While most women obsess over every last detail of their weddings, one New York City-based bride-to-be is leaving every major decision for her big day up to the whims of strangers.
Jen Glantz, 31, is a bit of an expert on weddings, having started her own business, Bridesmaid for Hire, where she’s offered her services as a professional bridesmaid to dozens of women over the past five years.
But when it came to planning her own big day, Jen tells DailyMail.com it all just seemed too overwhelming — so she set up a website, Finally the Bride, where she’s inviting strangers to cast votes on everything from her budget to her dress style to her bachelorette party destination.
Up to the internet! Jen Glantz, 31, is a professional bridesmaid who is hired by brides for their big days — and now she is letting strangers vote on the details of her own wedding
They do! In July of this year, she got engaged to her boyfriend of over three years, Adam Kossoff
As a professional bridesmaid, Jen has attended upwards of 30 weddings in a single year. In addition to offering emotional support, she can help plan, give advice, run interference with problematic relatives, and take care of problems that arise on the big day.
So it’s safe to say that the Florida native knows a whole lot about weddings.
In July of this year, she got engaged to her boyfriend of over three years, Adam Kossoff, and the two got started on planning their own wedding — and surprisingly, it wasn’t as easy as one might think.
‘After I got engaged, I had a panic attack and created 10 excel spreadsheets and that’s when I realized deep in my gut, planning my own wedding didn’t feel right,’ she said.
Beyond being overwhelmed, she also knew she didn’t have a clear-cut picture of what she wanted.
Out of her hands: Jen quickly grew overwhelmed by wedding planning and had the idea to let others decide
Came around: Jen said that at first, her fiancé balked at the idea, but eventually realized ‘it would be cool, unique, and powerful to let the world influence our wedding,’ she said
‘I never had any idea of what I wanted as my “dream celebration.” I just knew I wanted to walk down the aisle and kiss hello the right person on my wedding day,’ she said
What’s more, Jen noticed that everyone around her had opinions and advice they wanted to share.
‘What no one tells you is that when you get engaged, everyone has an opinion for how your wedding should be,’ she said. ‘From friends and family members to people at the nail salon.
Her unique experience: The New Yorker has also written a book about being a professional bridesmaid
‘Before you know it, people are telling you to elope, throw a giant wedding, have ten bridesmaids, go to New Orleans for your bachelorette party, and stop eating carbs (which made me roll my eyes).’
That gave Jen an idea. She’d launch a website where she’d document her wedding planning process, all while posting polls that would allow people to vote on each big decision.
She releases new polls every month, and as they close and the final votes come in, she’s putting the will of the people into practice.
Jen said that at first, her fiancé balked at the idea.
‘He thought, no way! But when we started to plan it ourselves he realized how hard it was to make these decisions on our own and thought it would be cool, unique, and powerful to let the world influence our wedding,’ she said.
Real time: She’s launch a website where documents her wedding planning process, all while posting polls that would allow people to vote on each big decision
On the table: She releases new polls every month, and as they close and the final votes come in, she’s putting the will of the people into practice
Her parents, meanwhile, ‘couldn’t be happier because they love who I’m marrying and are ready for the celebration, even if every detail is planned by the world.’
So far, the internet has determined that she will, in fact, throw a big wedding rather than elope.
They voted on either a July or October wedding and a budget of $15,000 to $30,000, and decided that she should not write letters to her exes to tell them of her engagement.
There are 30 polls live on the website at the moment. Visitors can vote on what state the couple should wed in, whether they should read vows, if they should have fancy food, and what they should serve for dessert.
They can decide on the traditions the couple should keep, what type of ‘expert’ they should see (like a counselor, therapist, or psychic), and if they should have a photo booth, assigned seats, and a cocktail hour.
Strangers can even pick how much Jen spends on her dress, whether she has a bridal shower, and whether her bridesmaids wear matching dresses.
Taken care of! So far, the internet has determined several aspects of her wedding
Votes: They’ve decided on either a July or October wedding and a budget of $15,000 to $30,000
Though she is leaving the decisions up to others, that doesn’t mean Jen doesn’t have a preference. In fact, she told Insider, she was hoping people would vote that she should send letters to her exes, though they’ve decided she shouldn’t.
But ultimately she’s been happy with letting others call the shots.
‘Putting it out there in the hands of strangers has made me calm because it’s right for me,’ she told DailyMail.com
Would you? She even suggests others consider following her lead if they’re stressed about wedding planning
She even suggests others consider following her lead if they’re stressed about wedding planning, like by handing some decisions over to friends or family.
For those who get more stressed about other people’s opinions, though, she suggests the opposite.
‘Put up a landing page or a post on social media that says your wedding is closed to opinions but open to pure joy,’ she advised. ‘So any advice people have they can check at the door, with their coat, when they come to your wedding!’
Jen’s polls have received 100,000 votes so far, and she’ll continue to roll out more each month.
She’s also publishing a book on her website, chapter by chapter, where she is documenting how the public’s decisions have impacted her life.
Flashback: Jen opened up to DailyMail.com about her unique career in 2015
The total package: Jen (right) also works with other professional bridesmaids, so brides can hire more than one for their big day
Good to hape options: She said that the brides all have different reasons for hiring a bridesmaid
Jen opened up to DailyMail.com about her unique career in 2015.
In 2014, she posted on Craigslist advertising her services and was shocked to receive hundreds of replies.
She said that the brides all have different reasons for hiring a bridesmaid (or two, or three): they may need to compensate for extra groomsmen, or they’ve fallen out of touch with friends. But only some of them are up front to their other guests about hiring the help.
‘When other people at the wedding ask how we know each other, I stay very vague!’ she said.
In October 2015, she even worked two weddings in one weekend, the first being in Michigan while the other, which was the very next day, was over 600 miles away in southern New Jersey.