Zhang Xue, who was about to return to her hometown for the New Year, took advantage of the holiday at home to take on a side job on the wedding service platform: being a bridesmaid.
This is also the 50th time she has been a bridesmaid in two years!
Everyone likes to dip in lively and festive things, but in our conventional impression, bridesmaids can only be on the most familiar or dearest! Because of the hard work, not to mention it first, just with the sentence "It's hard to marry if you have too many bridesmaids", you can scare off a lot of young ladies.
When this extremely personal and intimate matter has become a new profession with a bit of a commercial nature, will it make the wedding tasteless? Is it the general trend or a flash in the pan, and what kind of experience is it for the practitioners?
With these questions, we chatted with Zhang Xue.
q1 /How did you come up with the idea of working as a professional bridesmaid?
A: At present, it is still difficult to make a professional bridesmaid a full-time main business. Because after all, most weddings have "off-peak seasons"! There is no guarantee that orders will always be available. So I also do it as a side hustle, unless it's like a studio owner I docked with, opening a "bridesmaid studio" can still be considered for continuity.
q2 /Professional bridesmaids and we find acquaintances to be bridesmaids, will there be ** difference?
A: As far as I'm concerned, it's still very different. Being a bridesmaid for a friend or family member is not a job but a heart. But after taking an order, it is service, it is work, and it is still necessary to come up with some professionalism.
For example, we provide companionship and support to the bride, activate the atmosphere and promote the process during the groom's "door-breaking" process, help the bride change her wedding dress, store her belongings, and deal with other emergencies.
q3 /You don't know the bride and you're curious how you felt when you first became a professional bridesmaid.
A: Actually, to be honest, the first time I took the order, I was as nervous as the bride haha! Because I don't know anyone, and I can't go wrong on an important occasion that people do once in a lifetime. This is where professional processes come in.
Communicate with the other party in advance about the wedding process, the couple's expectations and needs, and so on. If there are privacy and confidentiality requirements, they should also be notified in advance and implemented in the agreement. In fact, just like the wedding company, we are also responsible for the planning and execution of the wedding. Whether it is standardized or personalized depends on the needs and desires of the newcomer. All we have to do is make it happen successfully.
q4 /When it comes to the topic of money, which everyone may be more concerned about, how do you take orders? Do you earn more?
A: Well, there's nothing I can't say about that. There are still many ways to receive orders, and now many wedding platforms, wedding planning studios, and even many special bridesmaid studios have the opportunity to take orders. In the early stage, you need to knock on the door by yourself, and most of them are introduced by acquaintances in the back. As far as I'm concerned, it's better to find more opportunities from the wedding platform.
As for the cost of each order, it is rich and thrifty. But most of them are in the hundreds to thousands, and if the journey is long, the newcomer customers will also bear the travel expenses.
q5 /Are you optimistic about this new career in the long term?
A: Again, where there is demand, there is a market. I think that the emergence of professional bridesmaids is a reflection of the further segmentation of the wedding market, and also represents the trend of our increasing demand for personalization and specialization.
What's more, now everyone is fast-paced, life and work are very busy, and it is really not so easy to find a bridesmaid who is on call and can fully cooperate with time and place. We're just here to solve problems.
end /Write at the end
Regarding the industry, about the experience of serving individual customers, the cheerful and enthusiastic Zhang Xue talked a lot with us. She said that the more orders she receives, the more she will feel the heaviness and preciousness of marriage. It is the highest moment of life, but there are indeed too many changes, coping and trivialities behind it. "After being a bridesmaid 50 times, I still love to make money more," Zhang Xue said with a smile.
The ultimate meaning of life is happiness! Marriage is yes, and so is making money!
As an emerging profession, professional bridesmaids still have problems such as low entry thresholds and inconsistent service standards and charging standards. It is believed that it will gradually move towards a more standardized, professional and healthier path. 2024 Travel Guide