6 Reasons You Should Have a Stranger Be Your Bridesmaid

Would you have a complete stranger be one of your bridesmaids? Jen Glantz, author of All My Friends are Engaged and a professional bridesmaid, may be able to convince you to do just that. Here are her six reasons why you should hire a professional bridesmaid.

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They don't teach you how to be a bridesmaid in school — in fact, nobody ever teaches you how to be a bridesmaid. Maybe you'll read a blog post here and a post from a message board there, but all in all, being a bridesmaid can be a confusing disaster.

The first time you're asked to do it, you'll probably make a few grand mistakes. But then you're asked to do it again, and again, and again, and "one more time, please."

By that point, you've either got the hang of it and know when to show up (and even when to keep your mouth shut), or you just don't do anything because the pure idea of going to one more wedding and wearing one more bubblegum pink satin dress with enough fabric to make window treatments for your entire floor is nauseating.

Within 48 hours, two of my closest friends both asked me to be a bridesmaid. That's how I decided to start my professional bridesmaid business, which helps brides out virtually and even in person on one of the most important days of their lives.

So after you've learned what a professional bridesmaid is, here are six reasons why you should hire a professional bridesmaid.

  1. You want to stay best friends with your best friends after the wedding. Just like how Ikea is rumored to ruin relationships between couples, weddings often ruin relationships between friends. The planning and the "I can't believe Marissa came to this event five hours late." The awkward "I don't want to wear a seafoam pleather dress." The "why do I have to plan what games we're playing at the bridal shower?" Let me handle all of that.
  2. The closest friends you have live a very expensive plane ride away. It's not like it was when you were all in college or had bunks next to each other in Summer camp. As you grow up, your friends scatter all across the country and the world, which makes it harder for them to be on call to show up to your pre-wedding events and even on the day of your wedding.
  3. Uneven numbers up on the altar. Let's say your fiancé has more groomsmen than he does fingers on both his hands. Hiring me (or members of my professional bridesmaid team) can help even this out and make the full wedding party more of an actual party.
  4. It's hard to make new friends. This is a fact. Once we graduate from college and spend the majority of our time sitting alone in our cubicle at work and the rest of our time on the couch watching Orange is the New Black, making new friends becomes a gigantic challenge. Sure, having a professional bridesmaid is like having a stranger at first — but we'll be chatting for months and working closely on how to make your pre-wedding events and wedding weekend as flawless as possible. There's no way we won't be friends after that.
  5. Too many bridesmaids in the kitchen. Maybe you already have 10 bridesmaids but none of them are really stepping up to do the planning, and the communication between them seems like something that would fit perfectly inside an episode of Bad Girls Club (does anyone even watch that show anymore?). Having a professional bridesmaid around to manage the communication between bridesmaids, make sure the girls are where they are (when they need to be there), and answer all of their questions, will take the stress off of you (the bride).
  6. I don't even know where to start. Some parts of your wedding, you plan ahead. Like 10 years before you even met your future husband ahead. And some parts, you never even thought of: where you want your bridal shower to be and the kinds of things you should tell your bridesmaids before the planning even begins.

Jen Glantz is the author of All My Friends are Engaged and the heart behind the website, The Things I Learned From. She eats way too much pizza and goes to way too many weddings. Learn more about her professional bridesmaid adventure or give her a virtual high five!