Margi Driscoll & Zack Yanish

When: Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Where: Grand Forks Alerus Center
1st Dance Song: "Then" by Brad Paisley

A wedding on a Thursday, while not terribly uncommon, is unusual to be so large. When I asked Margi & Zack about why a Thursday, her family does a reunion every year on this weekend, so everyone was already getting together. The result was about 250 guests partying til midnight before heading to the lake the next day.


The first thing you'd notice walking into their reception was the assigned table seating and RSVP'ed dinner entree (3 choices). Common in some parts of the country, I've only had about six receptions (out of about 400) do this. The host couples have the sheets for everyone to check in and to remind them what they ordered (very important).

To the left, one table was the beneficiary of some kids giving out shoulder rubs. Lucky folks.


Each of the first three dances (Margi & Zack; Margi and her dad; Zack and his mom) were brief. I created two minutes versions (in advance) by cutting out a verse and chorus. This meant each got their own song, but the entire beginning was still only seven minutes long. Also different was during the bride and her dad's dance, we invited all dads to bring their daughters up and join us. Same for mothers and sons for Zack and his mom. Wonderful turnout. The only negative was clearing the floor of fathers and daughters for Zack and his mom's dance but it wasn't a big deal and we did fill the floor right back up.

The rest of the night was reasonably typical except the guy who won the garter raffle was under two years old and at one point Margi got a little light headed. We got her setup with water and salted peanuts and she felt better soon, though. She and Zack did sneak out a little early (about 20 minutes). They were pretty tired and didn't want to break up the party before the rest of us wrapped up about midnight.

To the right, daughter of a bridesmaid and a flower girl herself, Bella, wearing the apron grandma made for her.