Planning vendor meals for your wedding reception
The video explains how vendor meals work for photographers, videographers, DJs and planners, who arranges them, and why a 15 to 20 minute pause matters. For couples finalizing their catering count.
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How vendor meals usually work
For most vendors, including the DJ, the photographers, the videographers and the planners, the catering company or the venue typically has vendor meals. You just mention how many vendors there are, and generally they will have something for us to eat, so you do not have to count us as guests.
If your reception is at a restaurant, or anywhere without a caterer, let the restaurant know how many vendors there are. Sometimes they hand us a menu and let us choose our own food; sometimes they serve something very simple. Either is fine, as long as we can eat and get ready to photograph your reception.
The part couples miss is the timing. When the vendors are eating, we want at least 15 to 20 minutes of downtime to actually eat, and that pause matters for you and your guests as well. Please do not try to fill the entirety of the reception with festivities and activities. If the schedule never stops, we cannot finish our food, and the servers will remove the plates.
Who to count and when to tell them
Count people, not companies. A band, a video team or a planner with assistants is often more people than you expect, so ask each vendor for their exact number. Then give the total to the caterer or venue when you confirm your final headcount, and add it to the planner's timeline so the kitchen knows when to send out vendor plates.
Ask where the vendors will eat. A table just outside the reception room, or a corner inside it, lets us get back on the floor quickly; a staff room down the hall does not. If the number changes, a quick message the week of the wedding is enough.
Why the 15 to 20 minute pause matters
We eat when you eat, for a reason. Most caterers serve vendor meals during or just after the guests' main course, which is also the quietest stretch of the reception for photographs: nothing formal is happening and people are chewing. That is the moment to sit down.
Problems start when the timeline puts the speeches at the exact moment the entrees land. Then we are up shooting, the plates sit, and the servers clear them. A 15 to 20 minute buffer with nothing scheduled protects your guests' dinner as much as ours.
What our team does about this on the day
Eating during the lull
We take our vendor meal during the 15 to 20 minute downtime, usually while you and your guests are eating too. We eat quickly, check cards and batteries, and get ready to photograph the rest of the reception.
Whatever is served is fine
If the venue provides a vendor meal, we eat it. If a restaurant gives us a menu, we choose quickly; if they serve us something simple, that works too. We do not need a seat at a guest table, only a spot to eat.
If the schedule never stops
When a reception is packed with activities, we do our best to eat between moments, but we get up the moment something starts. The risk is that the servers remove our plates before we finish, which is why we ask for the buffer.
Couples usually ask
Do we have to pay for vendor meals as guest meals?
Usually not. Caterers and venues typically have a separate vendor meal, so you tell them how many vendors there are and they take it from there; you do not generally need to count us as part of the guest list. Ask your caterer how they handle it.
What if our reception is at a restaurant?
Just let the restaurant know how many vendors there will be. They either hand us a menu or serve something very simple, and either is fine. The only thing we need is enough time to sit down and eat it.
When should vendors eat during the reception?
At the same time as you and your guests, with at least 15 to 20 minutes of downtime and nothing scheduled. Dinner is the least photographed stretch of the night anyway, so ask your planner or DJ to hold the speeches and dances until people have finished.
How many vendors should we tell the caterer about?
Count every person working the reception: photographers, videographers, the DJ or each band member, the planner and any assistants. Ask each vendor for their exact number rather than assuming one per company, and give the total to your caterer with your final headcount.
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