How much do we tip the wedding coordinator?

[mrspfafftobe]

We budgeted some tips when we were planning our wedding, but ended up adding a more because of the AMAZING service we received by EVERYONE at our wedding (hotel staff). We would have given even more if the nearest ATM wasn't a 15 min cab ride away.  We did a buy out at Le Reve for 3 days in June and the service exceeded all of our expectations. It started raining during both our rehearsal dinner and wedding ceremony, and the Le Reve staff moved EVERYTHING inside and set everything up again each night in a matter of minutes. This in itself merited a hefty tip from us - they all did double the work! All of the hotel prices (Wedding services as well as food & beverage) were quoted inclusive of tax and gratuity, and we were told the gratuity would be dispersed to the staff appropriately. However, we were so blown away that we decided to add to the built-in service charges, and I wish we could have done even more.

 

Here's the breakout for hotel staff:

- WC and her assistant: $300 total

- Food & Beverage Manager: $100

- Our favorite bartender: $100

- The other bartenders/servers: 5 boxes of nice Cuban cigars to share

- Kitchen Staff: $50

- Property Maintenance Staff: $50

- Concierge: $100

 

Tips for other vendors:

- DJ: $100

- Officiant: $100

- Musical trip for cocktail hour: $100

[Lizrmt]

This is a great thread!

[RollerBride]

I'm not sure if someone mentioned this yet, if so, please forgive me I read about the first 4 pages of this thread and hadn't seen it.

 

There are certain items for our wedding where the gratuity is already factored in. If you do not see it or if your WC gives you your invoice with "tax & fees", just ask them for the "tax and fees" breakdown...there may already be a gratuity included. Our wedding for instance has gratuity included for:

Rehearsal DInner

Reception

Mariachi Trio

 

So it looks like I will be tipping:

Salon

DJ

Photogrphers?

WC

Travel Agent?

 

Having worked in the service industry on large private events, it is always nice when the host of the party leaves you and extra tip, but it's definately not expected.

[2bmrstremblay]

Originally Posted by redginger 

 

Here are some tips from Destination I Do Magazine. I don't think I will follow all the guidelines, but thought others might find this useful. I do think the $100 - $200 tip for the officiant/minister is excessive. The minister will only be there for 10 minutes for the ceremony and we're meeting him for the first time on the wedding day. We'll tip our wedding coordinator if she meets or exceeds our expectations on the wedding day (so far, she's hardly done any work for us and we're paying her a lot of money).  

 

 

Tips on Tipping

Tipping is a method for expressing your appreciation for a job well done.  When planning your wedding budget, it will be important to include gratuities in your calculations.

When planning a destination wedding in locations other than the United States, it is prudent to check with your wedding coordinator in that locale.  Gratuities and customs vary from country to country and knowing expectations prior to the event will help in your budget planning.

general considerations regarding tipping:

1. Check your contracts and final bills ahead of time to see if a gratuity was included.  You don't need to double tip-unless of course, you want to.

2. The host should carry an envelope with cash on the wedding day for unexpected tips.

3.  In general, the owners of businesses do not receive tips.

4.  Guests should not be expected to pay parking lot attendants or coatroom attendants.  This should be arranged in advance so that you can inform your guest with discreetly placed signage.

5.  Wedding planners do not receive gratuities.

6.  If you use a wedding planner they may be the person responsible for dispersing the tips on the wedding day.  If not, be sure to designate someone to handle this detail for you.

check out the guidelines below for expectations and ranges:

 

 

Service provider	Range of tipping
Bartender	10-15% of liquor bill or $25-$50 per bartender
Caterer	15-20% of food and drink bill
Coat & Powder Room Attendants	$1-$2 per guest
DJ or Musicians	optional-$20-$25 each
Florist, Photographer	None
Limousine Driver (s)	15-20% of limo bill if not included in contract
Maitre d'hotel	$1.50-$5.00 per guest
Makeup Artist or Hairstylist	15-20% of fee
Officiant	$100-$200
Valet Parking Attendants	.50-$1 per car
Wait Staff	$10-$20 per staff member

 

 

 

Thanks for posting this. I think it gives a good range and also a great list of the people you can expect to have to tip. 

