QQ for Photographers (at home, not away)

for our BFW (big freakin wedding) at home we have hired a photographer and his wife/assistant. we will have a buffet-style meal served, and i'm wondering, do we invite our photog and asst to eat? since it's not a sit-down-plated meal, i'm just not sure what the proper etiquette would be. it's not like i have to place a special order for them, or extra meals or anything. but we would love for them to eat if they have time!

 

is this something i could ask him what he'd like for us to do?

thanks for any comments, from photogs and anyone else who has had a big at home wedding/AHR with photog.

Abbie, I think most photogs eat. It was in our contract to provide a meal- plus I think it's nice since they are working so hard. You really don't want pics of you stuffing your face right? LOL

 

They didn't sit with our guests but at a table tucked away for the "servants." haha just joking. LC sets up a vendor table I believe because I saw our minister over there eating too.

ok, good to know, i'll check our contract tonight and see what it says, haha, guess i should have done that before we signed it! oops. wonder what else i missed

I think it depends on time. If they are only there a few hours you don't always feed them. But if it's something like 4+ hours you should. my friend paid $50 per plate for her 3 photogs & 1 videographer & they didnt eat.

 

i'm pretty sure there is a thread about this.

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t12774

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t5086

I think I can help here....

You ALWAYS want to offer food to your photographers and videographers! It is almost always in their contract! Really it's just a curtsey.... Every wedding I've ever shot has never been less than a 10 hour day with the bride and groom with NO breaks.... We don't have time for breaks....we are at your beck and call all day!

Morgan is right if you've only contracted someone for 3 or 4 hours then you should be alright with not providing a meal!

To address the not eating bit! That is ALWAYS the venue or caterers fault! They will feed us dead last and we will only have seconds to scarf down a meal forget tasting it, because you're about to cut the cake by the time we are feed! Venues especially CCs are HORRIBLE to photographers and videographers.... don't ask me why but it's true!

Another scam... the "vendor meal" I think they charge you 1/2 price for the "vendor meals" and they give us a club sandwich and a bag of chips! Yeah and they charge you 65 BUCKS!

So in conclusion feed them if you have them contracted for more than 4 hours.... they don't have to sit with your guests....I actually prefer not to!

They skipped the head table too. The bride & us BMs were so hungy. We didn't have appitizers like everyone else because we were taking pictures. We only had a few minutes to eat before the cake cutting & toasts. I had to get a waiter to get them to bring us food ASAP. Something similar probably did happen to the photographers. What a long time to go without food. The photographers & bridal party had been there since 10am. I think the couple, bridal party, photographers, DJ, etc. should get their food first because they are the ones on a schedule. I think I would want a vendor table. You are probably in such a hurry to eat you don't have time for small talk.

We got skipped at the rehersal dinner too. They wouldn't bring us bread, drinks, or dessert. It was at a different location. I really don't understand why. It was pretty annoying.

That's CRAZY and unheard of! The head table is supposed to be the first one. Exactly what I think about the vendor table...you don't want to be sitting there having to talk to people you don't know and be in a hurry to eat as well! Shooting weddings is NOT an easy task by any stretch of the imagination.... at least the way I shoot them, I don't want to miss anything! It's my job not too!

oh shoot morgan, i didnt even think to look this up first

well, ok, i guess i was looking for at home wedding specific info, but still. call me a Loser (capital L!)

 

thanks for the links.

 

MODS, please feel free to merge this with one of the above threads, or delete this thread altogether. sorry for being a dumba$$!

thanks for the input danielle, we dont have servers and what not, and our "caterer" is dougs mom who does that on the side (no assistants). so i just wasn't sure what to do about it. i guess i'll just fill him in ahead of time that it's not catered and that they should feel free to eat! since we wont have a separate person to handle getting food to them. i guess?

 

we have a 6 hr contract with them.