We've been in the wedding photography and videography business for a while now but you don't have to be an expert to know that weddings are expensive, especially the cost of feeding your guests. At a big country home in Essex, you're probably looking in the region of £50 - £80 per head for a three course meal and sometime canapes. This can soon add up.
With this all in mind, should you folk out to feed your wedding photographers and videographers? I mean after all, you have paid them to be there.
Somethings that we need to consider first...
Your photographer will be up on their feet all day capturing the best day of your life. While you and your guests are drinking and snacking away on canapes or even right at the beginning of the day during morning preparations and your bridal/groom party are snaking on crosients, your photographer will be working and won't have time to eat.
There is a lot of moving around at weddings and the photographer is constantly focusing and thinking looking for those special moments. This can be physically and mentally exhausting so it doesn't take long for them to start flagging. The majority of wedding photographers and videographers will put that they require a hot meal in their contract for this very reason.
Our belief is that you should pay for your wedding vendors to eat. This doesn't mean that you'll have to pay the same price as for your guests or even give them the same meal. Some wedding catering companies have supplier meal policies where you save around 50% for a main course.
We've shot weddings before where the couple have raided the local Greggs and we stuffed our faces with sandwiches, cakes, pastries while they had their sit down meal. We thought it was amazing and they saved money (win, win).
At Capture House Weddings we don't demand to be fed but we do ask that you let us know as we will turn up expecting to fed as its common practise. We're quite happy to bring a sandwich or order something off the menu if you don't want to pay for our meal so it's completely your choice.
As a general rule of thumb when doing your wedding budget, we would suggest you allocate some money towards feeding us and the people who ensure your day runs smoothly. No one likes a grumpy DJ.