If you've ever been a bridesmaid, known a bridesmaid, or even just seen the film Bridesmaids, you'll know it's a job that comes with its fair share of pressure and stress.
So why on earth would anyone want to take on the role for someone they don't even know?
As it turns out, being a bridesmaid for hire is a very real job, and as one TikToker has revealed, you've got to be a real pro to pull it off.
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Jen Glantz has worked as a hired bridesmaid for more than seven years, and even started her own bridesmaids-for-hire company when she got laid off from her job in 2015.
She's been paid to attend hundreds of weddings, leaving her with more than 125 bridesmaid dresses in her closet, and has been using TikTok to explain some of the details that come with her unique job.
As she explains, her clients usually come up with a fake name and a fake background for her to act out during the wedding. Sometimes the groom knows she's been hired, but sometimes they have no idea.
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Jen also says that sometimes she's the only hired bridesmaid among a group of the bride's real friends, while other times she's working alongside other bridesmaids for hire. And of course, the rules of the trade mean she can't ever give away that she's actually a stranger, meaning her fellow bridesmaids are usually unaware she's being paid.
As for what you actually have to do to be a bridesmaid for hire, Jen says it involves doing 'pretty much exactly what it would be as a friend being your bridesmaid'. That means not just showing up for the wedding, but also going to the bachelorette party, the wedding breakfast and the rehearsal dinner.
It's also a job that involves providing a lot of emotional support. 'Before the wedding I'm on the phone with them constantly,' she says in one video. 'I am the honest person in their life, the support system, the one that helps them deal with pop-up problems and drama.'
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Sadly though, despite the close relationship in the run up to the wedding, Jen says that most of the time she and her brides don't go on to remain friends, explaining that because of her fake name and identity 'after the wedding it would be super complicated' to start a real friendship.
So if you ever see Jen walking down the aisle at your friend's wedding, make sure you don't blow her cover.
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Topics: TikTok
Hannah Smith