OK, I know this has come up a ton but I always thought the 20% service charge we were paying our venue was the tip for the waitstaff so I sort of disregarded those discussions. I e-mailed our venue over the weekend to double-check, and they just dropped a bomb on me.... Here is the email I received:
"The 20% service charge is not an actual “tip” for the wait staff. The staff is paid with a hourly wage. There isn’t any additional tip that they receive at the end of the night. If you would like to leave additional gratuity you are more than welcome to. They would truly appreciate it. – Thank you "
This is a pretty nice venue so I'm assuming they are making higher than minimum wage, but how would I know?? Plus, I would also assume that guests will tip the bartenders, as I always have at other weddings... so do I have to worry about that?
If you were me and received the above email, how would you handle paying tips to the venue? I finally thought I had my budget in check, with tips ready to go, and now I'm not looking forward to the extra $$ for these extra tips........ :-\
Thank you!!
