Tipping on top of the 20% service charge?

chellschaos

I realize that the tipping situation was addressed in the FAQ... but I can't find this specific situation covered ANYWHERE.  Maybe someone here has recently been married or has experience with this and can guide me in the right direction.
Our wedding and reception are an "all-in-one" deal at a venue.  This venue covers food, tables, linens, set up/tear down, bartenders, and "butlers" or waiters.  We are paying additionally to have a hosted bar.
My question is this:  We are being charged a 20% service charge on the bill.  Wouldn't this then cover any "gratuity" to speak of?  Or should I tip the bartenders, waiters, and day-of-coordinator (assuming they all do their job well)?

Thanks in advance!

crash2729

I would think that the service charge covers the tips.

I don't plan on tipping our people extra.

vikingmom806

I agree with crash. Is there anything the "service charge" is specifically listed for, or why it exists? If not, I'd assume it's the tip.

ceh789

I would be concerned that the "service charge" is the fee to pay waiters/bartenders etc salaries.  Definately read the fine print.

ElisabethJoanne

I agree with the consensus. Figure out what you can from the contract and/or management. If you have to call, talk to someone as high up as possible. The higher up, the more likely the person is to be salaried and have to stake in whether you tip on top of the service charge.

One catering contract I'm reviewing contained an explicit provision that the service charge is to cover management's overhead, etc., and does not include tips. [I prefer to see such things just wrapped into the per-person price, but as long as all charges are clear in the contract, I don't really complain.]

cperez1212

Definitely read the contract. Even if you do, you may not get the whole truth. I put myself through college and grad school working banquets (serving and bartending) at two separate country clubs 200 miles apart. The "service charge" did not go to the banquet staff at either club, it went back into the club budgets. We were paid hourly and did not receive extra compensation unless the host handed it to the banquet managers to divide amongst us. At both clubs, the event coordinators regularly lied to clients and told them that the service charge went to the staff. I felt horrible for the clients who were under the impression that they were tipping us when they weren't. If you want a straight answer, talk to the banquet manager instead of the event planner.

LauraChristin

Our service charge from our caterer was 18% and covered the consultations we had with the caterer both in person and on the phone, their time to do our paperwork including our quotes, changes to our order, floorplan requests to the coordinator, rental requests to the coordinator - basically cover the business end of dealings with us and our coordinator. It makes sense because everything else was itemized out like food, glassware rentals etc. and their time was not included in those costs.

With that said, gratuity was not included in our service fee. We were made aware of this in our paperwork.

Definitely ask because you wouldn't want to stiff the bartenders and waitstaff, I'm sure.

ETA: Actual wording about our Administrative Fee in our contract:

1.  
   1. An eighteen percent (18%) service charge will be included in the final billing on all food, beverage and labor. The service charge covers the use of our equipment, kitchen essentials, buffet décor, energy costs, liability insurance fees, and all necessary permits and other administrative expenses. Please note that the service charge is taxable based on California State Regulation 1603(f) and is not a gratuity for the personnel

I asked the owner of the company what amount they suggested to tip and they suggested a tip of about $200 for 4 servers, 2 kitchen attendants, 1 bartender, 1 chef and a manager - total - although our out the door catering cost was about $8,000. I don't think it's expected to be 20% of the entire bill. Anyway, I tipped more than $200 because it only ended up being about $25/pp which I thought was low. 

[Deleted User]

Ask your venue, we have a 21% service charge. We asked our venue and they told us that we don't need/expect us to tip as the 21% service charge covers this. There employees are told not to take any additional tips during the night. 

chellschaos

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_tipping-on-top-of-the-20-service-charge?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:d46084f9-fe25-4679-9bfa-44bb30fc0f17Post:ffa9e628-d4da-4c63-befa-d6d9f95898cd">Re: Tipping on top of the 20% service charge?</a>:
[QUOTE]Read the contract. I passed on a venue that had a 20% service charge and expected 20% gratuity on top of that.
Posted by KindaSparkly[/QUOTE]

Just out of curiousity, what venue was it?  I noticed you're also in Phoenix and I'm hoping and praying it's not the venue that I'm getting married at in 30 (OMG!) days.  Feel free to email it to me if you're not comfortable throwing the name out there publicly.

chellschaos

I've emailed the venue's coordinator asking to clarify it for me.  I'm also going to pull out the contract and see if I can find any info in the amazingly fine print.
Thanks for the feedback thus far ladies!  Keep it coming if you've got it! 

chellschaos

That makes me feel better about MY situation, at least for the moment..so thank you.
Still...that's crap for any place to expect gratuity on top of 20% that they're charging on the bill which is already in addition to tax and the inflated prices of EVERYTHING.  I hope you were able to find a venue that did not require that.

ceh789

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_tipping-on-top-of-the-20-service-charge?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:d46084f9-fe25-4679-9bfa-44bb30fc0f17Post:4cc88d7c-0a68-4d2c-9eec-44e7858bf34a">Re: Tipping on top of the 20% service charge?</a>:
[QUOTE]I asked the owner of the company what amount they suggested to tip and they suggested a tip of about $200 for 4 servers, 2 kitchen attendants, 1 bartender, <strong>1 chef and a manager</strong> - total - although our out the door catering cost was about $8,000. I don't think it's expected to be 20% of the entire bill. Anyway, I tipped more than $200 because it only ended up being about $25/pp which I thought was low. 
Posted by LauraChristin[/QUOTE]
Not a criticism of you at all, Laura, but in what universe are Chef and Manager tipped positions?  Tipping in general is just out of control.  Everyone and their brother has their hand out and it makes me crazy.

evanquil

Every vendor that we have booked has a service charge built in to the price so we will not be tipping extra as that money goes to the actual workers.