The doors to the back of the church open and standing there is the bride, looking more beautiful than she ever has in her life. Her gown white as snow and hair gracefully up-swept and a blush on her cheeks. She takes the first few steps down the center aisle of the church, towards where her tuxedo dressed, beaming groom awaits at the altar with their bridal party all dressed to the nines. All eyes are on her as she walks towards one of the most momentous decisions in her life…

Suddenly a guy in bowling shoes, black jeans and a camp shirt with half the tail of the camp shirt hanging outside his pants, steps into the center aisle from the pews, blocking the brides progress. All eyes turn to this shabbily dressed man as he lifts a camera, snaps 2 pictures and disappears back into the pews.

This is a true story, that I personally witnessed at my cousin’s wedding 4 years ago. Sadly I would have to look up pictures I have of the wedding to tell you what my cousin looked like in her dress, but the poorly dressed appearance of her wedding photographer is burned into my mind, especially at that moment. My cousin had sent out invites that said formal dress required and all of the guests were properly dressed. It was disgusting, he stuck out like sore thumb and my aunt asked him to leave early into the reception.

— Jennifer Berman

Jennifer is a friend of mine from Chicago. I called and asked her to write her story down after reading this post from Preston Bailey. Frankly the poor dress of some vendors has become a real problem in the wedding market, especially among photographers, videographers, photo booth hosts and disc jockeys.

Here at Michiana Weddings we have seen photographers in similar dress to what Jennifer describes and even muscleman tshirts. We recently saw a photo of some videographers running around a wedding with “staff” printed on the back of their polo shirts covering three quarters of the fabric. One local photo booth company shows up to weddings in sweatshirts and blue jeans or tshirts in the summer. DJs can be the worst offenders, blue jeans and Def Leppard t-shirt was one of the all time worst we have seen.

Some brides may shrug their shoulders and say, we don’t care, it’s no big deal but the truth of the matter is that it is. Yes we have somewhat become a casual society and guests will show up n bluejeans themselves. However the problem with vendors dressing down is that it is like waving a flag saying “here I am, I’m dressed poorly”. A vendor is different from a guest because as Jennifer describes, here was a photographer that stepped in front of a bride on her way down the aisle to be married. All eyes were on her and when that photographer stepped out into the aisle in front of her, all eyes were now on him and he was a distraction! A poorly dressed guess can disappear into a corner, or into a group of people, a vendor is front and center, in front of everyone and when a person who is poorly dressed steps into the spotlight next to someone who is dressed to the nines in their wedding gown or tux, the contrast between the two is like a flare being lite. Where as if the person is properly attired so that they look like 80% of your guests, the contrast drops.

In our opinion at Michiana Weddings, you are paying a vendor to behave like a professional and respect you and your guests. An improperly dressed vendor is not only unprofessional, they are an insult to your wedding, or party, or event, which you have planned so diligently for so long! Demand that the person you are paying respect you, ask them how they will dress and don’t be afraid to demand that the dress code want them to follow, is written into their contract!

- Amy
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