Corey Talks: Feeding the Monster
It’s your wedding day! Yippie! You’ve got everything on a list, down to the minute, you spent hours planning this wedding and finally – after 3 (THREE!) days of agonizing work, you have your seating chart ready to go and perfect. There’s one little thing you forgot that will screw up your works. That’s me, your photographer. How is that? Not in the way you are thinking but because you didn’t plan for a place for me to sit. Nor did you plan on having me eat with the guests. So now you are in a pickle and wondering what to do and I feel like a goober for asking if there is a place for me at the reception. So here’s this post to hopefully get you to remember your photographer when the time comes to plan your reception.
I don’t currently write it into my contract that I get food – as many photographers do. I used to be a Knottie (got married last year!) and I remember a pretty vibrant post where a bride was very upset that a photographer DARED to want to be fed. Since then, I’ve been very cautious about adding it to a contract because I do not want that to be a dealbreaker like I saw it was for her. This being said, I am human. I am going to probably be just as starving as you are going to be 6+ hours after we started especially when that food starts rolling out. At that point, without a seat and a plate of food, I am going to have to excuse myself to some other room to chow the food I brought and take a moment to get a breather as NO bride wants pictures of her chewing and it’s my first time during the day (and the only most likely) that I’ll get a chance to use the restroom and sit down for a moment.
If you think ahead and plan me in your seating arrangements, things will go a lot smoother for both of us. More often than not, I take the place of Great Aunt Edith who couldn’t make it that day due to her cat being ill, there is always someone that doesn’t show up last minute but rarely are there MORE people than you expected at the reception. Sometimes I have heard of venues comping vendor meals and/or having reduced rate meals if you are uncomfortable with the idea of not paying for me in advance. Not only will I be eternally grateful, but then I’ll be able to capture any moments that happen during the dinner hour that I wouldn’t be able to capture if I was in a different room.
Don’t think that I take my “time off” lightly. In a perfect world I am seated close to the bride and grooms table so that when dinner is served, I’m one of the first to get fed so I’m done before most of the guests. I then take that time to take all the fun detail shots that many of you brides have requested. I like to do this while you are eating dinner because rarely are people asking to see your rings at that time but the rest of the day they are wanting to see them and a lot of times I do not have the time or the rings before the ceremony to do much beforehand. So I usually wolf down my food and then run off into the batcave with the rings and take shots that will have you asking “when did she do THAT?” later. I am usually done playing by the time you are done eating and have your rings back just in time to go socialize!
I end this with telling you that I love cake… and especially wedding cake. So either way, paid meal or not… at some point after the cake is cut you will find me with cake breath. That’s the only reason I do this job. I just happen to have a talent to get me closer to the cake… 😉
- The Christy House Wedding with Ashley and Stephon - March 11, 2024
- Peninsula Wedding with Colleen and Eric - March 10, 2024
- Winter Inn Walden Wedding with Julia and Walter - February 29, 2024
As a photographer, I’d like to say Amen to that! All of it, including your love of cake.
It’s incredibly rude for a bride not to feed her guests, even if they are paid to attend. 🙂 I would not be shy about this. Most brides don’t think about having a seat for their photographer, so I would mention that in the way you’ve done now. It will make for better pictures.
hope you like cupcakes too 🙂
[…] version. Sometimes we get a boxed lunch and sometimes the promised meal never comes. I’ve addressed this issue before but I feel that I need to expand on my thoughts from before in a new blog as things have changed […]
I’ve been second shooting a few weddings, and the cake was definitely one of the best parts of the day (I love weddings and you will find my eyes misting during the vows).