Vogue & Bride Magazine Says There's No Need to Feed Wedding Photographers -- No Need to Hire them at All

It's been a while since we wrote an impassioned article here on the blog. But Vogue and Brides Magazine's latest faux pas deserve one.

*Featured photo by A Dash of Jamie*

If you haven't known already, in a poor attempt at being hipsters, Vogue published an article on their website on the 10 wedding "rules" that you can break. One of those rules according to Vogue, is ditching a professional wedding photographer. In this tacky article, the author further explains that in the digital/social media age, brides can just rely on their guests to capture the raw moments of the wedding--she says guests can capture photos through their phones and that you can provide disposable cameras on each table. And because we find this article extremely absurd, we don't want to give it any further traction so we won't link that article here at all.

 Vogue's sister publication Brides Magazine on the other hand,  posted an article on who among your wedding vendors you can, and don't need to feed during your wedding. This other tacky article, dared to brainwash couples into thinking that not all vendors are created equal--wedding photographers in particular don't have to be fed at all, so they say. As of this writing, Brides Magazine seems to have realized their mistake because when you try to click on this article, you won't be able to read it anymore. But the damage has been done. Wedding Photographers have already expressed their violent reactions all over the world. And I don't blame them. 

How can these two institutions be so irresponsible??? I don't have to be a Vogue editor to know the basic common sense that each article that goes out into the world whether on print or online need to reflect what my brand stands for. Vogue is supposed to stand for class. And suggesting that brides ditch professional wedding photographers in replace of iPhones and disposable cameras is just beyond classless. Some of the comments on this article even said that it's hypocritical of Vogue to degrade professional photography when their publication relies heavily on the highest quality of fashion photography possible. And we can't help but agree on this observation. 

We at Rebellious Brides, have always repeatedly argued the importance of good wedding photography. And we'd like to refute Vogue with 2 simple counter arguments of our own:

1. Wedding Photography is not just about capturing raw moments--it's also about immortalizing your wedding for generations to come. It will be one of your most important moments of your life, and that's why you need a professional to photograph your wedding because they have obviously made it their life's work to learn how to do just that. You can confidently rely on them to do their job well vs  a guest who is just snapping photo after photo. In our experience, while intentions are good, guests often take unflattering photos. Incidentally, "raw" moments are the hardest to capture. And that's why you need a professional to capture those as well. 

2. Let's say for a moment that you have guests who do know how to capture moments. Isn't it a bit tacky to give them this assignment? Don't you want them to be there during your wedding to enjoy too? Instead, you're going to give them the job of photographing the wedding? And what if they don't deliver? What if nobody even took good photos? What if nobody got your walk down the aisle? Or your first kiss? Are you going to blame your guests for not delivering your expected results? 

Now as for not feeding your vendors--regardless if they are wedding photographers or somebody else, this is just wrong on so many levels. And here's us talking to Brides Magazine directly: Just because eating may not be on your priority in life doesn't mean you can expect other people to function well without food. 

Feeding your suppliers is common decency. It's the most humane thing to do--regardless if it's in their contract or not. 

We always say this on the blog and we want to repeat it again: your wedding suppliers are the people who are making your dream wedding possible. Doesn't that make them VIPs in their own right? Treat them like friends, guests, or family. So much depends on them. They are not just there to do a job. They are there to do the ultimate job. So treat them with respect. And feeding them is a sign of respect. Some comments on this article argue that suppliers simply need to feed themselves. The logic they say, is that other people who are at work have to buy or bring their own food anyway. While that is true, during a wedding the suppliers have little to no lunch breaks. So it's the couple's job (through their coordinator) to make sure that there is a proper lunch break window for suppliers. And the reason why you should provide the food is because you wouldn't want a supplier going missing just because they left to go and get their food. 

Vogue and Brides Magazine need to be more responsible when they post articles like these. In their desire to churn our tons of articles, they have relied on contributing writers to do the job for them--without any type of filtering. And that is just preposterous. They should look at things on a macro perspective. Not only do they have a responsibility to their readers, but they also have the responsibility to respect the professionals who work behind-the-scenes. To belittle wedding photographers is so crass--something that we would never have expected from two prestigious publications. So much of their business depends on professional photographers. Didn't they realize that? So what if photographers decided to not work with them. What are they going to do then? 

We are champions of rebelliousness but we don't condone being rebellious for rebelliousness sake. To suggest that wedding photographers be treated this way ain't being modern, contemporary, or different. It's just bad manners period. 

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