By the age of 26, writer Jen Glantz had been a bridesmaid a staggering six times, four of those times happening in the same year. That’s when she noticed that there was something missing from the wedding industry. There was no one to be helpful to the bride or the people in the wedding. After seeing that so many times, she knew what to do. She posted an ad on Craigslist, offering her services as a rent-a-bridesmaid. The ad went viral and she began receiving requests from all over the world. So, in 2014, Glantz became the industry’s go-to helper, launching Bridesmaid for Hire. You may be wondering what the difference is between being a professional bridesmaid and a wedding planner. Wedding planners are for things like securing the venue and vendors and basically setting up the look and feel of the wedding. A professional bridesmaid, on the other hand, is the bride-to-be’s unofficial on-call therapist, social director, peacekeeper, and the person who makes sure everything remains drama-free. Glantz’s packages include speech writing for the maid of honor and vow writing, and generally handling any problems that might arise. So what does it cost to hire a bridesmaid? The starting price is $2,000, with speech writing an extra $175. Can’t afford that kind of money? No problem, you can order a set of her tutorial videos for a mere $35. The good news for Glantz is that last year she became a bride herself when she married Adam Kossoff in a simple ceremony outside the coffee shop where they first met.
