For hire: family members and friends for weddings

Bridal couples, who want to make sure that their weddings take place without a hitch, take to novel rental service in South Korea

SEOUL - Ms Park Mi Ran certainly looked the part of the bride's best friend, doting over the nervous bride on her big day.

But few people attending the nuptials in Daejeon knew that Ms Park was merely the employee of a company that rents out 'friends and family members' for wedding ceremonies.

The novel wedding rental business is the brainchild of 28-year-old Ms Oh Jeong Youn. She started her Internet-based company, WeddingSangdam (Wedding Consultations) four years ago after discovering there was a demand for effusive people who could help to light up weddings.

Ms Park is on the staff of WeddingSangdam, which has 15 managers and 20,000 part-time workers spread across South Korea.

According to Ms Oh, customers' motives for renting wedding extras were 'rather varied'.

Women accounted for 70 per cent of her customers - and many of them had a weak social network, she said.

Some of her customers even asked whether they could rent 'parents'. Ms Oh added that while these were usually people who opted to marry first and explain later, some rented 'parents' in the hope of giving their future in-laws a better impression of them.

To ensure it was a surefire plan and to eliminate the possibility of further contact, such customers usually went on to tell their in-laws and even their spouses that the parents lived overseas.

Friends that are rented for between 20,000 won (S$30) and 30,000 won each will do everything from comforting a nervous bride to attending a reception.

Ms Oh said that as many as 70 people at a time had been rented from her company.

'Some parents want to save face by showing off many wedding guests to other people,' she explained.

For rental of 'parents' - who have to arrive at the wedding venue early and welcome every guest - her company charges from 150,000 won to 300,000 won per person.

The company picks neat-looking candidates who apply online. They go through interviews and only those deemed trustworthy are offered jobs.

The workers are then told about things to be careful of and expected conversation topics, and are given the customer's biography.

October is one of the peak months for WeddingSangdam, which sends its employees to weddings throughout the country.

Last year, during the peak periods of spring and autumn, Ms Oh earned a profit of 25 million won per month. She made a total of nearly 200 million won for the entire year.

'Even when I was enjoying my own honeymoon last year in Indonesia, I was bombarded with phone calls from customers,' she said.

When Ms Oh entered her age and salary on the pay-ranking site www.payopen.co.kr last year, she was ranked No. 1 among females and No. 9 among males of her age group.

She is not optimistic about the long-term prospects for her company, however, even though WeddingSangdam is one of the top three wedding rental companies based on the number of daily visitors to the site.

Ms Oh said that competition among 20 similar companies was getting fierce.

She said that in order to get ahead, 'my husband and I have promised to toss out 10 business ideas before going to bed every night. For now, they are a secret'. -- Korea Herald/Asia News Network

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Dann said:

Jeez. What a hassle. That's why I prefer living together in sin instead.

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XIII said:

You know the routine. Mostimes it's just for the parents. Asian parents just love to boast about how many tables they had to provide for their children's wedding - the 'face' thing...

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XIII said:

You know the routine. Mostimes it's just for the parents. Asian parents just love to boast about how many tables they had to provide for their children's wedding - the 'face' thing...

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M37 said:

Why not just be glad they don't have to spend the money. Why not be more practical and give the money to the new coupple as a downpayment on thier house.

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Dann said:

Sigh... only too well. That's why I travel to foreign countries....

East Asians aren't known for following cold logic. We have this convoluted way of arriving at the same result. The grand wedding is an occasion for the couple's parents to show off big-time. But whatever they spent, they usually earn back from the gift cheques and "red packets" given by the guests, which are carefully selected beforehand. You don't invite your unemployed friends from high school. You invite your co-workers, your clients, your boss. People who can afford to give. And the more the better. (What? You thought being invited to a Korean or Chinese wedding is a free meal? )

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M37 said:

*shrugs* oh well when in Rome

BTW: excelent sig.

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Tomoyo said:

Hmm... Why is it that east asians seem so simple and practical when they are in their ordinary lives (not really anymore), but on special occasions, they bust out all the firecrackers and fancy stuff?

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