublin.

She recounted how while en route to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), two-thirds of the group received notifications that their flight from New York City to Dublin had been cancelled.

Rather than let it get her down, Melissa then attempted to be proactive by calling the airline immediately to rebook their cancelled flights. "The [automated call system] wouldn't let us get past the initial change flight option, and then kept hanging up" she explained.

She recalled that in his frustration, her father managed to find an email address online for the Chief Financial Officer of Air Lingus and called to explain their predicament. Despite a call back from Air Lingus staff, she said that their response was a dismissive "we take care of it".

The group was eventually rebooked on a flight for the next day but had no accommodation arranged in the meantime. The group however was split up as Melissa secured a flight with a layover in Manchester.

From bad to worse, a bridesmaid, who had packed the wedding dresses, felt she was pressured by Air Lingus staff into checking her bag at John F Kennedy Airport in New York City, despite her wanting to keep it close as carry it on.

"The checked bag was left in JFK, and we didn't realise until we were in Dublin. The bag was missing for about 3 days," she stated.

Despite these setbacks, Melissa said the wedding on June 21 went ahead, and was a "beautiful day" planned by her in-laws.

However, another set of challenges reared their heads for the passengers' return. Melissa's family had planned to travel around Europe before heading home, with flights booked from Amsterdam.

Their flight from there to SFO was cancelled, and Melissa herself, having stayed in Ireland after her honeymoon in Scotland had her flight changed to return to the US with a layover in Barcelona, days after its original departure date.

Having done the maths, she added that the extra cost of rebooking a direct flight from scratch from Dublin to SFO amounted to nearly $1,000, and working as a waitress, she lamented: "I can't afford that."

Melissa added that she felt sympathy for the striking pilots. "I don't blame the pilots. They should get what they're owed," she said. She felt her frustration was directed towards the airline's executives for lacking a "backup plan" in case of strikes, especially with the volume of similarly affected passengers trying to make alternative arrangements.

Having flew Ryanair for their honeymoon to Scotland, the newlywed said the couple had "no issues at all." However, the ordeal left a bitter taste. "It feels wrong that we can't get home. We are not allowed to stay here," Melissa said.

Having spent about a year planning the wedding, and hoping to move permanently to Ireland with her husband, Melissa, said she hopes to encourage her family to make the trip to Europe again.