Tips?

Hiya :o)

Oh noooo... You've made me worry about another possible expense I'd never even considered! Haha.

I'll definitely send thank you cards/ box of chocs to cake people, florist, hair/ make up/ photographer etc. Personally I don't think I'd tip. I've worked as a florist for 12 years and I can honestly say I've never been tipped after a wedding! Maybe that's a reflection on my work! :o) The most we'd usually get is a nice little thank you card and chocs for all the staff. I really think, as everyone knows, that anything supplied for a wedding already has a higher price so I definitely don't think you should feel you have to tip. Unless of course they were just amazing and went above and beyond and you would really like to!

I don't know what the done thing is with the band. I was assuming we'd make sure they were all covered in the evening buffet and maybe give them an extra £30 or something for some drinks? Or do they not usually drink on the job? Haha... Oh dear I really don't know how all this stuff works! o)

I know our venue adds a service charge that's capped at £200 but I don't know if the coordinator gets any of this. We won't see her on the day as she only works Mon-Fri and with us being a Saturday, the duty manager will be leading the day. I think I'd sent cards and chocs. My cake is being done by a friend so may get her flowers and hair and makeup might get a bottle of wine or something.. I feel mean not planning cash but I think something with thought behind it is better xx

Haha I hadn't either tbh til I saw someone mention it the other day and now i'm all worried
Wasn't planning on tipping anyone but think the venue staff is maybe the done thing? Really don't have a clue, just don't want to not tip as planned and have them calling me tight when we leave haha.
I think i'll stick to thank you cards and gifts with togs, florists etc.. just not sure about the coordinators and anyone else I might be forgetting :/
I wouldn't tip the band usually as they're usually quite pricey anyway and cover the costs within their price and what they think is fair so i'd probably just make sure they're ok for eating and maybe get them one drink each but that should be fine.
We're having a dj and i'll make sure he gets fed and a drink but think that'll be it lol. He's getting paid enough I think to cover that haha

Our venue doesn't add a service charge..not that they've stated anyway unless it's all included in the price as it is quite expensive ?
We have 2 coordinators and they'll be with us all day and making sure we're ok and moving flower arrangements for us and setting everything up etc, so thought they're doing a bit more than anyone else and that's why I wondered. Hmm, really don't know if I should shove some cash in a card for them as well as some flowers or chocs :/
Yeah i'll get some flowers or a nice gift for everyone else, hoping thatll be appreciated and not expecting more or i'll feel awful lol.

Thank you both for the replies!!

We didn't tip any of our paid suppliers - we're paying them already! IMO tips should be a personal thing, where you've paid a company (e.g. restaurant or hairdresser) but want to give a little something to the person who actually served you. With a florist or MUA, I'm paying them directly so presumably they're taking their wages out of that money already.

The only people we did tip were the college porters, because they weren't getting paid any extra for having our wedding there, but did have a bit of extra work because of it. Perhaps we ought to have tipped the waiting staff but the venue co-ordinator didn't seem to be bothered about it. We gave her a card and some flowers rather than money.

If the coordinators are doing all the running around on the day then I think money is a good idea. I noticed the service charge in our wedding package booklet, it hasn't been mentioned to us specifically. We may still give more on top of that but it will be the manager and the staff on the day who will be doing the setting up/changes etc so they will probably see the cash benefit from us lol xx

No tips for anyone, from me. I had no spare cash left and never included it in my original budget. That may make me cheap but I'm okay with that. I did send thank you emails and offer them leftover favours, also offered to write recommendations for their marketing.

Helenia - I agree tips are usually a personal thing for us too, so florist / cake maker etc we won't as we're paying them directly. That makes more sense actually.
Will probably tip the waiting staff then, just don't know how much is decent haha.

DD88 - Yeah they're doing a lot of setting up for us and have a lot involved in their jobs so would be nice to pay them directly in some way to say thank you.

KG - That doesn't make you sound cheap at all and i'm actually relieved to hear from someone who hasn't tipped a lot haha. Thought it was the done thing for a minute and was starting to worry adding it all up.

I think we'll see how much spare cash we have about the time and tip depending on that and if the funds are low it'll be a nice card & gift and just get the coordinators a bit more as they're doing the most.

Thanks a lot for the replies everyone x

I have a real problem with tips...the right people don't always get them! My partners daughter was the function manager of a nearby wedding venue. A very grateful groom left a hefty tip for the hard working staff on the ground (bar staff, waitresses, etc). The management took charge of it and the people that deserved it never saw a penny.

As a DJ, the most valuable thing to me is a glowing reference that I can put on my website. I love the hand written ones that go into detail about what it was that made them so pleased. Testimonials are worth their weight in gold.

Oh gosh is this another wedding etiquette I've missed??? I will not be tipping anyone as there'll be nothing left in the budget! But tbh I don't see why I should, we're paying all of our suppliers the prices they've set so I think that should be enough! I'll be like Kentish Gal - l'll thank them via email and will absolutely make recommendations to friends...but that's it! No thank you cards either, in my view they're just doing their jobs at the end of the day, I don't expect tips, cards or flowers in my job!

(Ps I do ALWAYS tip at least 10% in restaurants, but to me that's different - the waiters/waitresses are often on crap wages which they haven't chosen, so deserve the extra money in tips!)

Didn't tip anyone but the venue on the food and drink bill - 5%.

I did however give all my suppliers a canvas bag with their names iron-on transferred onto it, and a few bits inside like chocolate and bottles of coke, headache pills, mints and things they might need on the day.

I will send all a thank you card as they were incredible.

I will also send the wedding co-ordinator and food and beverage manager flowers I think as I believe they went above and beyond the call of duty.

I think these are 'nice-to-do's if budget allows, I am extremely lucky because we had so much help with the wedding financially I can do it.

Ahh that's really sad, completely agree they should go to the right people. Will definitely give good references to suppliers anyway and do what I can to help them with business

Jeez I hadn't even thought about tipping!

I don't think we'll bother, partially because we wont have any money left, partially because the prices rise as soon as you mention wedding anyway and also because I don't get tipped for my job! They're just doing the job they're paid to do. Will do thank you cards and nice reviews but that will be it.

I'll definitely be giving thank you cards and some flowers or chocs for the people who make the day special for us. Tbh we'll just be relieved and grateful for everything going to plan smoothly (hopefully haha.) I also tip in restaurants but give tips to hairdressers / taxi drivers etc who are also just doing their job. I suppose it's just seeing who you think deserves it really.

Aww that's really nice & i'm sure were much appreciated by them
They are nice ideas and a nice personal touch that i'm sure they'll love. Will probably do something similar for the coordinators as they'll be the ones running round mad and want to show we appreciate it. I think it's a nice touch that shows them you appreciate their hard work, and I think i'd rather do something like that than put money in a card etc as I wouldn't know what was an appropriate amount haha.

I have no intention of tipping anyone. Most of my suppliers I have found via Facebook so will write a nice post on their wall and tag them in some photos of their products/services so they've got some nice free advertising.

I dont think I will tip unless someone really stands out as going above and beyond. I too have a problem with tips as I have a few friends that work in restaurants and most of them never get to keep their tips!!! This I find absolutely disgusting and makes me soo angry. I now ALWAYS ask the wait staff ect if they get to keep their own tips before tipping.

I agree with some others though, im already paying (and paying a premium because its a wedding) so dont see the need to pay extra. will do thank you cards and recommendations

xxx