Meals for DJ

LisaBoiteau

Can anyone tell me the proper etiquette for meals for DJ and his employees (4 total).  I've heard from one person that works at a facility that DJ's meals come out of their salary for the event if they wish to eat.  This is the 2nd wedding for both of us and it's been a VERY long time between, so I'm not sure what the proper procedure for this is.

1. Do we contact DJ and ask if they will be eating @ $_ _._ _ per plate? 

2. Do we just include them? 

brittany634

I'd look at your contract, usually they state that you are required to feed them. However if they don't it's kind of a courtesy thing to do, he's going to be there for how many hours? That's just my opinion though.

souptin

We are feeding ours. The venue gave us a "vendor meal" price which was much less than the regular guest per plate price.

kmmssg

I've never ever heard of it coming out of the DJ's fee for the meal.  Check your contract.

Meegles4

You should feed them and not "charge" them by deducting it from their fee or otherwise having them cover the cost. Therefore, you shouldn't tell them the price of the meal. If you are doing plated meals and have options (i.e. meat or veggie), you could ask what he and his staff prefer. You could also talk to the venue and it's possible they do vendor meals for a slightly lower cost than your standard guest meals.

But, if it's a buffet or you don't have meal choices, you just let them know there will be food available. I also had a vendor table  in the corner near the DJ table that was available for all of my vendors (photographer, DJ, photo booth staff) to sit and eat for a few minutes. I did see some of them take advantage of it. In the DJ's case, he/she may eat at their DJ table, but since he has staff and all of that, I'd provide somewhere else for them to park and eat.

[Deleted User]

We're feeding our vendors, just one dj & one photographer, but it wasn't part of our DJ contract. I have heard of vendor meals in the past. I've heard that they are a more simple meal, sometimes a sandwich.

KellyBrian2013

We fed our DJ (and our photographer) the same exact meal as all of our guests, despite his contract not requiring a meal. Think of it this way: happy, full vendors are going to do a better job than those who are tired, hungry, and a little miffed that you opted not to feed them (or that you charged them for their food).

Ali092011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_meals-for-dj?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:28903195-6c81-46a5-89d2-0bf3a68ab1c7Post:c79ee600-1df4-4cba-8ea4-3c9e0a8da224">Re: Meals for DJ</a>:
[QUOTE]We fed our DJ (and our photographer) the same exact meal as all of our guests, despite his contract not requiring a meal. Think of it this way: happy, full vendors are going to do a better job than those who are tired, hungry, and a little miffed that you opted not to feed them (or that you charged them for their food).
Posted by KellyBrian2013[/QUOTE]

This exactly.

Jen4948

Check your contract.  If it requires you to feed them, then you need to feed them.  I've never heard of this coming out of their salary either.  Still, I agree with KellyBrian2013 that it is kind and gracious to do so and conducive to getting good perfomances from your vendors.

Kate61487

ditto PPs.  And definitely ask your venue about it.  We did family-style for our meal and the venue told me not to include vendors in the count at all, but that they'd make sure they each got a plate.

kaos16

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_meals-for-dj?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:28903195-6c81-46a5-89d2-0bf3a68ab1c7Post:5349d731-1bcb-4918-bdc1-3f3ec5be7159">Re: Meals for DJ</a>:
[QUOTE]I have never heard of four DJ employees. This sounds excessive. Obviously you should feed them but that's over the top.
Posted by scribe95[/QUOTE]

In total I think we had 7 guys with our DJ set up between DJ,MC,lighting, photobooth and percussionist.. . . . . Four people doesn't sound at all unreasonable to me.

In any event, my husband DJ's in his spare time and the cost of his meal has never come out of his pay.  That seems unbelievably rude in my opinion.  The DJ is providing a service to you, and will be doing so for upwards of 5 hours, not including travel and set up time.  I think that providing him or her a meal, along with whomever else is providing a service to you (photographer, videographer, etc) is the right thing to do.

As PPs mentioned, a lot of venues have a discounted vendor rate.

LisaBoiteau

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_meals-for-dj?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:28903195-6c81-46a5-89d2-0bf3a68ab1c7Post:5349d731-1bcb-4918-bdc1-3f3ec5be7159">Re: Meals for DJ</a>:
[QUOTE]I have never heard of four DJ employees. This sounds excessive. Obviously you should feed them but that's over the top.
Posted by scribe95[/QUOTE]

<div>Our DJ has an Emcee that works with him, also thieir company has a photobooth that we are using as well and there are 2 people operating that.</div><div>
</div><div>Thanks for the info.</div>

LisaBoiteau

  I thought what that person told us was not correct.  And thank you all for the info it is greatly appreciated.  

vanityink

I'm not having a DJ, but I know in my photographer's contract it states you must feed her/her assistant at least a vendor's meal. If you give them the same food as your guests you get a credit towards your pictures later. I thought it was an interesting way to go about it.