Photographers, do we pay for hotel stay?

No. You should pay for their meal, but you are not at all obligated to pay for a hotel room for them.

It would be included in the contract, i would imagine. 90 minute drive doesn’t seem like it would require a hotel. I wouldn’t be afraid to ask though. You for sure need to have meals for them, they are going to be there for 8 hours they need to eat.

when you meet with them, casually bring up “so I will have the caterer prepare 2 vendor meals for you and the assistant, is there anything else needed I should be aware of?”

For my situation, my caterer includes a certain amount of vendor meals in the package, but they don't count as full guests. It's a significant cost difference, since it's just food at a discount, vs full price meal, bar, chair for the ceremony, etc. You might want to clarify how they need to be included, as guests or on a separate list.

You only pay for what is listed in the contract. If it’s not in the contract you don’t pay. Usually if travel is an issue for photographers they would charge a “travel fee” and that would cover any expenses. This would be listed in the contract.

You should provide vendor meals, but that's it. An hour and a half is not a bad drive for a wedding photographer.

My photographer on the other hand drove 6hrs, so yes, I paid for her hotel, but it was in our contract.

Your photographers would let you know if you needed to pay for a hotel! 90 minutes isn’t a far drive. My photographers’ contract states that if they had to travel 90 miles outside their home town, then they had the right to impose a travel fee.

The only reason guests would want to stay at a hotel rather than driving home afterwards is because they might be drinking. Your photographers should definitely NOT be drinking, and if they expected you to pay for a hotel room it would be clear in their contract. I will never understand why so many people think an hour and a half is a big deal. Maybe all the smog I inhaled sitting on freeways as a child gave me some slight damage.....

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I think the reason why some ask for a hotel isn't because of drinking but because of the travel back. If they work an 8-10 hour day, who's going to want to travel another 1+ hours to return back home.

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Oh okay, thanks!

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Oh my, that's quite a ways. yikes! but ok, thanks!

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Except for when I worked at a restaurant on Main St in a touristy gold rush town, and lived in an apartment 50 yards down the same street , I've never had a commute home that was less than 45 minutes. Even when I lived in the "same" city as my job-with traffic my shortest commute ever was 45 minutes each way. Usually I had jobs where it was an hour and a half though. If someone wanted me to pay extra because driving was too hard after working all day, I'd laugh until I cried then hire someone else.

View Quoted Comment That's the perfect language. It's not suggesting that you *should* pay for their hotel or anything else, but asking genuinely if there's anything else to cover.