What is a “wedding hangover” and why do vendors get it?
Carole and I get asked this question on occasion and let me first say that it has nothing to do with drinking.
In fact, the wedding hangover typically affects most vendors at the wedding including wedding DJs, wedding planners, wedding catering, and yes us photographers and videographers too.
Today, we’ll chat a little bit about it and why it happens.
It’s the day after the wedding
Truthfully, wedding vendors work hard both physically and mentally to get the job done.
Many times we extend ourselves physically in ways we normally don’t, for example, I will grab footage on the dance floor while swaying to the music. That doesn’t help, but it makes for good footage.
After a long day of moving gear, being on your feet 95% of the wedding day take a toll on your body and it’s a lot like having a hangover, just without the splitting headache you get when you’ve been drinking.
Symptoms usually include:
Body aches
Back pain, neck pain, and general sometimes dehydration
Being tired physically and mentally worn out
Swollen feet
Mild headaches
One of the things I can tell you is that after 22 years, you still get a wedding hangover at just about every single wedding, as you get older, the more your body hurts and the longer it takes to recover from it.
When I was 20 and filming weddings, it was usually half a day to recover, today at 43, it’s pretty much the entire day now.
How Vendors Recover from a Wedding Hangover?
People recover differently and I went to the wedding videographers’ Facebook group to ask how others tend to deal with their hangovers. Here are just a few snippets of what people said.
“Honestly don’t get it anymore. I walk 3 miles a day and do a HIIT workout 3 times a week. I drink a ton of water before. I am in bad shape... I’m fat and this has worked for me. I also pace myself during the wedding day.”
“I found that taking 15 minutes to do stretches/yoga during dinner time resulted in my feeling much less sore the next day.”
“Most of it is hydration. Once I started drinking more water and specifically drinks with electrolytes, I haven’t really had wedding hangovers anymore”
“Drinking water throughout the day helps for sure. Also, on the way home, grab a Gatorade or Powerade to drink. I’m also looking into trying Liquid IV. I heard that also helps!”
“I also find that the more water I drink on a wedding day the faster my body bounces back the next day.”
Not Everyone Gets a Wedding Hangover
I will state that not everyone gets the hangover, in part, it comes to your mindset, your age, how great of shape that you are in, and the like too.
I also did another Facebook poll and asked wedding vendors if they had experienced the hangover in general.
With roughly 88 vendors responding, 91% said they experienced the hangover, while the remaining 9% said they never have it.
Vendors that have Wedding Hangover
One of the reasons why some professionals rarely do back-to-back weddings on a given weekend is because of the hangover they experience.
Leaving you this thought today, weddings are physically and emotionally demanding on the vendors that work them, be sure to give a little grace when dealing with vendors and know that they should be working hard to make your wedding day a success.