{"id":1166,"date":"2010-09-07T15:56:05","date_gmt":"2010-09-07T19:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/?p=1166"},"modified":"2016-02-04T13:38:35","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T18:38:35","slug":"corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/corey-talks\/corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny","title":{"rendered":"Corey Talks: Vendor Meals, The Real Skinny"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vendor meals. \u00a0They’re a pesky thing. \u00a0Sometimes as photographers we view the “vendor meal” warily as we’re never sure what it will entail. \u00a0Sometimes we get the same meal the guests have. \u00a0Sometimes we get a cheaper version. \u00a0Sometimes we get a boxed lunch and sometimes the promised meal never comes. \u00a0I’ve addressed this issue before<\/a> but I feel that I need to expand on my thoughts from before in a new blog as things have changed and meals have evolved. \u00a0In talking with my couples, I’ve realized that they often don’t quite know what exactly their vendor meal is or what it even entails so here’s the meals that we usually get and what they mean. \u00a0Hopefully this helps clear some of the mystery surrounding those pesky meals!<\/p>\n

Same Meal Guests Have\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As photographers, we’re elated when we get the same meal that guests have. \u00a0The first thing this ensures is that we will be able to photograph the meal that you have chosen to have served to guests. \u00a0If we aren’t served the same meal, it’s often something we cannot photograph as most people aren’t friendly to strange people taking aside their plate of food. \u00a0This also usually means we are seated with guests. \u00a0Some photographers don’t like this but I always enjoy getting to meet someone new. \u00a0It also means that if we’re in the same room, we’re around to know when anything spontaneous happens during dinner that need photographed. \u00a0We also know that there will be water provided\u00a0– I always bring my own but sometimes on hot days I’ve gone through it all by dinner. \u00a0The final perk to this option is that we are also served with guests, so that we are able to eat while everyone is eating and are able to get back to our jobs before events start to happen. \u00a0The only downside that I’ve encountered while being seated with guests is that often since we’re not in the seat until dinner is about to start, someone moves to our seats assuming we’re not there and there’s no other spots for us to take due to someone arriving without an RSVP and we’re out of luck.<\/p>\n

Stepped Down Guest Meal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Usually if we are placed in an ante room to the reception for our meal, we are served a vendor meal. \u00a0This can vary from the same thing that guests are served and is just what is leftover from whatever they have that is extra, to the cheapest option from the plated options (typically chicken), a pasta variation on what the guests are having (chicken alfredo is quite popular) or often at country clubs it’s something from their grill for guests like a burger, salad or club sandwich. \u00a0Sometimes it is really nice to have a room to go to and completely relax and not worry about our stuff being messed with and just talk about the day so far. \u00a0The downfall to this option is that we do not have a full guest plate to shoot (often ours aren’t dressed up like the served plates are or have the side dishes the guests do when it’s the same meal as the guests) or it’s not even close to what was served. \u00a0We also rarely have drinks provided and since the bar is closed during dinner it can be a thirsty dinner if we’ve run out of water by this point on a hot day. \u00a0We also are usually pretty far off from the main reception area to know what is going on unless someone keys us in to an event taking place. \u00a0Since we’re often far off from the main floor (at some venues we’re on an entire separate floor!), we’re the last to be served since the guests are the priority. \u00a0I totally understand that but usually by the time we get our meals in the room, the bridal party is already finished with theirs and circling the room – moments we would like to be there to capture. \u00a0Finally it’s becoming a reality that most of the time, these meals never come – or they come too late for the vendors serving you to eat\u00a0them because your reception is already swinging back into gear. \u00a0I feel SO badly for my couples when this happens because they pay for a meal that never is enjoyed and I hate to see people lose money!<\/p>\n

Boxed Lunch\/Sandwich Tray<\/strong><\/p>\n

This option is the most popular with guests that also have to feed a band but has been used a bit more lately. \u00a0This meal is usually a boxed lunch consisting of a sandwich (baloney and PB&J being the most popular versions) a bag of chips and sometimes water. \u00a0If it’s a sandwich tray, it’s usually a ring or mini subs from a sub shop. \u00a0These are usually served in either a back room of the kitchen or in a room that is off to the side of the reception. \u00a0I’m not a picky eater so I’m usually fine with this but I do get upset when I have to battle the band for a meal. \u00a0Bands are notorious for eating all of the food in a vendor room. \u00a0I thought this was a tall tale when starting in the business but I quickly found out that generally bands eat up everything assuming it’s all for them and the rest of the vendors are left without meals. \u00a0I’ve found that a great solution to this issue is to have the caterers have one box\/bag\/ring for the band and another for the other vendors that isn’t brought out until we are there as typically the bands eat as soon as they arrive but we won’t be eating until after they start during dinner. \u00a0That way the band can tear through their food but there’s still some left over when all the other vendors come back for our quick bite.<\/p>\n

Nothing<\/strong><\/p>\n

It happens. \u00a0People don’t plan on vendor meals, the catering screws up or I lost my seat to people who didn’t RSVP but showed up anyway. \u00a0So what do we do then? \u00a0Trust me when I say that no one looks good mid-chew so whether there is a provided meal or not I will not be photographing people during dinner. \u00a0I use this time to use the restroom (often my only time to do so during the day), get a quick bite in from the snacks I bring along just in case and sit for a moment or two and check over my batteries, gear and memory cards in a location where I can still hear what is going on but won’t be seen.<\/p>\n

Hopefully this helps solve some of the mystery around Vendor Meals and what exactly they are and what each scenario means behind the scenes!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vendor meals. \u00a0They’re a pesky thing. \u00a0Sometimes as photographers we view the “vendor meal” warily as we’re never sure what it will entail. \u00a0Sometimes we get the same meal the guests have. \u00a0Sometimes we get a cheaper version. \u00a0Sometimes we get a boxed lunch and sometimes the promised meal never comes. \u00a0I’ve addressed this issue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1782,693,785,506],"class_list":["post-1166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corey-talks","tag-corey-talks","tag-food","tag-meal","tag-vendor-meals"],"yoast_head":"\nCorey Talks: Vendor Meals, The Real Skinny - Corey Ann Photography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/corey-talks\/corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Corey Ann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/corey-talks\/corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/corey-talks\/corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Corey Ann\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/49fc034441344f071869b4a25e9c744e\"},\"headline\":\"Corey Talks: Vendor Meals, The Real Skinny\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-07T19:56:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-04T18:38:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/corey-talks\/corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny\"},\"wordCount\":1147,\"commentCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Corey Talks\",\"food\",\"meal\",\"vendor meals\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Corey Talks\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/corey-talks\/corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/corey-talks\/corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/coreyann.com\/blog\/corey-talks\/corey-talks-vendor-meals-the-real-skinny\",\"name\":\"Corey Talks: Vendor Meals, The Real Skinny - 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