I've worked more than 100 weddings. Here are my wildest stories, from fistfights to ex-lovers storming in.

• I'm a professional bridesmaid, which means brides hire me to stand in their wedding.
• Brides call me for many reasons, but my hiring is usually a secret — sometimes even from their partner.

When I first started the business Bridesmaid for Hire more than seven years ago, I thought my job would consist of getting glammed up, eating delicious food, and shimmying the night away on the dance floor.

I quickly learned that I was wrong. Some brides hire me because they don't have close personal friends, and others just need someone helping out on the organizational side of things. But it turns out being a hired bridesmaid isn't just about being a support system for the person getting married; it also means acting as a buffer to help handle awkward and drama-filled situations that sometimes get so out of control the police have to come barging into the reception.

If you've wondered what it's like to be a professional bridesmaid, here are some of the most outrageous stories from real weddings I've worked at.

People tell me I look familiar

At most of the weddings I work at, the client asks me to make sure nobody knows I'm hired — sometimes including the person they're marrying. The bride wants me to fully pretend that I'm her real friend, and to make sure that happens, I often change my identity. I do this mostly by changing my hair color and my name.

On a few occasions, guests have come up to me to tell me I look familiar. Before I let them blow my cover, I give them my go-to response that they look familiar too. Usually they end up listing places we might have met before, and eventually the conversation will fizzle.

There was one time, though, that the mother of the bride started to catch on that I wasn't her daughter's real friend from high school. She tried to look me up in the yearbook and noticed I wasn't listed.

That's when she knew something was up, but she didn't mention anything to her daughter or to me. Instead, she was mean to me at the wedding, made me do strange requests like getting food delivered to the wedding venue for her, and said nasty things about my appearance.

It was only after the wedding that she confessed she knew I wasn't a real friend and her daughter admitted to hiring me.

Not getting along with other bridesmaids

At most weddings I work, there are other bridesmaids who aren't hired professionals. These people are friends of the bride, and they're usually a little annoyed by me since they haven't heard of me before. Sometimes I'm at pre-wedding events like the bachelorette party or the bridal shower, and sometimes I'm not.

At one wedding, a bridesmaid made it her mission to make me feel very uncomfortable because she was mad that I wasn't at any of the pre-wedding events (little did she know I was a hired bridesmaid). She spilled champagne on me, told me the start time of the wedding had changed so I arrived late, and even put glue in my hair instead of hairspray.

While I did everything I could to try to make her my friend for the day, I eventually just tried to avoid and ignore her until the wedding was over and I never had to see her again.

The bride getting black out drunk

I stay sober at every wedding I work. That way, I can deal with any pop-up problems and be fully alert on the job.

I also make sure my client is pacing their alcohol so that they don't make one of the sloppiest mistakes a couple can make on their own wedding day, which is to get so drunk they don't make it to their own reception. In my years of working as a professional bridesmaid, I've seen this happen dozens of times.

There was one bride who didn't make it to her own reception.

When I went searching for her, I found her in the bridal suite smashing bottles of wine against the wall. I walked in to try to see what was wrong, and that's when she got on the floor and started screaming that it was the worst day of her life. I think the alcohol made the truth come out and the truth was, she didn't like the person she had just married.

Not only did the wedding come to an end early that night, but the marriage did too.

Someone objecting during the ceremony

Before I started working weddings as a hired bridesmaid, I assumed that so much of what we see in movies is purely fictional. I was wrong. Within a few months on the job, I saw someone object during the ceremony.

The bride's ex-boyfriend snuck into the venue and caused a scene right before she could kiss her new husband. I had to serve as security, ushering him out the back door and sending him home in a taxi.

It wasn't an easy job, but I bribed him with a bottle of champagne and the harsh truth that she wasn't going to get back with him. After 30 minutes of the guests and the couple being in a state of shock, they proceeded with the ceremony and the rest of the night.

Still, the awkwardness of what happened never fully left the room.

Guests starting a massive fight

While some weddings are filled with beautiful moments and fun times on the dance floor, others are filled with fistfights. I've seen the police show up at at least five weddings I've worked at because of wedding crashers, stolen items, and fights.

At a recent wedding, two guests who didn't get along very well decided to rehash their drama about an hour into the reception. A loud conversation turned into a boxing match.

When I ran to break the two men up, I saw that they were both bleeding. This fight lasted for a good 10 minutes, and soon after, the police arrived. Neither of the guys were arrested, but the wedding did end soon after.

While my job might seem glamorous and filled with perks, it's a gig that keeps me on my toes. The best part of being a professional bridesmaid is truly never knowing what kind of awkward and dramatic situation you'll find yourself as a supporting character in.