Rent A Fake

Have a small family? Want to have a big wedding, or make it look like you have a zillion friends? Or are you getting married but your friends and family live across the country and can't afford to fly to the wedding? Want to have more work colleagues to pad out the guest list? Brides or grooms trying to impress the in laws or their future spouse with the sheer volume of their best buddies are padding their guest lists with these 'fake' guests. As unemployment rates rise more people are renting fake bosses and colleagues or if they've lost their jobs in the recent downturn they are trying to look more respectable.

Don't worry, if you live in Japan there's a solution. (I know, the Japanese are INGENIOUS!) They have a company called Office Agent, based in Tokyo, who will let you have as large a crowd as you want by hiring you actors to be part of your family or to be your closest friends. In Japan it's important to have a lot of people come to your wedding, so now if you're Japanese and have the spare cash but no spare friends, you can rent fake friends!

What will it cost? “For 20,000 yen ($200), Office Agents provides a staff member to attend the ceremony,” Reuters says. “For an additional 5,000 yen, that person can perform a song or a dance. Pitch in another 10,000 yen and that person can make a speech that would make you proud.”

While this may save money on invitations, it won't save money in the long run, but it seems what people are saving is 'face'.  I wouldn't pay this much for extra bodies at my wedding but my culture is totally different.

So you want to be a 'faker?' The company describes their fakers as 'cheery and clean and look like they have regular jobs.'

Is there any reason you'd hire 'fakers' to come to your wedding? If you did, what would you be willing to pay? How many guests would you need? Maybe I need to open an agency in the good old USA!