Wedding Tipping Guide
As the saying goes….”tips are appreciated but never expected.” So let’s talk about this often-not-talked-about topic. Tipping wedding vendors is an expression of appreciation for a job well-done. They are voluntary in almost every situation; however some vendors build in automatic gratuity…which never really made sense to me. Then, I figure…they are not “voluntary”! Here’s my wedding tipping guide for showing gratitude toward all vendors.
- Read your contract and make sure gratuity is or is not built into the final invoice. Often catering and bar invoices do have gratuity built in. In that case, you do not need to “tip” again…however…I’ve learned over the years that not always does that built-in gratuity go directly to the people who worked your wedding on that night. Sometimes, it is taken to the powers that be and they divvy up all tips for the month to all employees who worked in that month. You have every right to inquire and truly understand their tipping procedures.
- Do not try to tip vendors yourself on your wedding night. Don’t let your father try to do it either. Trust me when I say this is a bad idea. You are busy, Dad is busy. Most likely you’ll never see your florist, cake delivery, rental delivery people. Most likely you’ll only see your officiant for the 30-minute ceremony and you certainly don’t want to hand him a cash envelope when you enter the altar. Here’s my policy with all of my clients….create wedding vendor tip envelopes, seal them, and label them for each vendor. Give those envelopes to me at the rehearsal and I’ll account for them and then hand them out for you during your day. True story…one wedding I had a Dad who wanted to tip everyone himself….he drank too much, was celebrating, having fun…and missed all the day-time delivery, set up, and decor vendors. And then by evening he remembered he had a very large wad of cash in his pocket and didn’t know what to do with it. So he handed it to me at 9p and said….figure it out. I had to politely decline. First, he missed over 70% of the people who should have had tips, and second, I could not be responsible for that large of a wad of cash without safe keeping and explicit instructions. Sealed, Marked. Envelopes…the day before.
- If you love a vendor always always leave them a great review online. This is very valuable because reviews are how we get more business. Please do this…Google, Wedding Wire, The Knot, Zola are the biggest avenues.
- A hand-written note goes a long way. It melts my heart to get one of these. Please show your appreciation with a note of thanks.
- It’s impossible to tell you “how much to tip wedding vendors” because that is very discretionary…what I typically see is about 10% of your bill to your major vendors. Wait staff can get $50 bills. Delivery drivers often get $30 – $50. And Officiants often get a donation to their church for $100 – $500.
- Plan for tips when you plan your budget. It’s part of your overall spending budget, put it on that spreadsheet and save for it.
All in all, ask your planner for guidance, and don’t be afraid to discuss it. Showing your appreciation for the hard work that went into your best day ever is very much appreciated by all.