The night begins as the big gates open in front of the bar. Then out come the IDs in the crowd of over 200 people, all dressed their finest and eager to have their hands stamped so the good times can begin. 

Standing at the front of this line with stamp in hand, 5 feet 11 inches tall and dressed all in black, is Goshen College student, Aaron Yeakey, the wedding bouncer.

Yeakey has a trained eye for spotting a fake ID. On this night he sends everyone through and then sits back to watch the festivities. He’s not hired for the wedding ceremony, which can be as short as five minutes. His job is about something different, as he explained: “Everybody knows the point of the wedding is not the ceremony. The point of the wedding is the after-party.”

The location for this evening is Bread & Chocolate, a wedding venue at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen. Yeakey has been an employee of the venue for a year and a half now. For some events, he shifts roles, serving as the bartender instead. He jokes that he’s a trailblazer, the first person in his family to enter the field of wedding bouncing. Yeakey is the youngest bouncer on staff and the only one who is a student.

What are the qualifications required to be a wedding bouncer? In truth, there isn’t much. According to Yeakey, in the state of Indiana, one must be 21 years old, have a liquor license — which can be issued individually — and that’s all. However, he admitted that “there are some underlying stipulations.” 

The nature of the position makes it necessary that the person be commanding. This is because everyone is there to enjoy themselves, but, as Yeakey put it, the bouncers are there for the people who have too good of a time. 

Yeakey spoke of cutting someone off as if it were an art form: He prefers to start with a gentle social persuasion when someone is inclined to drink heavily. He might offer a guest water; then he might ask if they will be driving that night. If the hint fails, he stands ready to “lay down the law,” as he put it. 

There are always two bouncers working due to the size of the crowd. It is their job to keep a mental note of who is continually returning to the bar and if anyone is trying to bring in alcohol of their own. Sometimes, at the beginning of the night, the employees make bets on who may cause trouble.

When it comes down to it, the bouncers are there to keep everyone safe, and there are numerous ways to do so. Speaking about his own hypothetical future wedding, Yeakey said, “I wouldn’t necessarily feel the need to have bouncers, but I would choose to have a bus service.”

By bus, Yeakey means an actual yellow school bus, one that transports students during the week. This bus can be rented on weekends. When it pulls up to a venue, wedding guests file out and into the bus for a safe ride home. 

Yeakey has also applied his work experience to a wider range of events. For example, he recently took a freelance job at the request of a friend. He was hired to work at a company picnic to help with the activities for the children. On that afternoon, Yeakey was a bouncer — for a bouncy house.