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Wow, um...I've no experience working with a caterer so I don't know if its just me, but isn't the caterer emailing you to "suggest" how much to tip (which should be earned, not expected) a tad unprofessional. Maybe if you had asked for their suggestion, but sheesh.
Regardless of how much your bill is and how much the servers make an hour, if the service provided meets/surpasses expectation I think a tip that night is in order.And really, thats only a 9 percent tip.
That is only a 9 percent tip for the total bill, BUT you said that includes rentals. I think you should break down the bill for food only and try to determine a tip that you would be comfortable with. Maybe come up with a couple numbers, if the service is outstanding, if there were a few minor bumps along the road, if there are several things that didn't go as you hoped, etc.
I agree with july09bride, take the rentals and everything but the food out of the equation and figure out what an 18% tip would be on that number, and go from there. I would also ask the caterer why the servers are listed as making $27/hour, and if that include gratuity.
I tipped 20% based only on food. Our servers made a similar amount per hour (not including tip).
Our catering bill is the same as yours. Our wedding planner has us paying a tip of less than $1,000 to the caterers. She told us that the standard restaurant 20% tip does not apply to the caterers. It's $1,000 for tips for everyone, including the officiant, the band, the caterers, and whomever else is on the list.
How many servers do you have? We had 13, so 20% of our $5k food bill actually didn't put that much extra cash in our servers' pockets at the end of the night.
Our total food bill is $13,000. There are 8 servers, 2 bartenders, 3 chefs/assistants, adn 1 event manager. It works out to a $157 tip/person- pretty much standard restaurant rates. The caterer told us that the tip goes directly and only to the staff. That's a lot of cash, if you ask me...
Yeah, I agree. I'd tip $50-$75 a person or so and leave it at that, personally. Our service staff worked really hard but they were already getting paid well, so I didn't want it to be exorbitant. I tipped the bartenders more, actually, just because they had to deal more directly with people all night long, but they were from a separate company.
Should you just tip on food though? I'm not saying tip on the whole amt (I didn't catch the rentals included part the first time around). Are the service staff members also helping to set up the chairs, tables, ect? I have a college friend that works as a staff member for a place that holds events and he moves in all the rentals, sets them up, wraps the silver ware and sets up tablewear, serves food, runs supplies to the kitchen, buses the tables, ect. Plus they don't split tips equally. The servers often get much smaller percentages even though they are busting butt.
I think amysue's numbers a good, but I would take a look at what all the staff will actually be doing.
IMG_1746.jpg (2247.2 KB, 33 downloads) 1 year old 
$127 for a whole night is pretty standard for a server, actually. I know that it seems weird that they're suggesting it, but it's similar to the automatic gratuity that is included in almost all restaurants when a large party walks in. Talk to them though, and see what you can work out.
Our bill included the 18% tip, but we still tiped a few people that we felt worked extra hard cash the night of the wedding. I think 18 - 20% is pretty standard. I'm not surprised by the tip suggestion -- cruise lines always give tip suggestions. I'd think of it this way -- since the 18% wasn't added on to the bill like it usually is they probrably have issues with couples that don't tip at all, so making the suggestion is just a way of making sure the tipping happens.
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Our wedding is next week and we just got an email from our caterer with suggested tips. Our total bill including rentals is $24,500. On our contract, it has the servers listed as making $27/hr. Our caterer is suggesting a $2200 tip, cash, that night! We won't even know about the quality of service until the end of the night. Seems outrageous to me, especially as they are making so much. Thoughts?
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