Normalize having your vendors eat with you
Yup! You heard that right.
It’s always the same, and it never changes; having vendors eat dead last or not being sat at a table with other vendors or guests. Let’s change it and I’ll explain why.
For example: I was helping second shoot a wedding and myself, the lead photographer and videographer were sat in a completely different room, away from guests unable to hear anything going on. Sure, it was nice to truly take a break and eat with the same company, but oh my god, was it a bad choice.
The three of us were finishing up our meals, checked the time and made our way back into the reception hall where we figured speeches were about to begin. NOPE! We approached the room and the best man was FINISHING his speech, the maid of honor already gave hers, and so did the bride’s dad. WE MISSED A SHIT TON. It was one of the most embarrassing moments I’ve ever had as a wedding vendor, especially because we had so many eyes on us as we were coming into the reception hall and EVERYONE KNEW how much we had missed. No one came to let us know that speeches were about to begin; not the coordinator, DJ, family, no one.
Prime example right there. *FACEPALM*
While this situation could’ve been avoided, there was only so much we could do to fill the void of what we had missed and the bride was happy with the videographer and the lead taking care of her and getting the content for her video and pictures.
Suggestion: have your vendors on your seating chart.
With having this horrible nightmare of a situation in mind, at my wedding I had all of my vendors at one table in the reception space close to the DJ, even though I still had him sat specifically at what I called, “The Dream Team Table”, lol. That included our videographers, the Day-of-Coordinator, DJ, and both photographers. That way they were close to the action of the day and knew when it was time to get up from their table to take pictures and video of when speeches were about to start. Thankfully, with having the DJ we had, he’s an amazing communicator with all vendors and kept everyone on track when it came to the timeline of the day. (It’s Movin’nGroovin’ DJ’s, by the way. lol) Having this setup saved a lot of heartache for all parties involved and nothing was missed.
This ties in and brings me to the second part of this blog post: having your vendors eat with the bridal party instead of being served last. It may be unorthodox, but it’s a great way to do it, and I’ll tell you why.
Having your vendors eat with your bridal party is CRUCIAL! If you especially have a large wedding (100+ guests) whether it be plated, buffet style, or family style, it can take a while for everyone to be served and then have your vendors be the last to eat. By that time, dinner is almost over for the bridal party and they’re ready to give their speeches to the bride and groom while everyone else is still eating (usually. every wedding is different but almost always, this is how it goes). That means we have to stop whatever we’re doing, and start back up to grab photo, video, etc. And yes, you may be thinking, “that’s your job.” Sure it is! But like everyone else, no one likes a cold plate and no vendor that TRULY cares about giving you the best experience/day possible, wants to miss your moment of when your bridal party has their time to give their speech.
Suggestion: talk with your caterer and setup for them to feed your vendors along with the bridal party.
OR
Suggestion: seat your ‘dream team’ table closer to your family tables so they can eat when you eat.
I hope this helps you in your planning and gives you some insight to our time with you on the most special day of your life.
Happy planning!
xoxo, Dana
