Who do you tip? Orlando Florida Weddings
Who do we Tip?
Let’s begin by examining your vendor’s
contract first. Many service agreements have
a section or sentence stating if other fees and
gratuities are included in your final cost. Take
these vendors off of your list of who to tip. While
business owners incorporate their operating,
living and profit expenses in the cost of their
services; it is not necessary to offer a gratuity
if they are personally working your wedding.
A good suggestion to follow is basically, tip
only employees. Should a business owner
provide an exceptional service or solution to an
unexpected situation arising during your day,
there is no law prohibiting you from tipping
them as a gesture of your appreciation. Always
remember, a thank you note with a picture with
their product provides great bragging rights for
their portfolio display.
I would like to add, should a service provider
go above and beyond, other forms of expressing
your gratitude can be made that will be equally
appreciated. I’ll address these examples later in
this article.
As I have mentioned, some vendors include
gratuities in their fees, others will leave that
amount to you. The level of service they provide
can influence what you give them. Here is a
modest breakdown of the vendors to consider
who are participating in your special day:
Transportation: Limousine service,
Carriage driver etc.
Ceremony: Hair/makeup pros, Musicians,
Soloist, Officiate
Reception: Wedding planners,
Photographers, videographers, Catering
manager, Wait staff, Bartenders, Band, DJ,
Valets, Restroom/coat-check attendants
Setup/Breakdown: Delivery people, florist,
baker, rental suppliers, and other vendors.
Honeymoon: Bellhop, Doorperson,
Housekeeper, Concierge
The Tipping Chart
Gratuities and tips should be made in cash
and delivered in a plain white business envelope
with the recipient’s name handwritten on
the front. The amounts vary by region but,
the Northeast seems to be the one part of the
country with a consistency in posting tipping
rates appropriate for the costs of their wedding
services. Remember to consult your service
prices and agreements before offering a gratuity
to avoid overspending. I’ve chosen to include a
scale of rates taken from leading charts found
in my research. Any similarity to one particular
chart is purely coincidental.
Event Planner: 10 to 20 percent of your bill,
depending on the terms of contract
Officiates: $50 to $100 on top of any set fees
Ceremony Site Staff: $20 to $30 per person,
depending on amount of service
Organists and Ceremony Musicians: $20 to
$40, depending on length of service
Reception Site Manager: 15 to 20 percent of
entire bill for the reception
Valets: $1-$2 per car
Waiters: $20 to $40 each, depending upon
quality of service. If you saw that there were
only a few waiters who worked their tails off,
give them more.
Bartenders: 15 percent of liquor bill
Coat check: $1 per coat
Limousine Drivers: 15 to 20 percent of
transportation bill (Check to see if tip is
already included in the contract first! If so,
then on-the-day tip may be smaller as a token
for great service, or left out altogether)
Photographer and Videographer: $30-$100
or more
Delivery Workers: $10 each if just dropping
items off, $20 each if dropping off and
setting up to great extent; even more if they’re
transporting a LOT of items
Tent assemblers and Rental Agency Assemblers:
$20 each, even more if the tent is extremely
large or complicated, or parquet flooring is
set down as well
Entertainers: $25 to $30 each, more if
they really exceeded expectations. Again,
check your contract to see if
gratuity is already included.
Beauticians and Barbers, Manicurists and
Makeup Artists: 15 to 20 percent of beauty
salon bill – don’t forget the shampoo person!
Cleanup crew: $20 each
Baby-Sitters: $30 to $40 each, plus a gift, in
addition to their hourly wages; more if
baby-sitter is putting in extra hours or caring
for several children
With so many elements in motion during your
wedding day, allow me to teach you a little trick
ensuring you enjoy the most of your special day
… delegate responsibilities!
For your wedding day tipping responsibilities,
assign a gratuity ambassador. This person will be
in charge of passing out tips to services rendered
and at the end of the event. Choose someone
you feel is responsible like a wedding planner, a
father, mother, best man or maid of honor. A
plain business envelope filled with cash is fine,
but adding a “Thanks for everything!” will earn
you extra points. You would be surprised how
much it means to a vendor to receive a heartfelt
thank-you note or email after the wedding.
Tips represent an expression and gesture of
appreciation. Does this sound familiar? If a
service provider makes a difference in your day,
reward extraordinary effort.
What if your budget prohibits you from
affording a tip?
During these difficult economic times, couples
from coast to coast are cutting back on their
wedding expenses. If a simple wedding and
modest Staycation honeymoon is all you can
really afford, consider these suggestion as a way
of showing your appreciation for outstanding
services when funding is tight.
This is the era of individual mass
communication. Send your message of delight
with your wedding services providers in a message
released on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn,
Twitter, Digg, and the endless social networking
services available online. All it takes is one “Like”
on Facebook for everyone you have befriended to
get the word on the great experience you had with
a vendor. Referrals, referrals, did I mention
referrals? A referral contract makes everyone’s
day! One good word goes a long way in the
wedding industry. Even if you don’t know anyone
getting married in the near future, most wedding
vendors provide services to corporate and other
social events. What a great surprise to your
vendor if they were hired to work a holiday party
due to the referral from your wedding. One of
my favorite non-monetary tips is a big basket of
home-made cookies. Home-made inexpensive
chocolate chip, oatmeal or the family’s secret
cookie recipe for a holiday favorite, you can’t
go wrong. And cookies are guaranteed to bring
smiles to the faces of everyone in the room. For
the officiate, or business owner that went above
and beyond, you may consider sending something
personal, like as a restaurant gift certificate, or
tickets to the theater. Flower arrangements or
plants are very nice and widely appreciated as
well. Remember, a simple handwritten thank you
note is always greatly appreciated by everyone.
Nothing can ever make you wedding day more
memorable than the moment you stand holding
hands with your best friend promising to love
and care for them the rest of your life. However,
when special moments arise due to the efforts of
your vendors, don’t forget to let them know it.
Posted by: editor November 3, 2011
