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Bridesmaids go professional

sixthtone.com

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Re: Bridesmaids go professional

#21

Post by spoonjim »

Auracle wrote: post #6
blamazon wrote: post #5

I like the end of the article: > Xie met her current boyfriend at a wedding, where they were working as a professional bridesmaid and best man. He’s promised to make her the happiest bride. “We will hire 24 groomsmen and bridesmaids,” Xie told Sixth Tone.

I realize cultures are different, but as a wedding photographer I can tell you the happiest brides are usually the ones that have the fewest bridesmaids. Smaller weddings are less stressful, but more importantly the friendships seems to be closer/more loving when there are 2 or 3 bridesmaids instead of 10.

I once performed services for a wedding where there were 28 bridesmaids and groomsmen combined (a roughly even mix of each). Everything seemed very status driven and the wedding was at least a $500K affair.

Re: Bridesmaids go professional

#22

Post by spoonjim »

jdalgetty wrote: post #9

"A bridesmaid needs to be unmarried" - Interesting...

The whole origin of the tradition was to showcase some other available women for marriage. "Look at these other beautiful girls! Maybe some eligible young man you know would like to be introduced?"

Re: Bridesmaids go professional

#23

Post by wmeredith »

Auracle wrote: post #6
blamazon wrote: post #5

I like the end of the article: > Xie met her current boyfriend at a wedding, where they were working as a professional bridesmaid and best man. He’s promised to make her the happiest bride. “We will hire 24 groomsmen and bridesmaids,” Xie told Sixth Tone.

I realize cultures are different, but as a wedding photographer I can tell you the happiest brides are usually the ones that have the fewest bridesmaids. Smaller weddings are less stressful, but more importantly the friendships seems to be closer/more loving when there are 2 or 3 bridesmaids instead of 10.

Ring cost and length of marriage seem to be similarly related.

Re: Bridesmaids go professional

#25

Post by m-watson »

rsynnott wrote: post #20
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

I wonder how much the one child policy has had an effect in making this type of industry prevalent in China. With a one-child policy, the first generation you have no siblings. The next generation, you have no cousins. Add to that the sex selection of many families choosing to have a son over a daughter as their one child, and you end up in this situation.

... Seems unrelated. It would be fairly unusual to have siblings or cousins as bridesmaids or similar, I would have thought? It's generally friends.

I don't know how relevant the parent comment is but I will say it is very common and seemingly often expected for the wedding party to be in part family members.

Re: Bridesmaids go professional

#28

Post by analyst74 »

Auracle wrote: post #8

I wonder how looks other than height affect the job. You probably don’t want your bridesmaids to be prettier than you, but you also want them to look good for photos. That’s a fine line for most of the population.

Makeup solves that problem for most people.

Re: Bridesmaids go professional

#29

Post by bewaretheirs »

Life imitates Gilbert & Sullivan?

Gilbert & Sullivan's "Ruddigore" (1887), a comic parody of Victorian melodrama, was set in "the only village in the world that possesses an endowed corps of professional bridesmaids who are bound to be on duty every day from ten to four ...".

Re: Bridesmaids go professional

#30

Post by astura »

jdalgetty wrote: post #9

"A bridesmaid needs to be unmarried" - Interesting...

Bridesmaid = maid of the bride.

Bride = woman getting married.

Maid = young unmarried girl or woman/virgin.

In contemporary American culture it's just friends/family of any age/marital status. But they really should change the name.

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