A Tokyo company called Office Agents has a booming business in renting people out for a couple hundred bucks a head as wedding guests. It's a popular service among those who want to impress their spouses with the number of good-looking, amiable friends they have. You can even rent a fake boss or colleague if you're unemployed but need to pretend to you aren't to your spouse's friends or family. Apparently, this service is doing even better during the recession because of this. The Telegraph reports:
At one recent wedding, the groom secretly arranged for all 30 guests to be hired as friends and family members as it was his second marriage and he did not want the same guests present as the first time round.Stand-in lovers, pretend secretaries and distant relatives are among a colourful cast of popular roles played by the company's army of fakers.
Describing the necessary credentials for his "fakers", Mr Mizutani said: "They are cheery and clean and look like they have regular jobs."
Link (Thanks, James!)
I dunno. Starting a life with someone while engaged in this kind of charade seems like bad news. What happens when one of the partners wants to call that awesome co-worker or friend they met at the wedding and hang out? What is it with weddings being more about an elaborate fantasy than about two people who love each other?
Posted by: holyalmost | June 15, 2009 at 10:37 PM
When does the Japanese movie Four Weddings and a Fake Funeral get released?
Posted by: Niko | June 16, 2009 at 01:33 AM
this is like the movie "adrift in tokyo" where that guy bumps into one of the relatives on the street and have to keep on pretending to be related to the bride.
Posted by: kpm | June 19, 2009 at 12:09 AM