Bank Employees, Royal brides for a day
Who would have thought that small town Manitoba would have such avid “royal watchers” as those discovered at the CIBC bank in Fisher Branch on April 29, 2011?
Clients, who may have been expecting the usual customer appreciation day, with friendly smiles and refreshments, instead were dazzled by tellers wearing floor length wedding gowns, rhinestone tiaras, and (acrylic) sapphire rings.
“We couldn’t make it to England, so we brought the party here,” said, bank teller, Laurie Zarichney.
Branch manager, Melanie Pearce, along with tellers, Zarichney, Linda Trachuk, and Janet Danish, helped commemorate the marriage of Kate Middleton and Prince William by dressing up as the glamorous bride on their wedding day.
“We all started talking about it—how we could incorporate customer appreciation day with our love for the Royal family,” said Pearce.
The four women made the decision to dress up as royal brides only the day before, then had to rush to pull it all together. They found someone who lives locally who rents out wedding dresses. They telephoned friends in Winnipeg, asking them hunt down the tiaras, which were finally located at Claire’s in Polo Park for $5-a-piece. They frantically called around to stores in search of the royal wedding ring. The only store to carry it was Icing at St. Vital Centre, which charged $14 each for the replicas. They asked a CIBC bank employee in Winnipeg to pick them up and send them along in the courier bag that morning.
All four women have a great appreciation for the Royal family, and proved their devotion by waking up as early as 2:30 a.m. to watch the Royal Wedding live on television that morning. Pearce watched the coverage with her 9-year-old daughter.
“It was a pretty special moment for us. It is history in the making. To share the royal wedding with my daughter is pretty special for me…My son had zero interest to get up and watch it,” Pearce said.
Customers who came in to the bank that day enjoyed cookies, decorated with Royal icing, and drank champagne (ginger ale), served in little wine glasses, then left with a smile.
“Customers are just wowed. ‘What beautiful brides you are,’ they said…We’re royalty now!”
CIBC branches across the country regularly hold customer appreciation day, but the Fisher Branch location was the only one in Canada to honour the Royals on this historic occasion, as far as the employees are aware.
