A devastated bride and groom have demanded answers from a lavish wedding venue after nearly 50 of their guests were struck by severe vomiting and diarrhea.
Rebecca and Brodey Fitzgerald held their $20,000 wedding reception at The Park in Albert Park, in Melbourne’s south, on Friday.
But in the hours after their big day, guests – including two pregnant women who were ultimately hospitalized – fell ill with serious gastrointestinal complaints.
Shockingly, this is the fifth incident at The Park in the past month, involving around 230 guests from various events.
Rebecca and Brodey Fitzgerald (pictured) held their $20,000 wedding reception at The Park in Albert Park, in Melbourne’s south, on Friday. But in the hours after their big day, about 50 of their guests – including two pregnant women who were ultimately hospitalized – fell ill with serious gastrointestinal complaints.
“We just want an answer to how this happened,” Ms Fitzgerald told A Current Affair.
‘We spent so much money to have the best day possible and now I feel like everyone’s memory of our wedding will only be negative.’
In the days before their wedding, the newlyweds were reassured by The Park management that they had been given the green light by the municipality and the health department to remain open.
Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald now deeply regret ‘trusting the professionals’.
About 80 attendees at a medical conference dinner at The Park on September 13 reported falling ill, while a wedding held three days later was ruined after another 80 guests were struck by gastro-like symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea and dizziness.
Mr. Fitzgerald himself became ill and spent the day after the wedding in bed at a luxury hotel the couple had booked to continue the celebrations (the couple is pictured)
The newlyweds (photo) demand answers from The Park location
The venue was cleaned and given a clean bill of health from the Department of Health and the Portland City Council, allowing the Fitzgerald’s to go ahead with their wedding.
“Three days before the wedding we got a call from the venue and they explained to us that we would see it on the news and not to worry about it,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
‘The site had been thoroughly cleaned and they assured me it was all fine to continue. They received approval from the municipality and none of our guests would be inconvenienced by it.’
When Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald informed the venue they were told ‘maybe it was a contact-to-contact gastro-virus that one of the guests had brought in’, which infuriated them.
“It puts all the good memories you had of the wedding in the back of your mind because you’re trying to concentrate on making sure your guests are doing well,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
The couple had treated themselves to an expensive hotel room in the city the day after the wedding when the groom himself became seriously ill.
‘I was so upset that I couldn’t spend what was meant to be a magical weekend with my partner – now wife – and all I do is lie in bed under the covers and let Bec wander around town on her own – try to enjoy it for yourself,” Mr. Fitzgerald said.
‘How do you do that?’
Shockingly, the illnesses reported at Fitzgerald’s wedding are the fifth incident to occur at The Park venue (pictured) in the past month, affecting around 230 guests from various events.
The venue has voluntarily closed its doors for two weeks following the latest outbreaks
The day after Fitzgerald’s wedding, another outbreak reportedly affected 40 guests at another wedding.
The Park announced on Tuesday that it would voluntarily close its doors for two weeks.
But the Fitzgerald’s believe it’s “a little too late.”
“Although it’s a good thing because I would hate for any other bride or anyone to go through a big event and have to go through what we went through,” Ms Fitzgerald added.
The park has reportedly offered to refund all events.
“We maintain the highest standard of health and safety practices and we are deeply saddened that this outbreak has occurred and has affected a number of people,” The Park said in a statement.
Bahaa Harb, location manager of The Park, said Tuesday that it made the voluntary decision to close out of “an abundance of caution.”
‘We had taken all health and safety precautions prior to the recent events, but as illnesses have been reported as a result of an event over the weekend, we have decided to temporarily suspend operational activities for the next two weeks until we have more information’ Mr Harb told Nine newspapers.
“It is possible that these outbreaks are not related, but out of an abundance of caution we have decided to close until we have more information.”
Daily Mail Australia contacted the site for further comment on the new outbreaks.