A wedding photographer has sparked a conversation surrounding how we treat staff at weddings and other events after she was left with no utensils for her meal.
Some people argued that clients should always provide those who are working for them with an adequate space and items for meals. Others believed that staff was not entitled to meals at all.
The wedding photographer recorded herself eating her food with her hands after the wedding vendors failed to provide her with utensils.
In a TikTok video viewed over 1 million times, wedding photographer Megan Milad shared her experience documenting a wedding where the vendors did not give her utensils for her meal when dinnertime came around. Additionally, she had no private space or breakroom to enjoy her meal. According to Milad, it is not the first time she’s encountered this issue.
“Another wedding I’m eating dinner with my hands cause the vendors forgot utensils for the photographers,” she wrote in the text overlay of the video. Milad picks apart using her fingers. “The steak made this extra fun,” she included in the video’s caption.
Some TikTok users were appalled by the vendors’ treatment of the photographer.
“Everyone will be fed properly at my wedding, especially the people working hard to make my day go amazing. Can’t imagine not feeding people for 10 hours,” one user shared.
However, others believed that Milad created her own problem.
“It’s very easy to ask for utensils if they forgot them for you,” one user wrote. “I really don’t understand why photographers can’t just bring their own food…like I go to work every day and have to bring my own lunch,” another user commented.
In a follow-up video, Milad defended herself against comments stating that she should have packed her own meal instead of expecting the wedding vendors to feed her.
“We have no break room. We have nowhere to store our food, we have nowhere to heat it,” she explains. “We have no seats. Half the time I’m sitting on the ground.”
At the particular wedding that Milad posted her viral video about, she shares that during her meal she was sitting against the wall on the floor at the Los Angeles venue. The vendors had only provided her with a spoon.
Milad adds that while she understood that the venue did not have a space for her to eat, it was embarrassing for her to have to eat with her hands in front of guests.
She highlights the grueling demands of being a wedding photographer, a job that requires you to be on your feet for long hours with no bathroom breaks for up to eight hours.
“You’re working on capturing every single moment up until you get that small break for dinner which could be five minutes, 10 minutes, or 15 minutes,” she says.
Milad claims that it is industry standard to provide your vendors with a meal at some point during their shift, although it does not need to be the meal the guests are given. She also shares that she does not to be treated like a guest. “I don’t want to be sitting with your guests, I want to break away from the guests,” she says. “The best part is to decompress.”
Although it is not a requirement, it is considered bad etiquette to neglect providing wedding staff including photographers and DJs with meals and utensils. After all, they are working tirelessly to ensure that your big day is one you can remember forever.
Giving them a much-needed meal break (with utensils) is the least that could be done for them.
