Tipping Etiquette

missteacherlady16

Hi everyone,

I started looking at what's acceptable/expected/preferred for tipping various wedding vendors and I found this article to be somewhat helpful http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-budget/articles/wedding-vendor-tipping-cheat-sheet.aspx

However, I was still a little confused how I should tip the wait staff for my reception. In my contract, they include 10% gratuity. What would be an acceptable tip above and beyond that? Is it necessary? Note: I used to cater and I know all companies are different but I was given a flat hourly rate and only received extra $ when the clients handed over an envelope of money at the end of the night which probably happened about 50% of the time. I don't have a lot of experience with this but I know I worked hard when I catered (since there was usually only 5 or so of us for 200+ guests) though I never expected that tip at the end of the night either. I only worked for one catering company so I don't really know what is the norm here. I, of course, want to be sure that I express my gratitude for their har work, but with only 2 paychecks left to the wedding, I'm feeling a little thinly stretched here (not saying I don't have tipping money, I just don't have a lot of it to go around right now). 

Thoughts/suggestions greatly appreciated  

BrandNewJ

I believe if the tip for the wait staff is included in the contract you do not need to tip extra unless you feel like it/they went above and beyond.

melbenso

BrandNewJ said:

I believe if the tip for the wait staff is included in the contract you do not need to tip extra unless you feel like it/they went above and beyond.

This.  Except that 10% is a low tip amount (assuming they are making server wages, if they are making standard minimum wage or higher, I think 10% is fine).  If I were you, I would ask the catering company to see the range of pay the servers will get and confirm that the tip amount goes directly to them in addition to that.  That's what I did when figuring out how to tip at our wedding.  And while the DOC wasn't comfortable giving me the actual rate of pay, she did give me a general range that allowed me to figure out what a good tip would be.

mysticl

missteacherlady16 said:

Hi everyone,

I started looking at what's acceptable/expected/preferred for tipping various wedding vendors and I found this article to be somewhat helpful http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-budget/articles/wedding-vendor-tipping-cheat-sheet.aspx

However, I was still a little confused how I should tip the wait staff for my reception. In my contract, they include 10% gratuity. What would be an acceptable tip above and beyond that? Is it necessary? Note: I used to cater and I know all companies are different but I was given a flat hourly rate and only received extra $ when the clients handed over an envelope of money at the end of the night which probably happened about 50% of the time. I don't have a lot of experience with this but I know I worked hard when I catered (since there was usually only 5 or so of us for 200+ guests) though I never expected that tip at the end of the night either. I only worked for one catering company so I don't really know what is the norm here. I, of course, want to be sure that I express my gratitude for their har work, but with only 2 paychecks left to the wedding, I'm feeling a little thinly stretched here (not saying I don't have tipping money, I just don't have a lot of it to go around right now). 

Thoughts/suggestions greatly appreciated  

If a gratuity was built into the contract it may have been passed on to you as part of your paycheck instead of being doled out separately as cash.  

eaholy

My contract says I have a service charge of 18%, so I'm assuming I don't have to tip extra? Also what is everyone tipping their coordinator at the reception? Mine has been helpful 50% of the time but I feel like I should give her something. Thanks for the help!

LDay2014

we are having a restaurant reception and for parties over 10 people they automatically add a 15% gratuity.

Makes it easy