Who & What To Tip? Help! Lots of Questions!!!!

Hi ladies! I have MANY questions regarding tipping for a DW.

How much am I suppose to tip the Wedding Coordinator and when? And if there is a certain percentage of the wedding coordinator fee I should go by for tipping, what if the services of the Wedding Coordinator are included in my wedding package? Go by the cost of my wedding package?

What do I tip the photographer and his assistant?

What do I tip the hair & makeup artists?

Do I tip the mariachi band performing during my ceremony? And how do I pull that off? Make sure my fiance has cash in his pocket on our wedding day?

Do I tip the service staff during our private reception? If so, how much and when?

Thank you in advance to anyone brave enough to answer my questions!

Oh, and 1 more I forgot. The Officiant? We are having a symbolic ceremony? Does the Officiant get tipped as well?

Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I happy that you started this thread. My Fi asked me all of these questions last night, so I am hoping to see a few responses. He is expecting to tip just about every and anybody involved, but I'm not sure what etiquette calls for. 

I'm really curious as to how couples have handled the photographer.  I can't justify tipping the photographer until after I've seen my photos (6 weeks post wedding). My Fi thinks that if we tip them before they even get started, that it might encourage them to work even hard to get the those perfect shots, they might take more care with touching-up photos and it may result in a quicker turnaround time.  These are all valid arguments, but I feel that I already paid a high premium to contract a photographer and their services and tipping should be a reflection of our satisfaction and the photographer's overall performance... thoughts?

Thank you for starting this thread!! I have been wondering about some of these things too.

I normally would expect to tip servers, hairdressers, etc... But I don't know what to do about everyone else!!!

I'm lost on this too!!  Our wedding is still about 6 months away so I'm just starting to think about this and when I do it boggles my mind.  I was thinking I should tip the wedding coordinator (part of a package), maybe the wait staff and bartender but how do you go about that? And how much?  I wouldn't have expected to tip the photographer or the officiant but maybe I'm wrong.  I hadn't thought of tipping the mariachi band.   Ahhh!!!

Hi I am going to tell you what I did and I asked my WC every step of the way and she pretty much said i was being generous and at times told me to give less than i was planning to. The only one I couldn't get her opinion on was hers lol.

I did tip the service staff at the end of the wedding when they began cleaning up. My husband had the cash in his wallet and I had some in my wedding bag. The photographer and videographer I tipped in the middle and they stayed a little longer

I gave my WC- $250.00 (I think I should have given more she did so much but I ran out of cash)

I gave the photographer $100.00 he was with me for 5 hours

I gave the videographer $75.00 for 4 hours

I gave the head maitre D $35 (I thought more but the WC said that was enough)

The other 2 waiters $20 each

I gave the ipod technician $50.00

The stylist who did my hair and makeup I gave $50

I never gave the officiant anything i forgot all about it and no one reminded me ;(.

This is very true and your FI is right. i tipped well and was very vocal about being excited and letting them know how happy I was so far and they worked so hard and my shots were touched up and gorgeous and my video was ridiculously awesome and much longer than they had said. It pays to be generous to the people that hold the most important thing about ur wedding lol. Most people tip the photographer that day and if you don't he might think you are not going to and not care about ur pics unless u tell him you are going to I am not sure seems risky lol
 

Originally Posted by ChocoTaco7568 

I happy that you started this thread. My Fi asked me all of these questions last night, so I am hoping to see a few responses. He is expecting to tip just about every and anybody involved, but I'm not sure what etiquette calls for. 

 

I'm really curious as to how couples have handled the photographer.  I can't justify tipping the photographer until after I've seen my photos (6 weeks post wedding). My Fi thinks that if we tip them before they even get started, that it might encourage them to work even hard to get the those perfect shots, they might take more care with touching-up photos and it may result in a quicker turnaround time.  These are all valid arguments, but I feel that I already paid a high premium to contract a photographer and their services and tipping should be a reflection of our satisfaction and the photographer's overall performance... thoughts?

This is a great idea for a thread.  Tips will add up quickly and I want to have a budget in mind!

Thanks for your insight LadyDi!  I'll have to update my budget to capture wedding day tipping!

You and my Fi are definitely right about photography. It's definitely too important of a detail. Considering the overall photography cost the tip is so minuscule, that it would be foolish not to just give it up front.

Originally Posted by ladydi1844 

This is very true and your FI is right. i tipped well and was very vocal about being excited and letting them know how happy I was so far and they worked so hard and my shots were touched up and gorgeous and my video was ridiculously awesome and much longer than they had said. It pays to be generous to the people that hold the most important thing about ur wedding lol. Most people tip the photographer that day and if you don't he might think you are not going to and not care about ur pics unless u tell him you are going to I am not sure seems risky lol
 

 

Thank you as always Diane for sharing what you did! Was it easy to know who the head maitre D was?  That is probably a stupid question, lol!