(Closed) Vendor meals–rude?

• Horseradish
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: October 2014

lula0508 :  my comments were replies to various topics raised in this thread, not all directly to you.

• TwinkleBoss
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: Disneyland - January 2016

mrskirk :  Not to drag this thread too far out into left field, but since you seem to think that being a wedding vendor is far more important than blue collar work, I have to speak up. You describe working on a wedding as a “huge responsibility with a lot of risk and chance for things to go wrong”. This is true. Then you follow it up by saying your HVAC guy isn’t worried about that when he comes to fix your AC. You know what HVAC technicians are probably worried about? Losing their life. Losing limbs. That is also a big deal. And yes, companies can be sued very easily for making a mistake. Being legally obligated to take a lunch break doesn’t mean it actually happens. I work on a farm. Do you think the men I work with, walking, lifting and driving forklifts every day for 8+ hours actually stop in the middle of work when there are thousands pounds of product sitting out in the hot sun? They don’t. And it happens almost every day, lunch breaks be damned. The work has to get done first. That’s the farming industry. It is what it is. People work hard, even when they’re legally bound for breaks and lunches. People work hard EVERYwhere, in EVERY industry. 

There’s this confusion that implies I don’t think wedding vendors deserve breaks or to eat, or even that I don’t think they work hard. None of that is true. I thought it was common sense that somebody working a full day will be allowed to eat, and has been stated many times, it seems logical they would eat when guests eat. However, I DON’T think they are deserving of luxury meals because they chose a specific career path. If the bride and groom want to give their vendors guests meals, awesome! But I think it’s extremely unprofessional to put in less effort into your work because your employer decided not to offer you the filet mignon. 

• whoswho
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: January 2021 - City, State

I find it super weird to see propel debating this and hasn’t even considered it, most vendors I’ve looked at (UK) actually say “please don’t feed me I earn enough” on their website.

 

• mrsbrizz2017
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: June 2017

A couple hundred bucks to feed my vendors what everyone else is eating and keep them happy is a grain of sand in the $30k I spent on the whole wedding. It’d be really cheap to spend thousands on a wedding and cut this corner. If it was a money issue I’d cut money else where. My ex was a wedding DJ and he came home after being gone 10 hours for a wedding so starving he almost passed out coming in the door a few times. It’s just cruel. He can’t  leave and take a lunch break. You never know when you’ll experience technical difficulties or like others have mentioned, a random impromptu speech will occur. Feed them a good hot meal. 

• glitters
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: May 2016

We fed seven vendors (day-of coordinator + assistant, videographer x 2, photographer x 2, DJ) and they all had the same buffet meal as everyone else. We actually called the vendor table up to eat first because a) we appreciated that they were all scurrying around busting their butts for us and b) it seemed more practical so they could set up for the next part of the reception whenever they wanted versus waiting for 11 other tables to get their food then being last, then having to run off to the next task. Our photographer thanked us quite profusely for this.I’d rather have the best relationship possible with the people who are responsible for such big chunks of such an important day… I feel like feeding your vendors a nice hot meal is just a token of goodwill. I know if it were me doing those jobs I’d be about ready to cry with relief at getting to sit and eat for a few minutes! 

• karamellokoala
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: May 2017

There is a clause in my photographers contract that he is to be fed the same meal as the guests. More than fair in my opinion as his contract is quite fair overall – he won’t be charging us travel or accomodation (even though he’ll need a night away from home) and unlike other photographers, it’s for a true full day rather than limited. He shows up at an agreed time and won’t leave until we give the go ahead. It’s likely to be a 12 hour day for him! We’ll be seating him with the guest for dinner (he’s a super cool guy so whoever gets to sit with him is super lucky!) and making sure he’s well fed and hydrated all the day. 

Id treat any contractor who is working hard for me without a designated hour lunch break over the course of the day with the same respect and care, it’s not just because he’s a wedding vendor.

• novalee
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: July 2017

Why Wedding Photographers’ Prices are “Wack”

That’s about photography prices.

Also, I cannot understand how the idea of not feeding vendors can ever be acceptable. Sure,they might be there to work but they are human and deserve the very basic respect at least. Our vendors were seated at the same table as my friends, with the same food and place settings, and at no point did I think “they will earn so much money from me that they can clearly feed themselves”. My venue,for example,was in the middle of nowhere, so for my photographer to get a meal would require at least an hour of driving one way – no way was I making him do that. Also – all of the married ladies that question what they paid for with photographers and other vendors, can you remember how you were starving by the time you got to the reception venue because you had taken a lot of pictures etc? Do you remember your photographer sitting down and having a meal in the middle of the day or still taking the photos nonetheless? I think everyone is quick to forget that the people there will be working all day and that meal will be the only time they will eat properly, so unless the vendor really says to give them the apple and the sandwich,I would never even think about it. We even gave them the food we had packed for a small lunch for ourselves, because if we were hungry, how could they not be? 

• futuremardinly
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: September 2017

TwinkleBoss :   first of all my two vendors will get a guest meal but that’s because it’s simple backyard BBQ and I’m to lazy to bother with something else. I however completely agree with you vendors shouldn’t expect nor demand a meal. Just because they are working all day with few breaks is no excuse. I work long hours in the elements and I get nothing more than bathroom breaks every few hours. Also I survive on snacks throughout the day.

• thirdwoman
• 4 years ago

The comparison made up thread of $87 an hour for the photographer vs $32 an hour for a nurse doesn’t factor in all the costs that the employer of the nurse pays, like insurance, benefits, pension, taxes etc.

My hourly rate is something like €23 an hour, but if I were self employed, my hourly rate would be closer to €75, because I would have to pay all the taxes and insurance that my employer pays on my behalf.

Our only vendor will be our photographer. We haven’t signed our contracts yet, but I have already included him in our provisional headcount. I will need to ask our venue about the cost for him, because it will just be dinner and soft drinks, but I will seat him with our guests.

• thirdwoman
• 4 years ago

lula0508 :  you have to remember as well that contractors like that have to charge so that they can afford to have a lot less work in the off season – if you think that for every 3 weddings they do in the high season they probably do 1 in the low season, and they still have bills to pay.

• thirdwoman
• 4 years ago

whoswho :  really? All the wedding vendors I know in the UK would prefer to be fed. 

• btob17
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: July 2017

echomomm :  when I work weddings I didnt get meal either but as said before I was the ‘budget’ option sometimes even shooting free because I was still learning so I mostly shot budget weddings of $2000-ish – I dont think of of the weddings I did HAD hot sit down meals just cold finger buffets of sandwhiches, crisps (chips for americans) and cocktail sticks etc… I probably could of took some if I asked but honestly the food never looked great but I can go all day without eating quite easily which seems to be something others find really strange

 

to be honest most bands ive seen request feeding and I find it cheeky as they aren’t performing that long (yes that include set up and ttake down time, I work with musican a lot and never have to feed them for other events) but for the videographers they are going to be there all day and we are in a big park miles from most people so it would just be easier to feed them at the venue rather than have them drive off to somewhere else