Maggiano's Brides

lsvensson

Hi ladies-- question for ya:

I've been emailing back and forth with Cassy (who is too sweet, by the way!) as I'm considering a Maggiano's reception. In her initial email, she sent along a bunch of info but one tidbit stood out as a big red flag for me:

"There will be a 20% Event Fee* on the final bill or the room minimum whichever is greater.

*The 20% event fee is an administrative fee retained entirely by Maggiano's for the staffing, set up, and administration expenses related to hosting your Function. The event fee does not represent a tip or service charge for servers, bartenders or other service employees. 
Am I correct in assuming that ON TOP of the 8.1% Nevada Sales tax AND whatever gratuity we include (likely 20-22%), that we must, IN ADDITION, pay another 20% fee?  So that in the end, I'd likely be adding on another 50% cost to my total reception?  Have any of you had to pay this "event fee"?  Please help-- I'm sweating a bit because I was really interested in Maggiano's because it seems like a great value, but if this 20% Event Fee is what I think it is, then it makes this a terrible deal. 
Please tell me I'm wrong, haha!

MVJP10

Not a Maggiano's bride but it's most likely 20% on top of the room minimum and tax. Event fee aka service charge aka service fee.

ahhhitsshannyn

Huh.... I am interested in this answer as well. When I first started booking, it was called a "service charge" and for some reason I thought it included gratuity. I could be wrong on that I guess??? I just got my Banquet Event order and it has the 20% charge as well as a line that says "additional gratuity"... which by the sound of the that it seems like some kind of gratuity is included?? But it could also be because I booked before the change? Hmmmm interesting..

ebonyivory10

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_maggianos-brides-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:91Discussion:b948c339-d813-4a29-abaa-c1677ba017f2Post:b27a0ed0-66d8-45d7-945d-7bd217bd4173">Maggiano's Brides</a>:
[QUOTE]Hi ladies-- question for ya: I've been emailing back and forth with Cassy (who is too sweet, by the way!) as I'm considering a Maggiano's reception. In her initial email, she sent along a bunch of info but one tidbit stood out as a big red flag for me: " There will be a 20% Event Fee* on the final bill or the room minimum whichever is greater. *The 20% event fee is an administrative fee retained entirely by Maggiano's for the staffing, set up, and administration expenses related to hosting your Function. The event fee does not represent a tip or service charge for servers, bartenders or other service employees.  Am I correct in assuming that ON TOP of the 8.1% Nevada Sales tax AND whatever gratuity we include (likely 20-22%), that we must, IN ADDITION, pay another 20% fee?  So that in the end, I'd likely be adding on another 50% cost to my total reception?  Have any of you had to pay this "event fee"?  Please help-- I'm sweating a bit because I was really interested in Maggiano's because it seems like a great value, but if this 20% Event Fee is what I think it is, then it makes this a terrible deal.  Please tell me I'm wrong, haha!
Posted by lsvensson[/QUOTE]

Yes, the 20% is additional. If your room minimum is $2k, you have to meet the $2k and there's tax and 20% added to it. That's almost $2600.

When we booked, it was my understanding that the staff received some of that 20% (i.e. staffing in the above wording) and any additional gratuity was above and beyond.

kteel717

I am in agreement with ebonyivory....that is considered what you will give the event staff for their time (aka gratuity) from what I understood.... The only additional gratituity we planned on tipping will be to the event manager who runs the show the evening of our reception.

"20% service charge ("Service Charge", which covers Maggiano's staffing and administration expenses for hosting your Function)." <- that is what is in my Maggianos contract.

Am I wrong in thinking this? Don't want to see like a cheap-o!

lsvensson

See, the only thing is, she explicitly stated: "The event fee does not represent a tip or service charge for servers, bartenders or other service employees. "

So if that is a "tip", then who does it go to?  I guess I'll have to ask her if some portion of the 20% "event fee" does, in fact, go to the servers/bartenders/banquet captain.  I r confused.

MizLynn

Okay...this is what my take on it was.

I used to work banquets...(but only for a very short time, so understanding may be flawed here).  My understanding is that the per hour wage we would get comes from that 20% . 

I think I remember that that 20% "administration fee" is industry standard and part of that is the tips / extra wages they have to pay the staff, to administer your banquet.  

I think they say that "this does not represent a tip" because, they want you to feel free to tip individually, but also so that you don't think it's optional as in "If it's a tip, I should be able to chose the amount based on service." Like when you go to a restaurant and the tip is automatically added to the bill for parties of 5 or more. It's technically a "tip", but not really, since you have to pay it.

