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Philippe Cheng
You've likely selected your bridal party with careful precision—choosing 'maids for meaningful reasons—but that doesn't mean your girls are equipped to tackle all of your wedding demands (even the extremes). Enter professional bridesmaid Tiffany Wright.
According to Insider, Wright has made a living as a "bridesmaid for hire" in the U.K. As nothing short of a real-life fairy godmother, the 36-year-old pretends to be a close pal of her bridal clients and caters to all their wedding whims as a staged member of the bridal party. The idea sprouted after her own big day, she tells Insider, when all of Wright's 'maids lacked sufficient wedding and bachelorette planning experience.
How does the process work, you ask? Wright's role is usually kept a secret from the rest of the bridal crew, so she first develops a decoy backstory to avoid suspicion. "If I'm suddenly pretending to be a bridesmaid that has known the bride for years, I have to know as much as I can about that bride," she said, via Insider. "I need to know who their first kiss was, where they went on their first girly holiday, everything." She added that also must "convince the other bridesmaids that I've known her for as many years as they have. It's obviously tricky because the bridesmaids are always like 'I've never heard of you before,' so usually I say we met on a gap year or a holiday and we lost touch and then got back in touch via social media."
Next, the pricing: Wright's charges vary, depending on the bride's needs, but an initial Skype consultation will cost about $32. From there, costs can accrue up to $6,500 once transportation, lodging, and a bridesmaid gown are factored in.
And, to that note, no demand is seemingly too large. This professional bridesmaid has gone so far as to follow a groom on his bachelor party to make sure he behaved. (Um...) Per another bride's request, she tricked the rest of the bridal party into attending a fitness boot camp in lieu of a traditional bachelorette. She's even willingly dyed her hair, too, when another to-be-wed wanted an all-brunette bridesmaid group.
See more: 9 Things That Seriously Annoy Bridesmaids (According to Real Bridesmaids!)
Despite the bizarre requests, Wright still finds her rather untraditional career completely fulfilling. "It always feels great at the end when you've gone undercover as a bridesmaid because you can really troubleshoot all the problems throughout the wedding day and see that the bride is relaxing," she said. "You get real job satisfaction." Sounds oddly similar to a Katherine Heigl rom com if you ask us...