Tips for Tipping

Even when you think you have covered everything for your wedding day, there is one thing that many bride’s overlook. Rewarding your vendors for their services. Basically, anyone who provides a service should be given a tip. Tips should be given just before your vendor leaves. That way you can judge how much to give them according to the job they did for you. And all vendors would love a thank you card. It’s a great testimonial for them to book other clients in the future.

While some vendors include a gratuity percentage or amount in their contract fees, many do not. Many just leave it up to you. And figuring out who to tip and how much to tip can be tricky. Here’s who to tip:

Officiants
While you don’t have to tip your minister or priest, a donation to their church is always appreciated. Many will not accept tips. A typical amount is $75 to $100 and this is separate from any other fees you may have been charged by them. If you have your own minister or priest from your church perform the ceremony and they do not charge you, you should definitely make a donation to the church.

Catering Staff
Many caterers include a stated percentage that you will be charged for the staff services, in this case you do not have to give anything additional. If there is no upfront fee for gratuity, you should tip each person on the caterering team, including the caterering manager, chef, chef’s assistants, waiters, bartenders and any other essential workers who help to serve guests. Bartenders should get 10% of the total liquor bill. Waitstaff should be given 15% of the total catering bill. Waitstaff usually do the hardest physical labor on your wedding day, so if you want to give more, I’m sure tell will appreciate it.

Limousine Drivers
Give the driver between 10-15% of the limo bill.

DJs
If the DJ owns the company, you don’t have to tip him, but if your DJ is an employee, you should give him between $50-$100 depending on the job he did.


Wedding Planners
Wedding planners won't likely expect anything; however, if yours did a great job you can always offer a token of your appreciation. (Note: Non-monetary thank-yous like professional photos of the wedding for the planner's portfolio can go a long way too.) Approximately 50 percent of couples do tip their planners.

So don't forget to include the tips in your budget when planning your wedding. Have someone you trust give out the tips, like your wedding planner or the maid of honor or give them out yourself at the end of the night.

Happy Planning!