Famed wedding planner, Sasha Souza, recently wrote a blog entry about feeding wedding vendors. In addition to the points she made, I wanted to add perspective as well.
- My assistants could all attest that we work at a non-stop pace throughout your entire wedding. Usually by dinner time, we’ve gone many hours without even taking a bathroom break or even drinking a glass of water. Sitting down for 10-15 minutes to eat a real meal is a welcomed break, especially for our completely numbed feet. We need some substantial food because chances are, we have many more hours to go and we need the energy to lift heavy things at the end of the night when we are cleaning up, long after the guests have left.
- With our 12+ hours days, we likely haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. While we are happy to eat anything you provide, something substantive would be most welcomed.
- Please ask your caterer to feed your photographers and videographers before or at the same time you eat. Usually, brides and grooms like to visit the guests once they have eaten a few bites of your meal. Your photographers and videographers would love to capture all those expressive conversations. They don’t want to have to answer why they didn’t capture those moments from you later!
- You may get some push back from your caterer if you ask them to feed your vendors before or at the same time you feed the bride and groom. Understandably, their first priority is feeding all your guests in a timely manner. By feeding the vendors early, they can do their jobs properly and not miss anything, which makes the couple happy. If you feed them after all the guests have eaten, then the photographers will miss photos of the couple visiting their guests. Feeding the band before the reception starts means they get to take shorter breaks later, which means more music, which means more dancing, which makes the bride and groom happy. There are ways to make this a win-win situation and we would be happy to help you with that.