Need wedding guests? No problem. Rent them!

Weddings in Korea involve renting many things: a gown, a veil, a tuxedo, a limousine, a wedding hall, chairs and tables for the banquet, and more. To the endless list of props available for rent add a new item ― guests and parents.
“I started this business three years ago,” says Han Deuk-gu, “and business is booming.” Mr. Han, 35, is an owner of Hagaek Doumi, a wedding planning firm whose name means “guest helper.” His company rents guests and parents to a marrying couple, along with the traditional items.
Although no statistics are available on the number of firms providing such services, a search of the Korean Internet site Naver under “wedding” and “helper” turned up eight results. More firms were found on Google, indicating that such companies have begun online promotion to recruit part-time “guests” and advertise their services to brides and grooms.
Mr. Han got the idea for his company from his own wedding. His father died just a few months before his marriage, and not many guests showed up because a number of those who had been invited were Mr. Han’s father’s friends. “It was very disappointing, and I thought someone else might feel the same way,” Mr. Han says. “So, I started this business, and actually many customers are benefiting from our service.”
Approximately 10 couples a week use the guest rental services, primarily on weekends, he says.
Customers typically are brides, who may have few friends to attend their wedding and who are conscious about what other people might think of their lack of personal relationships. “Those who went to school abroad are often our customers,” he says. “Those who have shy natures and really have very few friends also use our service.”
Traditionally in Korea, married women feel committed to attend the weddings of their husbands’ friends and relatives, but pay less attention to their own friends’ weddings. Grooms are less frequent customers because they often have coworkers, fellow school alumni and business partners who feel more obligated to attend weddings. “But, we still have some grooms calling for our help,” he says.
The reasons for renting wedding attendees are as varied as the individual couples. A customer once said her friend was marrying at the same time on the same day, so she wanted to hire guests to fill in for those who were attending the other wedding, Mr. Han says. Some couples rent parents and guests because they are marrying against their parents’ wishes.
Those who rent parents also do so for a number of reasons. “The mother of one of my customers was a bar owner, and did not want to go public to show her face to all the guests,” he says. “So, we rented a mother.” Orphans and those with divorced parents also use this service, he added.
Yoon In-jin, professor of sociology at Korea University, said, “while weddings in many other countries are regarded as a ‘family event,’ weddings in Korea are a ‘social event’ in which people want to display their social status and their relationships to others.”
Renting a friend from Mr. Han’s company costs 50,000 won ($42) per person, and renting a parent costs 150,000 won. Fees may vary depending on the wedding’s location.
Other firms, such as Wedding Doumi, Wedding Guest and Wedding Doctor, offer similar services at comparable prices.
Mr. Han thinks of his business not only as a commercial enterprise but also as providing a social benefit. “It really boosts the confidence of people in need,” he says. “Plus, some of the guests and the brides have really became friends, so they now go to each other’s housewarming parties and birthday celebrations.”
Kim Seon-mi, 28, is a veteran part-time wedding guest, having done the job for about six months. “I get to go to a wedding as a bride’s friend a couple of times a week,” Ms. Kim, a graphic designer, says.
At first, she felt extremely awkward playing the role of a bride’s friend when the bride was a total stranger. But she quickly adapted after attending a couple of weddings. “I also introduced several friends of mine to the job, so we go to the weddings together these days,” Ms. Kim says. “That way, we don’t feel too strange, and it also looks very natural, as if we really are friends of the bride.”
Ms. Kim has traveled to different cities and attended various types of ceremonies from a small wedding in a rural town to a fancy banquet at a Cheongdam-dong hotel in Seoul. She says she understands the desperate feeling of the needy brides. “When a bride is marrying into a very conservative family, she wants to make a good impression on her in-laws by showing that she has many friends and good personal skills,” Ms. Kim says. “Some of them hire me because they really have no friends, but they want to maintain their self-confidence at the wedding,” she adds.
Ms. Kim, who still is single, says she has enough friends to attend her own wedding when the day comes.

by Ser Myo-ja