Why Feed Event Vendors?
You need vendors for any event to succeed, from rental companies to photographers, to decorators and bands. Who should feed event vendors? The answer you get depends on whom you address the question to.
One Type Of Client Speaks
When it comes to working with wedding professionals, there are a few important things every couple should know, one of them is knowing which vendors you should plan to feed. The last thing you need on your wedding day is a low-energy DJ, a worn-out band or a photographer who misses your first dance because he or she is in the back trying to get something to eat.
I speak from experience when I say that you can expect to feel a wave of hunger hit you once your ceremony is over. You feel that sense of relief, and you realize that you haven’t eaten anything else since breakfast. If you haven’t eaten at any point during the day so far, then your wedding vendors likely haven’t either. Especially your media crew, and planner who have been by your side at every point. That wave of hunger you’re feeling, well, they’re feeling it, too. That’s why it’s important to ensure that you feed your event vendors. Provide enough food to sustain them through the rest of the evening.
Another Type Of Client Speaks
I make feeding arrangements for the guests I invite to my party, vendors are not guests. Music bands, ushers, camera crew, security outfits and others are paid to render services. So, it’s expected that you do your job and skedaddle. If you want to spend all of your professional fee on food, it’s up to you. Why should i feed event vendors at my event when i’m already paying them to be there?
When you start adding up all the people who will need to eat a meal as one vendor or the other, the bill really begins to climb. I can’t afford all that extra expenses.
A Vendor Speaks (Band)
Let me give you an example. We were booked to perform at a vow ceremony which was to begin at 12pm and last for two hours. We were also going to perform at the reception which would kick off anytime between 2pm and 3pm. Well, guess what? The vow ceremony didn’t start until 3pm. We spent the 3-hour-wait on our toes, expecting to swing into action as soon as we spotted the couple’s motorcade pulling into the driveway.
By the time the two-in-one event ran its full course, it was 9pm. We had been there since 10am. Thankfully, the Planner for the day had the band’s food packs ready as soon as we finished our sets. Imagine if there had been no plan to feed event vendors, after the difficult day we’d had. We couldn’t go buy anything because we were on stand-by the whole initial 3 hours waiting for the couple to arrive.
We do agree that not every event is stressful, we also know that not every planner is humane. At a vendors meeting once, i had to explain why the band needed seats, and why the seats needed to be close to the stage. At a wedding the band plays in sets. In between the sets, other activities which could sometimes last up to 30 minutes, happen. What are we meant to do when those other activities are going on? Just stand-in-place grinning at the guests?
A Planner Speaks
Some clients understand that making provision to feed event vendors is the correct thing to do, knowing that wedding days for instance, keeps most vendors busy from dawn till dusk. In some cases, some clients even include their guests drivers in the meal plan. However, we shouldn’t demonize the ones who feel the vendor should not be fed. It’s the client’s prerogative whether he or she wants to feed the vendors or not. We are there to manage their resources and help them achieve the goal for that particular event.
I know planners and caterers who go out of their way to include a budget for vendors’ food, then at the end of the day, the vendors reject the food because its not ‘the same’ as what the guests were served. How do you think that planner would feel knowing that the kind gesture was rejected? I think some of these vendors have an “entitlement” mentality.
A Caterer Speaks
As a matter of policy, some caterers provide food for specific vendors at events. They make arrangements for extra food alongside what the client booked for, so that the band or DJ, the media crew, the make-up-artistes will have the energy needed to do their jobs.
My Opinion
Planners are not the enemy, they work according to the wishes of the client. The client is not the enemy either, he or she is the employer and there is a budget for every event. The vendor. needs to answer a question. If i wasn’t working that day, would i not eat at home or any other place?
Ideally the band owner or manager should negotiate their feeding along with the performance charges. Its even easier if its in the contract. But, this is Lagos…, you can only go that route if you’re a prominent outfit who has made a name. You can’t be giving conditions and waving a contract in people’s faces when you can be replaced in a heartbeat. However, my stand still remains this; if you didn’t have an event job that day, wouldn’t you feed yourself at home or any other place?
Final Words
So, when you are engaged for a job, go there prepared and fortified. Have plans in place for your own meals that will not interfere with your work. If there’s a plan in place to feed event vendors, good. If not, you’re still good-to-go. When your brand begins to gather traction and you are now a force to be reckoned with, you can add a feeding policy to your contract.
Band EnRoute is a professional high-energy music band put together by Isaac Otokpa. If you need top-notch and impeccably delivered music entertainment for your social or corporate event, Band EnRoute is the band to book!
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