Counted as guests?

KelFraser08

Ok so I'm not sure if this has already been answered but I'm really confused about the proper etiquette for this. Do you include your vendors in your guest count (like photographer, dj, or anyone else that will be at your reception during the actual party)? If anyone can clear this up for me it would be great. Thanks!

anna.oskar

No.  They are not included in your guest count.  You will want to inform them how many vendors (dj, photog) so they can prepare a plate for them to eat as well.

Kristin789

Your on-site vendors (like photog, DJ, etc.) will be having the half-price vendor meal that does not include alcohol and probably does not include the cake if the cake cutting will come later in the evening when the photog and the DJ will be working. Your regular guests will be having the full meal and all that goes with it. So on the guest count you give your venue, you will have one number for your regular guests having the full meal and all, and another number of vendor meals.

lpstl

I assume this is the guest count you'll give to your caterer? If so it's up to you, most caterers will provide a vendor meal which we opted for. However, there was so much extra regular food that we ended up letting them go for that.

tidetravel

No. They are working at your wedding, so they are not guests. For catering purposes, you do have to feed them, however, I would let your venue know that you have #X guests and #Y vendors. The exception to this may be your officiant (and his/her spouse, if applicable). They are usually sent an invite to the reception.

aMrsin09

Ditto all the PPs, but I would include them in your headcount for venue capacity.

thesuninherhead

I did, but all of our vendors were friends or family.

anna.oskar

For the record. Vendor meals are not always half price. sometimes they are just as expensive, sometimes free. Check with your caterer to be sure.

ExpatPumpkin

We didn't include our vendors in our head count, but we did feed them... They had their own room to spread out in and ordered whatever they wanted off the hotel's regular restaurant menu. The band also had access to the bar

missamory

i had at couple vendors (pianist, photographer, doc), that i considered guests and wanted them to enjoy a meal from the wedding.but some i only provided a vendor meal.  (the nanny and the harpist, i never met either!) looking back the DOC should have just been a vendor and treated as such.i treated her differently than she treated me, that was my mistake. but shes an asss.as far as etiquette i believe you are not obligated to treat anyone. only as you see fit. such as my pianist whom i took lessons from. no way is he a "vendor."you can decipher i am sure.good luck.

thesuninherhead

What happened with your DOC, missamory?

jamm2019

I did not include them on my guest count for my caterer.  But my caterer makes extra food anyway.  My Photographer, DJ, and Bartenders ate food at my wedding.  Also the caterers servers ate the food to.  I didn't mind at all...We actually had a ton of food left over.  The caterer boxed it up and put it in the cooler at my venue.  My husband and I took some home, and gave the rest to some homeless familes...

smh8809

I would check with your reception location.  At my venue the vendors were counted as part of the guest list and sat at a table.  My venue does not offer vendor meals so they ate what everyone else ate.

lyndausvi

It depends on the venue.  Just ask them how they want the vendor to be included.  In most cases you can just say 100 guests, 5 vendors for a total of 105 people. for example on the boat we can only have 49 passengers.  Period.  Vendor are considered passengers.  So in that case yes they need to be included in the guest count even though we do not charge the vendor for being on the boat.