Oooh the vendor meal! I could talk at length about why it’s important to provide a meal for the photographers (and any vendor that’s been working consistently all day), but we’ll save that topic for a “Dear Bride” post sometime in the future! Today’s post is for the PHOTOGRAPHER, and how to navigate the sometimes murky waters of how and when to ask for a vendor meal.

We have a clause in my contract that presents the subject from the very beginning. Typically, by the time the reception rolls around, we’ve been shooting for 5-6 hours, often having left the house 1-2 hours before that. We pack a lunch (well, MATT packs our lunches, bless him), but even so, we’re usually pretty hungry by the time dinner gets started. I never realized what an impact a solid meal has on how much energy I have for the rest of the night until Ethan started shooting with me- he’s a guy, and a cold sandwich that was made a day or two in advance just isn’t enough for him.

So my contract stipulates that if a meal is being served to the guests, the same meal must be provided to the photographers. And here’s the important part: the contract says we need to receive the meal at the same time that it’s served to the guests.

This is NOT a pride/ego thing, I promise! It’s purely logistics- for a plated meal, it can take up to 20 minutes to get everyone served in the main dining room. The bride and groom are always served first, and the main course usually takes around 30 minutes. Per standard catering services, they wait until every guest has been served to then provide meals to vendors, which definitely makes sense from purely a service standpoint.

But here’s the thing- if the photographer doesn’t eat until 25-30 minutes after the bride and groom are served, that means we’ll have about two minutes (literally- I’ve been given two minutes to consume a meal before, it’s not uncommon) to scarf down a plate before we have to get back out into the reception to start shooting toasts. So if a meal isn’t already waiting for us when we head to the vendor area during dinner, I’ll usually ask the catering coordinator where I should look to find them!

The reception dinner is the only part of the day when we’re not actively running around shooting- I don’t photograph during dinner because trust me; no one looks good with their fork loaded with salmon, on its way to a mouth wide open. I’m totally up front with my couples about that- I never shoot during the actual main course, not until there’s something official happening, like a blessing, toast, that sort of thing.

So, just to sum things up:

1. Start by incorporating a meal in your contract, if it’s something you know you’ll need!
2. Ask that the meal be provided at the same time the guests are served, so that you can be ready to go by the time the reception starts back up again.
3. Be flexible! Sometimes things get lost in transition between the bride + groom and the caterers, so try your best to roll with the punches.

Happy Friday, friends! (Photos from a gorgeous wedding last fall with Engaging Affairs!)