Q: Do wedding photographers eat?
A: Okay, that's a fair question. Short answer, yes. Long answer, it depends.
Wedding planning sites are full of information on whether or not you should feed your photographer (and other vendors). Some say, "hell, yes!" (well, only my blog says that, the others say that in so many words) Others say yes, but not a full meal. Still others say only on days ending with a "Y," so yeah, it can get confusing.
Bummer to worry about the etiquette of feeding your vendors when you're planning your day. I mean, it is your day, not the photographer's (it's okay, I acknowledge this going in). On the day of your wedding, your head is in a million places, and I hope the least of them is what your photographer is eating.
But surprisingly, a lot of brides stress over this. Many of my brides have worried about me like mama birds: "have you eaten anything?" "make sure you eat something!"
Like absolutely everything else about your wedding, this is a personal choice. Strictly speaking, it's pretty standard to allow for something to feed your photographers and vendors. If for no other reason, because you don't want them fainting over from low blood sugar. That does not mean you have to sit them down at a table with your guests.
For me, meal time is break time. I don't take pictures of people eating because no matter how pretty the people are, and no matter how pretty the food is, the pictures are most likely not going to be pretty. Meal time is when Mr. Susan (my assistant/husband) and I go off and take a break; get something to drink, grab some bread from the caterers, etc. We don't go far because you never know when that special uncle of yours is going to feel verkelmpt by all the love in the room and grab the mic to make his toast. And yeah, um...that's something I definitely want to shoot.
Boils down to this: Just ask. I can't speak for other vendors, but I usually tell the bride if she needs to feed me, and I tell her I'm vegetarian. But this is something we talk about in person, at our meeting, when we're getting to know one another and feel comfortable with one another.
That's how I like to keep my weddings: personal, simple and friendly.
I've been given boxed lunches, seats at guest tables and have sneaked food from the caterer (don't hate, they always make more than they're going to use). But I always have some energy bars in my bag so I don't worry about it too much. If I get really hungry, I'll send Mr. Susan out to get us something to nibble on (and yes, he in fact does like to be called Mr. Susan).
I never sit with the guests because it just feels weird. These are your friends, and I don't know them and I'm being paid to be there. There have been a few exceptions: notably at Mai and Rich's wedding, they made sure to sit me with some people who had the same interests (read: obsessions) as I do: horror films, and most recently, Michelle & John's wedding, where Robyn pretty much dragged me by the hair to our seats.
I'm glad she did, we had some great conversation with people who had lived in Berkeley and we talked about Hi-Tech Burrito and other restaurants. And I, of course, shot the food.
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