[sosodj]

i was wondering what was the norm, thanks
 

[DestinationGirl]

I have heard that most people are tipping between $50-$100

[McLecker]

super helpeful ladies. thanks! great chart!!!

[Jenna1511]

This is wonderful information, so useful and important! Adding to my list of many to dos! Thanks for all of sharing!

[MsKenyaF]

Wow! Thanks for this post! We thought we had to tip everyone except for the florist. Good to know!

Originally Posted by Sllefebvr 

Here girls I did some research on destination weddings and here was the best result

 

• You do not need to tip your florist unless he/she does something spectacular or really out-of-the-floral-realm for you. If he tracks down the filling for your goody bags, or she blows your mind with something you weren’t expecting, by all means, feel free to tip the florist. But it isn’t something you need to build into your budget.
• You don’t need to tip your caterer, but you will need to tip the servers and bartenders. If you don’t have a wedding planner to guide you, ask the caterer what’s appropriate per person.
• Don’t tip the photographer. If you adored her, order more prints!
• Don’t tip the wedding cake baker.
• Don’t tip a band, unless they stay extra time and don’t bill you for it.
• Tip a DJ if he’s really, really good. $50 is more than enough.
• If you’re staying in a small hotel and you’ve taken over the whole place for your wedding, be sure to tip the hotel manager/concierge who has helped you with everything. You should also tip the breakfast or housekeeping staff, but you don’t need to do it individually. Give a tip to the person in charge of that staff and ask them to split it with the people who worked during your wedding.
• If you’re staying at a villa or private property with a house manager or caretaker, tip if you’re having the reception on the property and the person is being very helpful. Remember, the property owners made money on you. The caretaker or property manager is on salary and had to put up with you because it’s part of his job. If they do a great job, acknowledge it. If you have daily maid service, it’s appropriate to leave a tip of $2-$5 per day in your room. If you have a 5-bedroom house, you should tip $10 per day at the end of your stay if they did a good job.
• Do not tip your wedding officiant.
• Do not tip your rental equipment delivery guys — you paid a delivery fee already.
• Finally, do tip your wedding planner. As self-serving as this may sound, I get asked this question a lot so I’m going to tackle it openly and honestly.

If you have a good wedding planner who is charging you a reasonable fee and isn’t marking up your services, you should tip her at the end of your wedding if you are happy with her services. When deciding how much to tip, think about how much her total fee was, and think about how much money she saved you (there will be items that stick out when you think about it), and how challenging you may have been as a client. If you know you drove her nuts or were very demanding (and she was nice about it), compensate her for the extra time and effort she had to put in to your big day. Tip between 15 and 20 percent of her wedding fee. To some extend it’s like a restaurant, if you were satisfied, go 15 percent. If you were thrilled and she did a great job for you, go 20 percent or more. If you felt like she dropped the ball, give her 10 percent, or don’t tip her at all. A tip is supposed to be a gratuity for a job well done, whether it’s a waitress, a hairdresser or a wedding planner.

The exception to the rule is the wedding planner who asks for a tip. That is just so gauche. Sometimes I’ll make a joke about it to my clients when they’re really super impressed with something I’ve done. When they’re telling me how great I am or how much money I’ve saved them, I’ll make some joke like “remember that when it’s time to tip me,†or something like that. But I’ve never ever told a bride up front that a tip was required, or asked a bride for a gratuity after the wedding. Some brides are just thoughtful. I’ve received lovely thank-you gifts and even sweeter notes — and those can be very rewarding as well.

If you don’t use a wedding planner and a banquet manager or someone else from the hotel steps into that role for your wedding, be prepared to tip her at the end of the event as long as everything has gone smoothly. She is your de facto wedding planner and you should thank her for executing that role well. It doesn’t need to be as much as you would tip a wedding planner, but a token to let her know her work was appreciated is more than appropriate.

So when your wedding planner gives you the list of tips you’ll need for your wedding a few weeks before the big day, take a moment to think about whether you’ll want to have some extra on hand to tip your planner too, assuming she delivers all that she promised on your wedding day. If in the end she doesn’t deserve it, spend it on a spa day on your honeymoon.

[Ty Roane]

Thanks for the info.