No Bridesmaid? No Problem. You Can Just Hire One

I always say wedding planners are for things — the venue, vendors, setting up the look and feel. But I'm the bride's personal assistant, I'm her unofficial on-call therapist, I'm the social director, and I'm the peacekeeper who makes sure everything stays drama-free. A wedding planner could help with these tasks, but they don't have time, and they're not hired to do any of that. That leaves just friends, and they just want to have fun. I take a lot of the dirty work off their plates.

Some of my packages include speech writing for the maid of honor and vow writing. Another includes talking over the phone, walking through the wedding challenges, and dealing with problem situations with friends and family. Then there's a behind-the-scenes package where I show up beforehand as a support system. Finally, the most intensive package, I go to the wedding, wear the bridesmaids dress, walk down the aisle, give a speech, and I'm there to help with all those other things. That one takes many months before the wedding so the bride and I can build a relationship.

Yes! That happens a lot — I'll leave a wedding and go, "Wow, that's someone I would be friends with in real life," and it becomes a lifelong friendship. Then there are other brides I leave saying, "Thank God!"

I've had brides ruin friendships or ask them for insane things — whether it was to buy a very expensive dress or spend a lot of money. Those are usually the common situations when someone's turned into a bridezilla — your friends are off the clock; they can give what they can give.

I have to remember they're stressed, and a lot of people can't handle that. I step in and help them come back to reality. One of the reasons I got into this is because I love people, and I love helping people in challenging situations. I don't think there are many situations as challenging as a wedding.

I reluctantly joined a sorority in college and over the course of four years, became the president. I loved being a leader and problem solver and dealing with different personalities. When I graduated, the first job I had was to work for the sorority. I was sent to schools with major problems like hazing, and I had to walk in and help them turn their problems around. I learned how to deal with different people and tough situations.

I definitely started the business making every mistake in the entire world. I didn't know how much to charge, I didn't know how to set up business contracts or set boundaries so it was clear this isn't round-the-clock. A lot of these basic skills I maybe would've learned in school, but I learned on the job, and I'm happy I did. I learned from making a lot of mistakes.

I've had 25,000 people apply to work for me over the years. But I can't hire everyone. I've had a lot of people reach out to me and say, "I would be so good at this! I love to party, I love to dance, I've been a bridesmaid a million times," and I think, "Well, that's awesome, but this isn't partying and dancing." When you're at the wedding you don't drink and you don't flirt with guys and run around like crazy. You usually leave a wedding physically and mentally exhausted.