Planning a wedding can be incredibly stressful - especially with the average wedding in Australia costing nearly $35,000. That’s a price tag that can cover everything from venue hire, catering, hair, make-up, photography and now a professional bridesmaid.

It’s like paying for a best friend (who's not actually your best friend) to support you every step of the way. Is this a logical development meeting the needs of busy lives, or commercialisation and a wedding industry gone insane?

In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by Kerstyn Walsh, the director of Hire a Bridesmaid, to breakdown why more and more Aussies are turning to their services.

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Meet the woman paid to be a bride’s fake friend