Vendors requiring to be included in catering head count! Am i unreasonable?

I understand your predicament.

Are you sure that the contract states that you have to feed them the EXACT same thing as the guests? It may just say that a meal is required.

I would just verify that further. If it does indeed state a specific kind of meal, then I'd try to negotiate with your vendors. I'm sure they can work with you.

Most will required meals, but they don't necessarily specify the kind of meal. Most of my vendors would have been happy with sandwiches or whatever the vendor meal option. I wanted better for them though, so I chose to feed them the way we fed our guests. Granted, they all ate in the hallway (since that's what they told me they normally did) but I know they appreciated it. $150 a head though is steep... our plates weren't nearly that much for our wedding.

Your vendors shouldn't be drinking alcoholic beverages, so that should lower the cost per meal for them. They probably won't get any appetizers, either.

Yes, some venues give the vendors stale sandwiches & chips.

The alternative is the vendors leaving the premises to go get a meal elsewhere.

Our band's contract asks for a hot meal. We're doing appetizers only and so I let the band know we the guests are having and if that works or would they like a full meal. He said a plate fo what we're serving is fine.

Maybe let them know what the vendor meals will be. I saw a website where vendors post the shitty meals they get served at weddings. Maybe they are trying to make sure they don't end up with a cold half-assed meal? Also, if you aren't using them for their full amount fo time, are they giving you a discount or do you have to pay for their full time amount either way?

I'm a caterer and deal with this issue constantly. In fact yesterday, 30 mins before service , a guy came saying he wanted food for the bartender. I let him know we hadn't started serving anyone yet. And I asked him to come back. He still took the food that was exposed like salad and rolls, he'd been there 1.5 hours max, turns out he was the bartender. When service started the the entire venue team consisting of 8 people came through the buffet line, while my team was out bussing the dishes the venue staff was supposed to be clearing. . I bit my tongue as I don't want to discuss these things in public. We go above and beyond and don't expect anything , but after my team had cleared all tables. The venue employees were back to help! " What can we do?' they said coming back to a mostly finished job. While all this was happening, the photographer pulls me aside and tells he has a deadly allergy to rosemary. And wants to be certain he won't die. So now I have to double check all the seasoning I used. While still serving the buffet line. 2 hrs after buffet , the DJ comes to us asking where the food went. Asks if we can make him a plate. I let him know we boxed all the food and he can now make his own out of the venues refrigerator. Sheesh. I feel I'm bending over backwards for the wrong people. And this is very typical. I always have extra food. Rarely have I been payed for or been told there are extra people coming to eat, like vendors. So I serve them, wanting everything to go smoothly and wanting a good review. But I do not agree with this type of behavior on an employees part. I've worked in restaurants as a chef. And I was never offered a free meal. I was given a 30 min break to go find my own. Which begs to the next issue, why is it in incumbent upon the caterer to provide a lower-cost meal for vendors, this is extremely inconvenient for the kitchen and not practical at all, I don't make sandwiches. And its not what we were hired for. If vendors want cheaper meals they should go buy them or bring them ahead of time , like every other employee In America. Doctors performing life saving surgeries can go 5-10 hrs without eating. I've never seen a contract stipulation where they eat when the hospital staff does and it's paid for by the patient. What I see is doctors hurriedly eating whatever they can in the lounge because they are working!! Sadly what I see is entitled vendors acting like children and dressing like hobos, coming in late for a 4 hour shift making a $150 an HR and needing to be fed mid-way through like a hypoglycemic, demanding an allergen list and pre service feedings. I understand feeding photogs. They are usually there long stretches. I don't think it should be mandatory. But I get it. Feeding the florist, the busser, the bartender. That sounds like a sub shops job. Don't agree? Tell me what other industry that has an arrangement like this for independent contractors, I mean feeding other people's employees, and serving them as guests. It seems caterers have become the lackie of the wedding world. 2 days ago I was asked to take all the venue trash with me including the restroom garbage, $5000 a day venue rental doesn't even ensure trash these days, apparently the venue has no dumpster on site (super hippie part of town) and the bride/groom we're told about this and should have notified me but didn't. So we fed their employees , cleaned their venue and took their trash. Most of which wasnt our responsibility. These types of "miscommunications"" oversights" are an everyday occurrence we deal with. Because we have a stellar reputation and are highly regarded, I go above and beyond and do what isn't asked of us because we have a spirit of excellence and cannot stand to see compromise. But It seems it's a slippery slope in this industry. Pretty soon you'll be feeding the DJ and playing his auto playlist while he's sitting at the table of honor next to the bride. Cause you know. It was in the contract, So brides, have your own stipulations! Your paying us! If you don't want to pay $100s extra for crew food , say so. They'll bring they're own lunch, like they did at every job they worked before this one, or pretty soon we will have to start buying meals for our servers at restaurants, on top of the rarely deserved but industry mandated 20% tip that has become a norm not a reward. So it is with vendor meals. You should have the choice to tip them a meal or not.

You mentioned you aren’t using your photographer for 8 hours...is that what you paid for? If so and you don’t need them that long, can you get a pro-rated amount for their services and use that savings towards their meal? I see both sides here of needing to be fed and caterers not offering a separate price for vendor meals, but I don’t think the vendor meal should be full price because they most likely won’t be eating appetizers and they won’t be drinking. Also, the per person price is obviously marked up to make a profit, I feel it unnecessary to markup the vendors plate.

Vendors are doing mentally taxing work to make your “special day” go smoother. A starving photographer may not perform as efficiently. The idea behind the vendor meals is so they don’t have to travel somewhere to get food and potentially be held up. Just ask for a discounted meal or be okay with them leaving to get food (my photographer has that in her contract)