Not to offer the photographers a wedding breakfast?

[realteal]

Just wondering if this is cheeky or not. Maybe this is the done thing and I don’t know about it!

We are hoping to get married next year. There will be one photographer and his assistant. Their photos are great to be fair and we are very happy to have booked them.

We’ve just got the contract through. They have asked us to order two wedding breakfasts that they will eat in a side room.

AIBU to think this is a bit cheeky? We are paying them a four figure sum. Why can’t they bring a flask, a lunch bag and a packet of crisps like everyone else who goes out to work?!

Is this a common request?

I irrationally find the term “wedding breakfast” annoying

I know that's what its called, but I also find it annoying. Re Photographer, at my daughters wedding, they had a bar meal, not the whole shebang. Band didn't start till later, so they had evening buffet and soft drinks.

Completely normal, not cheeky in the slightest. They’re there all day and part of the wedding.

@FatLarrysBand

I think it's bloody CF'y to specifically request 'two wedding breakfasts' over a general request to be fed. But, really, it's completely normal to feed the band and photographer.

It's to avoid getting a cheese sarnie and a packet of crisps chucked at them. A real possibility, going by this thread

It’s not cheeky, it’s standard. Stop being a tightwad.

Totally standard

I’ve done many weddings fir childcare and the nannies (myself) and photographer and musicians etc all got fed

At our wedding in July we obv paid for food and drink for our lovely photographer

We paid for ours to have meals.
Ours were there from 7am and didn't leave until 10pm!
We enjoyed their company they were lovely!

Of course you have to feed them. It's not the same as for tradesmen who can take a break whenever they like.

Normally a photographer has a break when people are eating (would you want photos of you chewing your food?), so it's perfectly fine for them to be served food at the same time as guests. Our photographer did a brilliant job and he was on his feet for 12 hours. We couldn't not feed him.

As some PPs wrote if the photographer is only present for few hours before the meal is served, that's a different matter.

Yes. Your photographer will be doing a 10+ hour day on their feet for 99.9% of it. Feeding them a hot meal is common decency, no?

We offered ours (photography and the video guy) without them having to ask even. It sounds a bit mean not to!

It was in our contract too. Two course lunch off the hotels bar menu plus open soft/hot drinks tab.

@AmadeustheAlpaca

In Scotland. I have never heard of anyone offering the wedding photographers meals at the ceremony or reception. Ever. Might offer snacks if they are in your house taking photos of the bridal preparations but not a sit down meal. They are paid a large amount of money to take photos of the ceremony, speeches and the guests at the post wedding drinks reception plus the dancing. Completely unheard of in central Scotland. It’s not meanness, just not a tradition.

I'm in central Scotland and it was in my photographers contract that she had to have a meal! It's pretty standard these days I believe.

My photography had the same as my guests, he was there longer that an of the guests, hair makeup, getting ready, at the wedding, at the reception right up until the last guest, of course I fed and watered him like a guest, its a long, busy day.

I am feeding ours. They have spaces in our table plan too. Imagine treating them like people not slaves

Mine stayed up until we had sat down. We did a fake cake cut to get the photos done. The difference in price was ridiculous I just couldn't justify it and I'm glad we didn't. I can't remember now it was 15 years ago but I think we paid around 1.5 and it would have been 3.5 if they stayed on. The album has been under our bed for at least ten years and nit looked at 😂

I'm also in Scotland and it is very much standard practice to feed the photographer + videographer. Especially up here, the photographer might leave home at 8am, not get home till after 11 and have no access to a fridge, shop, or alternative means of getting food depending on the venue....so yeah, feed them and don't even think for a second they are being CFs

It's normal and a nice gesture to buy them lunch.

It's a very long day for a wedding photographer.If I'm not provided with a meal I go off site to eat and that means I'm not there when the Granny thinks I should be to take a photograph of little Jimmy doing something cute. It also means that I lose control of the timing to some extent. Hotels will usually provide reduced price meals for your vendors.

Absolutely normal to feed them. What you choose is upto you, but I'd not have gond to the trouble to plan anything different than the options that were there for my guests.
3 starters, 3 mains and 3 desserts to choose from, plus mini fish and chips and mini hamburger sliders of an evening, plus all the wedding cake they could eat.

They made some of the most lasting aspects of our day.

I find this very odd and cheeky. I married 25 years ago, and it certainly wasn't a thing then! I've never expected to be fed by employers when I worked in offices, and I've never fed tradespeople in my home either - apart from the obvious coffee and biscuits. If I was a service provider at something as personal as a wedding then I would be taking a packed lunch.

The other concern about leaving the site is that I carry around at least 20k of equipment, within which will be the precious memory cards with your wedding photos. If I leave the premises all that has to go in my boot and it's a risk

At ours the reception venue did a meal that was cheaper for the photographer. A lot of the photographers will be recommended by the venue and know what’s normal so if they are saying contractually to feed them, it’s what they’ll have had a the gazillion other weddings they’ll have done at your venue.

'I think it's bloody CF'y to specifically request 'two wedding breakfasts' over a general request to be fed. But, really, it's completely normal to feed the band and photographer.

It's to avoid getting a cheese sarnie and a packet of crisps chucked at them. A real possibility, going by this thread.'

Yeah, that's a fair point, although the wedding venue I worked at usually gave photographers/band/florist etc something pitched in between the (prohibitively expensive) full wedding breakfast, and a Dairylea Lunchable.

Just reading through some responses though, some of your photographers were there for the full thing. Mine was only there for the arrival at church, photo after wedding and mock cake cutting.

We fed our photographer, his assistant and our band. We also paid our bands tab

We really aren't cheeky fuckers! I promise! And no decent photographer would expect a 3 course meal - there's not time to eat it for a start! But a burger and a drink helps keeps ya going if we're staying on for the first dance and partying!