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tipping

mrs.mermaid12mrs.mermaid12 member
First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
in Wedding Etiquette Forum
Our catering has a gratuity built in but I am unsure about what to do for our other vendors.
I feel like somewhere along the way I read if the person delivering the service is the company owner your not to tip but if they are a member of a team supplied by the hired company then you do. I think I also saw though for some vendors a glowing review and referrals is more appreciated.
So here is what we have ...
photographer and second shooter - photographer is company owner, good friend, pretty much second choice we made after deciding to get married
hair & makeup- one girl who is the company owner
videographer and second shooter- hired team members brought in by company owner
What are your thoughts or suggestions for this??  
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Re: tipping

  • SP29SP29 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    What you have heard is correct- technically you do not tip someone who owns their own business as they should be setting their rates at an appropriate amount to earn a profit. Reviews and referrals are always the best for any business.

    Personally, I still tend to tip based on the quality of the service. We tipped both our DJ and the person who made our cupcakes; in both cases they did a great job and charged us a really good price. We did not tip our photographer as we were less than happy with the final service (do not tip until you have received your photos!). We did not tip our florist, as we felt we got what we paid for, no more. Our venue also had gratuity built in, so we left it at that. If you have a specific person who is your venue coordinator or day of coordinator, sometimes couples will tip that person.
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  • LtPowersLtPowers member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper First Answer
    SP29 said:
    What you have heard is correct- technically you do not tip someone who owns their own business as they should be setting their rates at an appropriate amount to earn a profit. Reviews and referrals are always the best for any business.
    All true!

    That said, there may be some mitigating circumstances. If your stylists are traveling to you and not charging extra for that service, for example, I would probably tip both of them generously. If your photographer is a good friend and giving you a discount as a result, I would get him or her a nice thank-you gift.

    I'm also not clear on how to graciously tip the assistant without tipping the company owner (as in the case of the stylists and the photographers). It's one thing to simply not tip the business owner; it's another thing to explicitly exclude him or her from being tipped.
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