My last question...tipping?

Litgirl77

Yikes - it's the home stretch! Time for lots of weird questions to pop up that I haven't thought about yet.So...girls who had caterers come in to a venue. How did you tip? On the food cost alone? On the total cost (which includes rental of equipment, linens, etc)? Did you tip each server? Just the manager?And finally - did you tip anyone else? Photographer, videographer, day of coordinator, band/dj? I know it depends on service, but I was just curious. Thanks to everyone for this and SO many other questions you've answered along the way! This board has been instrumental in all my planning!

kar45

Hi! I didn't have a caterer, so I can't help you on that one, but we did tip the rest. We tipped the photographer & videographer $100 each because they stayed well after the band ended, as people were still hanging around.We tipped each band member $20 and I believed offered the owner a tip, but he declined (he played in the band).We also tipped the hotel coordinator, as we felt she too stayed much later than contracted and was even on her hands and knees helping us pack up vases the next morning. We also tipped hair and makeup 20%. Only tip if you think they deserve it - you are not obligated to tip, but it is a nice way of saying thank you!

amybs77

Our caterer was our venue and the tip was included. I did tip our venue coordinator additonally, I think $75. As for others we did tip the following: bartenders- begining of the evening, $25 to each dj - $50 photographer - $100 - she went above and beyond

citybride09

We tipped each server / waitstaff / kitchen staff / bartenders $30 each + the catering coordinator, the head chef and the head staff person $100 each. In total it came out to about 13% of our total food cots. Our caterer told us that 10 - 15% of food cost was standard. We didn't tip on our bar cost because it was provided by the venue, not the caterer. We knew exactly how many staff we would have so I pre-sorted into envelopes that were handed out at the end of the night. The caterer said the servers like it the best this way because 1) its instant gratification, 2) they don't get taxed on it (although technically they are supposed to report it on their taxes).We had two DJs and I tipped them each $50. Valet parkers - $25 each. I would have loved to tip all the vendors that I was happy with, but in the end, we had spent so much money on their services that I was burnt out from a cash perspective. We might send some of them a holiday gift.