Wedding Vendors: To Tip or Not to Tip
With so many wedding expenses, it’s easy to forget about tipping your wedding vendors on the big day. While it isn’t necessary to tip all of your vendors, some will definitely appreciate — and expect — it. A wedding planner, if you’re using one, best man or family member typically handles doling out gratuities.
First, make sure to check your contracts. Oftentimes, gratuity may already be included for some services, such as your caterer’s wait staff or limousine driver. But if not, tipping is a nice gesture, especially for those vendors who exceed your expectations or do an outstanding job. At the bare minimum, thank you-notes are always appreciated.
Remember, every couple is different and some can tip more than others. Here’s a quick cheat sheet based on averages we calculated after talking to grooms, brides and vendors:
Ceremony Musicians – if you’ve hired an orchestra, band or vocalists for the ceremony, $15-$20 per musician is customary. (Note that you don’t need to tip the solo organist at the church.)
DJs or Bands – $20-$25 for musicians/individual band members; $25-$50 for DJs.
Officiant – while it isn’t necessary to tip your officiant, a separate donation to the religious institution is a standard gesture.
Wedding Planners, Photographers, Videographers – tipping isn’t necessary for vendors who own their own businesses. But for those who go above and beyond, we highly recommend a 10% tip. If your budget doesn’t allow for that, providing professional photographs displaying the vendor’s handiwork is a solid gesture.
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Grooms and brides: do your vendor contracts have tips built in? Have you and your fiance talked about vendor gratuity? Let us know in the comments section below. Vendors: we’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic as well.
Tags: Tipping Wedding Vendors, Wedding Vendor Gratuity, Wedding Vendors
August 31st, 2010 at 10:08 am
While I don’t expect a tip from my clients at all. I do really appreciate it. Even if it’s the act of writing an awesome review online or doing a promo piece with me, its the act of going above and beyond to show their appreciation for the hard work my assistants and I put into it. The last couple of clients we have had went overboard with us! One did Tip us over 10% and the other in addition to the same, sent each of us home with mini versions of their wedding cake! ( My kids were happy about that! So Tip away and watch the positives of showing you see us as humans and not some souless machine!
March 2nd, 2012 at 3:57 pm
I really dont grasp the concept of expected tipping for wedding vendors.
For example my caterer is charging almost 5000 for my 100 person wedding, charging separately for the cost of each meal per guest, captain, the chef, the waiters, some linens and a “facility fee” and taxes. They then have the nerve to add on “15% gratuity” and then after my final invoice let me know that additional tipping is welcome. I just dont get it. I run my own lesson business and we have rates for services provided. No one tips us and we don’t expect it. Isn’t doing the catering their JOB? I don’t understand why we should be grateful for them just doing their job. In that case, why don’t we tip doctors, teachers, policemen etc.? They are all providing services that are just as challenging or necessary as carrying food from the kitchen and placing it on a table.