tipping

ShayWM

Tipping!  It can get wildly out of control.  Who do we tip?  Who do we not tip?

Obvious to me are: bartenders/servers/reception venue, hair and make up, limo drivers...

But who else?

MoonlightSilver

Many caterers will include the tip in the amount you owe them, so check your contract before you tip any bartenders or servers (unless they're hired separately). 

It's my understanding that you should tip anyone who doesn't run their own business. The knot has a nice little tipping guide (clicky) with the "standard" amounts, and whether a tip is expected or not for each vendor. 

ShayWM

Thanks for the tip!  Ceremony officiant was a new one to me.  What about flowers?

JessiHol1230

Honestly, here is my thought, tips are tips because you think that someone did a good enough job to deserve a little something extra.  It shouldn't go by who everyone says you should tip but by how well you think they did their job.  So what if they own their own business, if they did a great job and went above and beyond and you feel they deserve a tip, give them one.  If your DJ or photographer was amazing, give them a tip, if your officiant, was ok, don't.  To me it's simple, but maybe other's don't have the same mind set??  Good luck!

ShayWM

No, I hear ya, it's just I don't want to insult anyone or be disrespectful if I give them or don't give them an amount that is customary.  We're also talking about tipping on bills that are thousands of dollars and I want to make sure I prepare the budget accordingly.

Vanessa630

Hey Shay!

We tipped the ceremony coordinator, altar girl, reception coordinator, limo drivers, shuttle driver, hair/makeup artists, DJ, and photographer.  I think that was it. 

Oh- we also had a  bridal attendant during the reception so I tipped her.  I didn't realize she would be our "personal assistant" so I ran out of cash for the tip envelopes and ended up mailing checks to a couple of our vendors (whose addresses I had).  Even though some people say not to tip professionals who run their own business, I didn't really go by that rule.  My photographer, for example, went above and beyond...plus had an assistant... so I tipped.

Also, I don't have the website saved but I remember doing a quick google search because, in some instances, it's unrealistic to tip a percentage of however many thousands of dollars you spent, so i think there's a tip "rule" of nothing more than $200 or $150.... something like that.

Good luck!!