TRAVERSE CITY —
For three
friends, 2011 was the summer of
weddings.
Not only did Kristy (Zenner) Helmreich,
Jennifer (Barnhart) Yost and
Arica (Swoverland) Zenner all get
married over a span of 2½ months,
they also each served as bridesmaids
for each other.
“It was a lot of fun,” Yost said. “It
was a real fun summer.”
“We all did it together,” Zenner
added. “It was wonderful.”
To get the summer of matrimony
under way, all three couples ran their
engagement announcements the same
day, in the Feb. 6 Record-Eagle.
Kristy was the first one of the three
friends to enter into wedded bliss,
tying the knot with Richard Helmreich
on May 20 at St. Mary’s of Hannah
Church.
Less than a month later, Jennifer
got married to Benjamin Yost on
June 18 at Central United Methodist
Church in Traverse City. Serving as
her maid of honor was Kristy.
Coming down the aisle last was
Arica, who said “I do” to David Zenner
— Kristy’s cousin — on Aug. 6 at
Kalkaska Church of Christ.
At each of the weddings, a picture
was taken with the bride in the center
and the two bridesmaids alongside.
Even though the three friends
shared the same year for a wedding
anniversary, that was it. Other than
the wedding party, nothing was the
same with the three brides.
But the three women
ended up sharing something
much more valuable
then wedding sites, florists
or caterers.
“We helped a lot,” Yost
said. “Kristy and I talk
all the time anyway, so
we threw ideas back and
forth.
“It’s funny. None of us
used the same caterer,
venue, cake, photographer.
Nothing was the
same. We all went different
directions, but we still
talked to each other. ‘Hey,
what are you doing for
this?’ and ‘When are you
getting this done?’ I think
the time lines were that
we all helped each other
plan things out.”
“We definitely did a lot
of our own thing,” Helmreich
added. “And we
shared a lot.”
Planning
Having two other friends
getting married at about
the same time was helpful,
even if none of the selections
were the same.
“I used postcards.com
for my save-the-date cards,
thank-yous and stuff,” Yost
said. “I shared that with
them, and I think that’s
one thing they may have
used.
“A lot of the time line
stuff, we were really able
to help each other. What
day you have the bridesmaids’
dresses ordered,
all that stuff.”
“We were very good
about letting each other
know when we had showers
and bachelorette parties
and things like that,”
Helmreich said.
Zenner said she actually
combined two of her parties
into one day. But that
was as much about her
maid of honor as her other
two bridesmaids.
“My maid of honor was
from Lansing, and it was
her cabin on the bay.
Trying to be considerate,
I didn’t want to have her
drive up here twice.”
Dealing with the blips
On the big day, rarely
does everything go perfectly.
Helmreich said she had
a number of things not go
exactly like she planned.
But despite having “every
problem in the book,” she
was able to deal with the
problems that popped up,
including the flowers arriving
in the wrong shade.
“It didn’t matter that
day,” Helmreich said.
“Even the night before, my
DJ lost my playlist, and I
had it at work. Just things
like that. In the end, it
doesn’t matter what happens.
At the end of the day
you’re married, and that’s
what you’re there to do.”
Zenner said she tried to
put in all the preparation
to deal with any potential
pitfalls.
“Being an educator, I
handle things very differently,”
she said. “I am
insanely organized. So I’m
one of the people where I
double-check, triple-check
and quadruple-check
things.”
Still, Zenner agreed with
Helmreich that the final
result is all the matters.
“Don’t sweat the small
stuff and in the long run,
what color something is
really doesn’t matter.”
Honeymoon and beyond
Two of the three friends
— Helmreich and Zenner
— opted to delay their
honeymoons until a later
date.
Kristy, a claims adjuster
at Hagerty Insurance, and
Richard Helmreich, a
manufacturing engineer at
Boride Engineered Abrasives,
plan to enjoy a vacation
at a later date. Same
for Arica, the principal
at Rapid City Elementary
School, and Dave Zenner,
a processor at eFulfillment.
“No honeymoon,” said
Arica Zenner, who lives in
Williamsburg. “I had to be
back to work the following
week. So we got married,
I got a couple of days off,
and then I had to be back
at work to get ready for the
beginning of the school
year. I can’t imagine doing
all the planning for that
and having to plan to go on
a honeymoon, too.”
The Yosts enjoyed a
honeymoon in British
Columbia before returning
to their home in
Kingsley. Jennifer is the
administrative assistant
to the athletic director at
Traverse City West Senior
High while Ben Yost is a
carpenter and welder.
The Yosts will also add a
new chapter to the summer
of weddings when
they welcome their first
child in March.
“Better be a good hockey
player,” said Jennifer
Yost, who played goalie
at University of Michigan
while her husband used
to coach and play. “She
should have the genes for
it.”
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