Vendor meal requirement--is this odd?

That’s a pretty common clause to ensure they’re not getting served a happy meal.


I just asked my vendors: hey, my caterer provides a separate vendor meal. Is that ok? It might not be the same as guests.”

I’ve never heard of offering a different meal to the vendors, that seems impolite. If they specifically requested it’s likely they’ve felt disrespected in the past with a second hand meal option.

Doesn’t sound odd at all. If anything, it’s actually courteous and expected to do that. Plus it ensures that they don’t have to skip out in the middle to go get a hot meal elsewhere.

I think this is common. It's to avoid situations like the meme below. This was a vendor meal at a wedding where the guests got a 6-course meal with lobster:

In my catering contract, the vendor meals cost the same as a children's meal. Yes, it's an extra expense, but these people are spending 6+ hours on their feet to make your wedding happen.

My vendor contracts just required a hot meal. Most caterers provide cheaper vendor meals

View Quoted Comment Just to clarify, I'm not saying I don't plan on serving my vendors a full hot meal with the portions and main protein of a guest meal. I specifically don't want to serve them caviar and truffle pasta. I want to be respectful, but I don't think leaving off those items is disrespectful.

Some of my vendor contracts required a hot meal, but none required the exact same food that the guests were eating. This definitely strikes me as odd. We had a very formal wedding and spent roughly $250 a plate. None of our vendors expected to be served the exact same thing... Pretty sure our vendor meals cost around $75 a person. They were served nice hot food (basically different versions of what we ate) but not the exact same thing, and definitely not the same presentation, because ours was a multi-course plated meal.

View Quoted Comment Commented on this above, but I don't think serving a slightly less expensive meal at a very expensive per-plate event is disrespectful.

View Quoted Comment I'm in a similar situation on plate cost, which is why I balked at it.

View Quoted Comment Then you could ask the videographer, "Hey, would you be OK with getting the chicken/fish but not the caviar?" I can see how it could get awkward if he insists on getting a different meal than the other vendors would

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I would personally push back and ask your videographer if a hot meal would be okay instead. Vendors are hired employees and not guests. It is not disrespectful at all to serve them a nice hot meal prepared by your caterer without it being the exact same thing that guests are eating.

View Quoted Comment Yeah this might be the best solution. The other vendors would definitely not be getting the same meal. We also planned on serving the vendors in one course instead of 3, which I think is reasonable

It is common practice to feed your vendors the same meal as your guests. We’re eloping on the beach and decided on a charcuterie board for our meal. For our vendors, we will be providing to-go charcuterie boxes according to their dietary restrictions.

It's common practice to serve your vendors nice hot meals prepared by the same caterer, but I completely disagree with PPs that it's common practice to serve your vendors the exact same food that guests will be eating. We're having an upscale black tie wedding, but we will not be serving our vendors all of the courses that guests will have (example: truffle bruschetta and beet salad with caviar). Our vendors will each be eating a hot meal with a protein and 3 sides.

I can see it maybe being common practice to serve your vendors the same exact meal for buffet weddings where there is only one course, but for multi-course black tie affairs--nope. Not sure how this would even work logistically, since our photographer and videographer need to capture our speeches and toasts, which will occur during the first and second course.

So to answer your question, yes I do think it's odd.

View Quoted Comment I still find it disrespectful it’s treating them like second class.

I don't think that it's odd, I have seen a few vendor contracts that mention thins similar to that.

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I get where you're coming from, but it's really not.

I worked as a venue coordinator for years, it's totally fine to have a specific vendor meal set-up. Especially in a scenario like this where you've gone very high-end on your food. You're already paying for my services, I don't expect to be treated to a $250 dinner on top of that.

So if you’re talking about multiple courses and the videographer will get the entree but not the first course or something similar to that, I’d talk through that with the videographer and try to change the language in the contract. Our photographer specifically said that they don’t have time to sit for a 3 course meal because they wanted to get other shots in, so it would have been a waste for us to provide all of that. Our vendors were served the entree, but were not served the first two courses.

I am guessing this vendor has seen some things. I mean, we have had people here question the need to feed guests. Since he probably has worked weddings at a variety of venues, he may be covering his bases to avoid having a cold happy meal tossed at him from across the room.
I bet if you ask him if the vendor meal from the venue will work, and if he is familiar with the venue, he’ll be fine. He just wants to have enough fuel to get through the day.

He’s probably gotten screwed in the past, which usually causes changes to their contract. However, seems best to just speak with your videographer directly about the meal he’ll receive. I’m sure if he knows what he’ll be served, he’ll be fine.