Feeding the dj and Photographer

I told my caterer I had "75 guests including the bride and groom, plus 6 vendor meals" so they made enough food. Some caterers give discounts for vendor meals or a different choice for food. I think it would be appreciated to give them the same meal as your guests and not something lame like hot dogs and tater tots.

Depends on the contract you have with the DJ, photographer, etc. Usually, you provide a vendor meal. Your caterer will understand this. Just check with the vendors to make sure there aren’t any dietary restrictions.

View Quoted Comment Ok. Thanks. I figured it would be appropriate and I have no problem with it. I had a coworker tell me she didn't do it and I felt funny about it at first and didn't agree. I wanted to hear what other soon to be brides thought.

Yes, you should plan to feed your vendors, such as your photographer and DJ. You should speak with your caterer/venue about vendor meal options. Sometimes it's the same plated meal your guests get and sometimes it's a different meal. For example, our venue gave us two options: serve a vendor meal for $xx per vendor that was different from what we were serving our guests (I believe it was a sandwich) or offer our vendors the same entreés our guests had to choose from for a little bit more than the basic vendor meal, but waaaaay less than the pp cost for our guests. We chose to serve our vendors the same entreés, so we just contacted our DJ and photographer and asked them which entreé they each wanted. For our photographer, we had to ask her which entreé her second shooter wanted, as well, and had to later ask what entreé her third shooter would like when she notified us she was bringing an extra person along to train as a second shooter.

I would give the caterer a Vendor count. Our caterer charges a less per plate for vendor meals.

Ok. Thanks for the information ladies.

Yes, our vendor meals were $30 as opposed to $74 for a guest's meal (which included open bar). Vendors won't be drinking so their meal should cost less, even if they're eating the same thing as your guests.

Check your contract too. My photographer is going to be there for 8 hours and her contract states we have to feed her something. She is going to be working all day and they don’t get an hour lunch break like most jobs so I can’t imagine not feeding her. In fact, my caterer doesn’t even charge for vendors (buffet style) but wants a vendor count to make sure there is enough to cover them as well.

My venue gave me a discount price for vendor meals and it was still one of our entrees. I would ask if they are giving you a different rate. Usually the DJ and photographer work all day so you should probably feed them.

I reached out to my vendors and asked them all their meal choices. When it was time to give the head count with names and meal choices I separated it by 42 guests, bride and groom, 5 vendors.

Check your contract. I fed my photog, but my band contract specifically said I wasn't responsible for meals for them. I just told them where they could eat at the venue if they brought their own food or had something delivered, and also offered them the buffet at the same cost (less than $20pp for food only) that I paid for my guests.

We're feeding ours.