That said, I'm a Maggiano's bride, and I'm only planning to tip the banquet captain. I don't think that makes me cheap...well, maybe it does, but I figure I'm spending quite enough dough there as it is!

motochick25

Please when you get the answer do share. I just booked there as well. When do they send the banquet event order to you? and what is that exactly? Sorry I'm new to this whole planning process. Do both our names go on the welcome board? And for the menu options, what does family styl mean?  Thanks for your help

ahhhitsshannyn

The banquet order is the final (I think) contract. It includes your menu, cake, floral, dj, and anything else you might have added. It is pretty much a breakdown of what you should expect to pay on the day, it includes all taxes and the event fee. I just got it a few days ago after we submitted our menu- so about a month prior to the wedding you will get it. You can put whatever you would like on the board. We will go with something like Matt & Shannon M---- wedding. Family style is where each dish is served on a huge plate and everyone grabs however much they want. I prefer this because people can get what they want, and more or less of what they want, and they dont have to wait in line for the buffet.

 I didnt really think about the tip, former brides, about how much extra did you tip? And did you tip the bartender as well?

lndsy1213

I got married June 26 at Maggiano's. I only paid the tax and 20% fee. They told me that covered all tips to everyone. I got mad about this fee at first but once I looked elsewhere I found almost every single place in Vegas charges an added "Entertainment fee" they call it. Was going to have reception at Caesars or Wynn and they also added that fee. Just how it works in Vegas I guess. If it does in fact include all tips than it's not bad. She told me it did. Hopefully we didn't leave without tipping! When we left she said we were all set.

lsvensson

Ahh, thank you, that helps!  I'll be sure to ask Cassy when I meet with her during our scouting trip on Valentine's Day, but hopefully what you guys said is the case.

Whew, crisis averted (hopefully)!

red1115

We just got married there in December & loved it!

Just so you know - the banquet order is **NOT** your final bill.  It simply shows the menu, event time and final guest number your agree to pay for.  You can get an idea of your final costs when you get this becuase its not generated until you give your final head count (about 3days before the event).  If you need to make any changes to your menu/bar choices this is where & when you do it!

The contract has the room minimum and the event/service fee - which covers their costs for for the banquet room set-up etc. That usually takes place 1-2hrs before your event.   (Don't worry - This is standard practice everywhere for banquet space and usually ranges everywhere from 18-24%.)  The actual dollar amount is of course dependent on your final head count.

That fee  **does not** include gratuity for your servers, bartender & banquet captain.  Gratuity is paid after the banquet when any additional misc charges inccured during the party are paid for.

***NOTE***  About the "staffing" language in the contract - you may not realize this but the staff that work banquets in Las Vegas are normally not regular employees/Waiters & Waitresses of the restaurant, but hired only to serve at the banquets, so the cost of staffing is just that and doesn't include gratuity for these people.

If you plan on showing up the day before to drop off decor items, you can usually meet with Marc or Cassey to see the final bill before the reception. (we did this and paid 50% then and the balance the day of the wedding.)
We ended up having 40 guests and spend about $5000 (including photo, DJ & cakes, taxes and all service fees) and also left about $1000 in gratuity to be split amongst the BC, Bartender & 2-3 servers.  (We put it on the card rather than carry a ton of cash.)

All in all, it may seem like alot but in reality that works out to only $150/pp - which is a bargin in Vegas.  Good Luck!

amandag33

Thank you all so much for clarifying all of that!! i was really confused about it as well. Thanks

motochick25

Yes Thank you so much. I'm beginning to understand, Has anyone used their ipod docking station?  And what is an onsite contact?

Regi44cw

Does it maybe mean that you will be charged that fee only if you do NOT meet the minimums and therefore, will be charged EITHER the minimum or the fee whichever is greater (if you don't meet the minimum)?
 
I also used to work banquets and maybe Maggiano's hires outside staff but it is not like that "in Las Vegas." I worked for casinos, and other strip restaurants and I was always part of that facility's waitstaff. Some places may have "on-call" staff that will only work their large events and may also work among their various properties.

18-20% gratuity is generally added onto any banquet event with more than 15 ppl and any gratuity you give any staff member of that event usually has to be split up among the other staff with the exception of maybe the bartender, but the bartender tips are usually pooled with the other bartenders also.

saccers

I was just emailed our contract and I thought it was all very clear - as Red1115 describes.

It's either the room minimum OR how much you spend + tax + 20% + any gratuities. So if you spend less than the minimum in the Abruzzi room it's still:
 
$2500 + Tax ($202.50) + 20% ($540.50) = $3243.

Then you can choose to pay gratuities on that.