Wedding Planning: How Much Do I Tip?

Many vendors will already include tips or gratuities into their wedding essentials service fees, so it’s best to ask ahead of time if gratuity is included in the cost of their services or if they add a gratuity in their service contract. Here is a basic rundown of how much you should tip for each service included in your wedding planning:

Hairstylist, Makeup Artist, Nail Techs: Tip these beauty service providers as you would normally tip on a visit to the salon – 15 percent to 20 percent of your total bill.

Dress Fitter, Alterations or Seamstress: It is not customary to tip for fitting services, but if they have done an especially great job you can tip $15 to $30.

Delivery Staff: Staff responsible for delivering your flowers, wedding cake, etc. do not expect a tip and you will have already agreed to pay their set fee. If you feel they have really done above and beyond as far as their wedding essentials service or products, a tip of $15 – $20 is sufficient.

Wedding Officiant: Most wedding officiants will not charge a set fee for their services, but they do expect you to make a donation to their church or organization. They will most likely suggest an amount when you finalize the arrangements. This amount is usually around $100, but it can range anywhere from $50 to $500. If the officiant is travelling a long way to your wedding you should also compensate them for travel costs. Your designated tipper should not directly offer a wedding essentials tip to your officiant, just have them pass the agreed amount the officiant after the ceremony.

Church Musicians: Check your paperwork to see if this fee is included in the rental fee for the church. If not, the tip is generally from $25 to $40 per person.

Live Musicians: Musicians do not expect a tip, but if they really got people up and dancing, you should tip $20 – $25 per musician.

DJ: If your DJ kept the wedding rolling in a timly fashion and played a great selection of music, 15 percent to 20 percent of their fee is a suitable wedding essentials tip.

Bartenders: The bar manager will usually add a service charge to your bar bill, in which case you do not need to tip bartenders. If there is no service charge, you might want to tip bartenders about 10 percent of the total liquor bill.

Catering/Venue Manager: Most caterers will build a gratuity into their service fee. Check your contract; if a service charge hasn’t been included, tip 15 percent to 20 percent of the total bill or $1 – $2 per guest.

Serving Staff: You don’t need to tip waiters and waitress if you have already paid a gratuity in your wedding essentials contract. If there is no service charge in your caterer’s contract and the service was good, you should tip 15-20% of the total food bill to be divvied up amongst the staff.

Transportation: Limo drivers, horse drawn carriages, chauffeurs, etc. will usually include a gratuity in their transportation fees. If not, the normal tip suggested is 15 percent to 20 percent of the bill.

Photographers: Most photographers will not expect tips, but for exceptionally good work on your wedding day you can tip between $20 and $30. Or just order a lot of prints after the wedding to show how much you appreciate their work.

Wedding Planner: Your wedding essentials planner has already charged a set fee, and won’t expect a tip. However, again, if their work was especially stellar, you can tip 10 percent of their total fee.

If all else fails, the customary amount to tip is generally 10 percent to 20 percent of the final service cost; however it’s a good idea to ask around and see how much others in your area have tipped their wedding vendors.