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UCF grad starts Bridemaids for Hire business
A UCF grad is walking down the aisle and taking it right to the bank with her business as a bridesmaid for hire.
ORLANDO, Fla. - More proof that anything can be a side hustle – or in this case – a full-time career.
We’ve heard of the phrase, "always a bridesmaid, never a bride," but one University of Central Florida grad is taking that idea down the aisle and all the way to the bank.
Bridesmaid For Hire is making money to make weddings memorable.
It sounds like the plot from the movie 27 Dresses, but for Jen Glantz, that’s her reality. She gets paid to be a bridesmaid.
"I’ve been a bridesmaid for hire over 100 times in the last nine years," Glantz told FOX 35 News.
Glantz used her journalism degree from UCF and experience as president of her sorority to launch the unique career, she said.
"I posted an ad on Craigslist and I offered my services to strangers for their hired bridesmaid," she said. "Hundreds of people responded and I launched a business the next day."
She launched the Bridesmaid For Hire business in 2014 and averages about 50 weddings a year.
"I had that aha moment when distant, distant friends asked me to be their bridesmaid – people I was hardly close to," she said. "And when they asked me I realized, ‘Oh, they’re asking because I’m pretty good at it and if I could do it for them, why not try to do it for strangers?’"
Courtesy: Jen Glantz
Just like Katherine Heigl in the movie, that means a lot of bridesmaid dresses. But there’s more to the job than just dressing up and dancing the night away.
"Often times when you are a bridesmaid for hire, you are that stand in best friend – so you’ll do everything from dress shopping, planning the bachelorette party, going on it, making sure that person has everything they need," Glantz said. "I always say you’re the personal assistant, on call therapist, peacekeeper and social director for the entire wedding."
She said the No. 1 reason brides hire a bridesmaid is because they really crave that support that they may not be able to find elsewhere in their life – and the arrangement is kept a secret.
"Often times I’ll have a fake name, fake backstory of how I know that person and we’ll decide together who I can be in their life that nobody else in the party will know or realize that I am that stand in person for them," Glantz said.
The cost starts around $2,500 and goes up from there depending on how many services and events there are to attend, as well as expenses for travel and accommodations.
Bridesmaid For Hire is already booking weddings into 2025 and the business is hiring.
"If you’re a bridesmaid for hire you can typically make anywhere from $1500 up based on how many services you’re providing the client during your wedding experience," she said.
Glantz said it takes a lot of work to make the job look glamorous, but at the end of the day it’s about filling a supportive, selfless role.
For more details, visit the Bridesmaids for Hire website here.