The only 'destination' in this Caribbean wedding was the hospital

It was not how RobinCorkum pictured her wedding day.

Instead of the white dress, the gazeboand the lush scenery, theNova Scotiawoman found herself hospitalized with severe food poisoning on her big day,alongside her fianc and many of their guests.

Corkum, 38, and Troy Bezanson, 42, had booked a trip tothe Dreams Punta CanaResort and Spain the Dominican Republic through Air Transat from March 11 to 18.

The Halifax couple'swedding was to take place mid-week, but it never happened, because 12 of the 18 people in the wedding party became illshortly after arriving at the resort.

"As each hour went by,someone else was getting sick," Corkum said.

"It came on very, very suddenly," said the bride-to-be, who was the last in her party to fall ill.

First she felt nauseous, and then,the diarrhea and vomiting started.

"I crawled in bed and then every 30 minutes I was back into the bathroom."

Seven guests including the bride and groom were taken to hospital for what doctors called a severe bacterial infection.

One guest had his family doctor test him for salmonella upon his return to Nova Scotia and the test was positive.

They don't know for surewhen, where, or how the group got infected.

Worst moments

The worst moment for Corkumwas the 30-minute cab ride back to the airport.

"It was horrible. I just closed my eyes and prayed for it to be over," she said. "I wanted to be anywhere but in that cab."

Resort staff agreed to reschedule the wedding from Wednesday to Friday. But because Corkum and her fianc were still in hospital Friday morning, they decided to cancel a second time.

Thelast night at the resort was challenging, Corkum said, especially the moment when shewalkedpastthe patio where her reception should have been and sawanother wedding in progress.

Packing her unused wedding dress was hard too, she said.

"I actually feel worse now than I did when everything was happening," she said. "I didn't get to make those memories with my family that I was hoping for."

The packagecost about$2,200 per person for the flight, food and accommodations, she said. Her cousins used their week'svacation"to sit in their room and be sick."

Compensation offer

After CBC asked about the incident, Dreams Punta Cana Resort offered to reimburse each guestin her party the equivalent of a five-night stay, plus a free wedding package.

Corkum said she was pleased to acceptthe offer, but still wasn't sure the groupcouldafford to cover the costs of their flights.

On May 18, the director of public relations for Air Transat, Debbie Cabana, said Corkum's file was still being analyzed by their customer relations service.

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Corkum's goalis to return to the resort and "try again," as she believes the chances of getting sick on that scale again are small.

"I still would like to get married in that gazebo," she said. "It's just what I had been thinking about and dreaming about for a year."