Be a professional bridesmaid

How would you like to earn a living by acting as a bridesmaid.

That is what 26-year-old New Yorker Jen Glantz is doing for a living. She had to be the bridesmaid at four of her closest friends’ weddings this year, she realised that she had a real flair for the job. Jen decided to make the most of her situation by turning pro - she posted an ad offering her services to brides all over the world. She’s even written a book about her experiences as a professional bridesmaid called All My Friends are Engaged.

“This year alone, I’ve been a bridesmaid four times,” she wrote in the ad.

“That’s four different chiffon dresses, four different hen parties filled with tequila shots and four different pre-wedding pep talks to the bride about how this is the happiest day of her life and marriage, probably, is just like riding a bike: a little shaky at first but then she’ll get the hang of it. So let me be there for you if you don’t have any other girlfriends.”

Adding more details about her talent as a bridesmaid she says:“Catching the bouquet and then following that moment up with my best Miss America-like ‘Omg, I can’t believe this,’ speech,”

“Doing the electric and the cha cha slide,” and “Responding in a timely manner to pre-wedding email chains created by other bridesmaids and the Maid of Honour.” She was surprised at the overwhelming response to her ad - it looks like she accidentally taped into a market that no one ever knew existed.

Overnight, her mailbox was flooded with requests from a wide range of people - right from gay couples who wanted a female member in their bridal party, to brides who had just moved and couldn’t have their friends to attend the wedding.

When asked about the qualities that make her a good candidate for a bridesmaid, Jen replied: “On a big wedding day and the activities leading up to a wedding day, there’s going to be a lot of stress and anxiety. So you need to be able to walk into a situation and handle those things. I personally like to use humour, so that would be my bridesmaid superpower. If you can get someone to laugh - you can get them to do anything.”

Jen is currently reviewing her first batch of e-mails and has already spoken to a few brides on the phone. She might take up her first bridesmaid job soon. She did mention in an interview that she’ll only take on a client when she feels a real connection. She’s also looking for an interesting story of how the couple met, before she steps into the picture. “It always pumps my heart to hear how two people, through a series of delicately random events, fell into each others’ arms,” she said.

“It shows how much of life is out of our control - that’s something we often forget.”

A fairytale romance

You may call this a real life fairy tale romance, when six-year-old Wang Zi-heng fell in love with his childhood sweetheart, the moment he set his eyes on her. Wang was so enraptured with this pretty damsel he even told his mother he was going to marry her. Although his emotions can be dismissed as childish fantasies Wang never forgot his vow.

It took 18 long years to fulfill his fantasy. He took his dream girl to be his beloved wife and they are living happily ever after.

When he was just a six-year-old boy living with his parents in Zhengzhou City, China’s Henan, Wang Zi-heng happened to meet a pretty girl of the same age, in his neighbourhood, and instantly fell in love with her. He even told his mother in all seriousness that he had met the woman of his dreams.

Wang and the girl went to the same kindergarten, played together every day and soon became inseparable. They even used to kiss secretly when they played house. The parents found the young couple so cute that they’d dressed them up in wedding clothes and clicked a picture on an old wooden bridge somewhere in the city.

Soon after the picture was taken, however, Wang was forced to move away from the neighborhood to a different area, losing touch with his one true love.

Time went by, Wang never forgot the girl he had fallen in love with as a child. “I didn’t even know her full name, I just used to call her Xixi, which was her nickname,” he said. “I kind of always had her in my mind and when I was older I did go back there but she had moved as well and there was no way I could find any more about the family.”

By some strange coincidence, Wang’s parents happened to bump into one of Xixi’s relatives, one day. Wang was thrilled to be able to contact his childhood sweetheart again - now a young woman named Xiang Chung.

“I got her address and a number and called her and arranged to meet her,” he said. “I didn’t even know if she would remember me, but she did and when we met all the old chemistry was instantly there. We started dating and then we decided that we really were going to marry.”

On their wedding day, Wang and Xiang went back to the same old bridge and posed once again - this time, for a real wedding photograph.

A friend indeed

Dog is man’s best friend the fact that has been proved historically too. Dogs are not only faithful to humans but also to other members in the animal world. Lilica, a Brazilian stray is a perfect example for that.

Lilica lives in a junkyard, hangs out with a very unusual gang of friends, comprising a dog, a cat few chickens and a mule, and she makes sure her friends never go hungry. Every night, Lilica walks four miles in the dark, braving the rush hour traffic, just to bring food back to her motley group of friends.

Lilica was abandoned at a junkyard in San Carlos, Brazil, when she was just a puppy. Neile Vaina Antonio, the junkyard caretaker, took her in and cared for her.

As she grew, she became friends with all the other animals in the junkyard. It appears that they offer each other warmth, companionship and solidarity.

Three years ago, Lilica was pregnant and had eight puppies. As her responsibilities grew, she knew she had to find a way to provide food for her cubs, as there was little to be found at the junkyard. That’s when she started going out at night, walking for miles, in search of scraps. During one of her nightly travels, Lilica was lucky enough to meet dog-lover Lucia, who took pity on her.

Lucia, a teacher by profession said she noticed Lilica roaming the streets and realised the poor dog was looking for food. “She walked and sniffed the garbage bins - that called my attention,” Lucia said. “I thought she was homeless because she was searching for food. It was then that I offered her some food.”

“One day, she stopped eating, grabbed the open food bag and ran away with it. And the food was dropping from the bag along the way. Then, the following day when she finished eating I tied the bag. And she took it. From there on, that’s how we do it. I tie the bag and she carries it.” After several instances Lucia was curious about Lilica’s peculiar behaviour and decided to follow her.

To her surprise she discovered why Lilica took the bag every night. It turns out that she was carrying the food back to the junkyard. “In the beginning, she brought food to her puppies, but in time she began bringing food for the other animals here in the junkyard as well,” said Neile.

The puppies were eventually adopted but Lilica didn’t stop. For the past three years, she has been walking the four-mile distance from the junkyard to Lucia’s home every night.

Lucia follows her daily routine as well - she leaves home precisely at 9pm and waits for Lilica at an empty lot nearby. The dog arrives promptly to eat and collect her take-away.