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I guess I might watch this thread with the same question. I hadn't planned on tipping the waiters and bartenders only because I am hiring them alone to serve my wine and my food. Since the price is just for them, I didn't think that tipping them on top of that was necessary. I'll be interested to see the answers on this one.
I think that tipping is appreciated, but not required. I voted that we will tip per food costs, but only because we need another option.
I plan on tipping per person - an extra $XXX per waiter/bartender/etc. Much our weddng is as a package, so vendors are sub-contracted out. If these vendors do a great job, they can expect a thank you note with a bonus or something. The actual staff will get tipped based on performance/service.
These are great questions, and brought up one of my own...
If the facility/caterer imposes a "service charge" of around 20%, isn't that considered a tip, or is that something else?
Our tipping was included in the bill, it was 18% of the food only. They didn't charge tip on the service fees, or the hourly rate for the servers, or the tax, or the delivery and set up fees. I would try to get the gratuity rolled into the bil as a line item so you don't need to worry about having that cash the day of!
nashvillebridetobe, that service charge is the gratuity! bc i am going with a vendor that is not the exclusive caterer of the reception venue, that normal 20% service charge (that you will see with proposals from hotels) was not part of the proposal.
mskalinin, good point!!! I also just read somewhere that a lady paid her tips in advance, and was VERY happy with her service (maybe the money motivated them to work harder?) So i will see if my vendor can work with me on that, maybe not include it on the actual proposal itself, but keep the number in my mind and when we make our final payment, include the tip as part of that final payment!
Always remember that if you are feeling stress over something like this, you can ask for more details! You can ask " what do MOST people do " ( and of course ... hopefully the vendor will answer honestly ). I am assuming that MOST brides do not tip the catering staff and that it's included, but maybe a wedding planner can give more details.
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Our caterer quote included a charge for 15 servers at $12/hour each (they'll work 5 hours each) and the quote included 15% gratuity on the food total only.
Our tipping is included in our bill as 20% gratuity so we do not plan on tipping unless someone goes out and beyond his/her means for some disastrous events.
I think theknot or some wedding planning guidebook has some guidelines on how to tip when gratuity is not included in the bill. See here.
i plan to tip 15%- but need to take a second look at the contract to check if any service charges are already included. i think 15% is standard on most everything for the wedding unless it's already included as a service charge. unless a vendor goes way above and beyond- then you might consider 20%, but usually there is quite a difference since we're talkin about a lot of money!
Thanks, Soon2BeMrsCLW3!
I think my situation might be a little different, though, since my venue is, in essence, my caterer exclusively. So the 20% is on the total bill!
We have a 19% Service charge included on our food bill. I think $10,000 or $12,000 is enough to give the caterer considering the service charge is including the linen rentals. Also we have someone seperate doing our alcohol, and we're letting the bartenders ask for tips.
I looked up the tipping policy and checked with my SIL as she was in the catering industry for years. Here are my findings...
Typically an 18-20% gratuity/service charge is included in the total cost per head (but be sure to verify that with your venue/cataerer) which is paid in advance. If it is included, no additional amount is necessary at the end of the night. Some guests (especially older gentlemen) may choose to tip a particular waiter/ess if they go above and beyond. This is acceptable, but should be done very discretely - not left on the table - and it is by no means required.) The head caterer would typically receive a tip ($50-$100), as would the DJ, photo/videographer, and wedding planner (but only if the vendor doesn't own company). For the bartender, tax & gratuity is often included in an open bar price (check your contract) but many guests will tip $1-$2 per order regardless of whether there's a tip jar. For cash bars, the guest will tip on their own and for consumption bars, you'd include a tip based on bill amount. All tips (except for consumption bar if paid by credit card) should be given in cash on the day of the event by the best man (any day-of cash payments should also me made by the BM). To make it easier, put the cash in envelopes in advance, feel free to include a little thank you note, and label each envelope.
Yeah, our venue included a gratuity in the contract for 18%. We figured that if something horrible happened and staff had to go above and beyond to make the reception a success, we'd pay more than that.
Yeah, our venue included a gratuity in the contract for 18%. We figured that if something horrible happened and staff had to go above and beyond to make the reception a success, we'd pay more than that.
This was a big pain for me too. Who do I tip and how much??! I knew my catering contract had no tips included. So I tipped 20 each to my waiters, the head server got 60, and there was a catering mgr that got 60 also then catering contact which I worked with to book everything dealt with all my table chair rentals etc got 80. My bartenders got 80 each since their gratuity was not included in their price and they told me they would not have a tip jar. But they put a cup out for tips so had I known this I would have tipped less, this is important to ask. My dj got 100 which is the most I would tip anyone at a wedding period. He did the music in three different areas at the venue so I wanted to tip him high. I read somewhere on the blogs that 150 is the max you should ever tip anyone. I also tipped the event coordinator for the venue 50 who was not my day of coordinator just to clarify they are the go to person from the venue who helps out but was not my planner by any means. I also tipped my doc 50. I did not tip my florist, or cake baker or photographer since they all owned their own businesses. I did also separate this money in labelled envelopes a couple days before the wedding so I would not have to deal with this the day of or evening before. It is a pain to figure it out you should always start making sure gratuity is not included already.
Our reception site has a mandatory 20% gratuity built into their contract which is not too uncommon for my area (Downtown Chicago). The part that kills me is the 11.5% tax on top of it.
I was a server for a caterer company. A few clients sent special tips to the waiters who worked the event after the reception. I thought it was really classy and genuinely appreciative, and plan to do the same. Serving for weddings is HARD and you don't make too much money from it.
Our caterer specifically told us that their staff is very well paid and gratuity is not expected, but we can if we want to, but (he said it again) it's totally not expected. So, we are not planning on tipping. We would if we are so pleased and have the money, but we really don't have it in our budget tip what they are charging us.
I feel I should weigh in here, just so you all know the real deal...I worked as a server and bartender for a catering company for 5 years, and the price you pay per server was not what I made per hour (1 made 13-18 per hour, but clients were billed 35 per hour). In addition, any gratuity the owner got at the end of the night was only sometimes passed down to me. When it comes to the wait staff, I recommend 20 dollars per server, given directly to the servers. It's much much appreciated if you do it that way, because then the little people actually get the money!
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Hi Bees!
Forgive me if I am asking a silly question, but when it comes to tipping, what is standard? What is acceptable in this wedding industry???? Gasp...do you even need to tip???? After going on several tastings, NO ONE includes gratuity automatically, and I get the sheepish remark from the vendor "oh tip if you would like! We dont feel like we should mandate you to tip us!" But I also see that all of the waiters are making $35-$45 per hour, based on the proposal...NOT the normal waiter wages you would find in a restaurant that would require one to tip modestly for good service....
Now, I dont want you all thinking Im a cheapo...When the FI and I go out to eat (which is a lot!!!) we tip 20% MINIMUM. More if we had some awesome service...But tipping 20% on a $100 meal is a lot different than tipping 20% on top of a $12k meal, after taxes!!!
So my question is, do you plan on tipping? If so how much? AND (this JUST dawned on me!!!) Do you tip ONLY based on the meal and beverage dollar amount as opposed to the entire bill? What do you all think? Im getting nervous tummy thinking that we will have to cough up $2400 or so JUST for tips JUST to the caterer!!!!!!!!