Tips for Vendors

I am trying to figure out how much to tip my vendors. Rather than throw out arbitrary numbers I figured I would tip $15 - $20 cash per hour of service..Does that sound fair? If not, any other thoughts? I am not sure what the going rate for this stuff is.

I think $15-$20 for some vendors will be a little high. Also, you need to take into account if you are feeding any vendors.
Here is a link I previously saw on LIW. I also read somewhere that you will need $1000 just for tips the day of.


Actual
Matre De $4 pp
Bridal Attendant $150
Visiting Priest $100 donation to charity (plus $600 for church fee)
Altar Boys $20pp
Organist $20pp
Singer $20pp
Violinist $20pp
Flower Delivery (RH) $30
Flower Delivery (Hotel) $20
Photographer $100
Photographer Asst $100
Videographer $100
Limo town car $40 (16% of bill)
Limo Infiniti $120 (16% of bill)
Limo Rolls Royce $60 (16% of bill)
Limo Drop Off @ end night $20
Hotel Shuttle Gratuity included in price
Photobooth Attendant $75
DJ & MC $100 each
Zap Photos $75
DJ Lighting Tech $20
DOC $150 each
Hair 25% final bill
Makeup 25% final bill

Average
Matre De $3-5 pp
Bridal Attendant $100-$150
Altar Boys $10-$15pp
Organist $15-25pp
Singer $15-25pp
Violinist $15-25pp
Flower Delivery $10pp
Photographer $100-$150
Photographer Asst $50-$100
Videographer $100-$150
Limo town car 15-20% of bill
Limo Infiniti 15-20% of bill
Limo Rolls Royce 15-20% of bill
Limo Drop Off @ end night 15-20% of bill
Photobooth Attendant $50-$100
DJ & MC $75-100pp
Zap Photos $50-$100
Lighting Tech $20
DOC $100 each
Hair 20% final bill
Makeup 20% final bil

This is my breakdown as of now with the amount of people in parenthesis. It is kind of similar to yours. We have more than one photog and live musicians so that is why the photog and dj seem higher...We are going to give the cash to the primary vendor and have him/her distribute to their team accordingly.

1000 Maitre D's &Bridal Attendant($5.5pp)(3)
250 DJ (3 for 5.5 hours)
350 Photo (2 + 1 Assist for 10 hours)
120 Video (1 for 10 hours)
50 PhotoBooth operator (1 for 4 hours)
15 Florist delivery (1 for 1 hour)
100 DOC (1 for 6 hours)
20 Hair
20 Makeup

I think maitre d and bridal attendant is a little high considering you have a DOC.

Also, don't forget you are feeding some vendors (photo/video) and I am counting this as part of a tip.

Try to give out tips to each person, you never know if someone is greedy.

This whole thread just made me

But this is great information. Now, smelling salt...

I know it seems high but we have 2 maitre d's, one captian, and actaully 2 bridal attendants (I messed up above) that is why we are planning to give extra (unless they absolutely stink the day of, but I doubt that b/c they've all been amazing thus far).

People can def be greedy, that is for sure! But we are just going to give them the benefit of the doubt, we are using all highly reputable vendors so if they cheat their employees that is just shameful. It is really just out photoj and dj that work in teams. And, honestly i've met both and I guess you never know but I just doubt they are the type of people to 'pull one over' lol. We are combining our venue because they requested we do so (I think they have a pooling system amoungst themselves).

Haha yes, tipping is an expense and a half! But at the end of the day you just have do what what you are comfortable with and what you can afford.

we have 2 bridal attendants too (well, we have 2 suites so we better.... otherwise we are going to need a longer time w/ DOC!)

i dont think you can include food as part of the 'tip' especially since it is in most contracts that you have to feed the vendors?

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Posted by lauren1802

i dont think you can include food as part of the 'tip' especially since it is in most contracts that you have to feed the vendors?

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None of my contracts state food is required.
We are feeding photo/video since they are working a 10 hour day.
Our DJ is arriving early and eatting during cocktail hour. I found this with most DJ companies, they just want a heads up.
For $50++, I am calculating food into our tip.

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Posted by sandr325

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Posted by lauren1802

i dont think you can include food as part of the 'tip' especially since it is in most contracts that you have to feed the vendors?

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None of my contracts state food is required.
We are feeding photo/video since they are working a 10 hour day.
Our DJ is arriving early and eatting during cocktail hour. I found this with most DJ companies, they just want a heads up.
For $50++, I am calculating food into our tip.

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OIC- our contracts do, or we asked before booking (so we could figure it into our 'budget)

In that case, if i were the vendor i would just be like give me a slice of pizza and the $50 in cash. I doubt that the hall would let you do that, tho

Possibly a silly question but you made a comment about attendants/maitre'd/captain.....that you doubt they'll stink the day of because they've been amazing thus far...what exactly have they done? Because I literally don't even know who mine are and I feel like maybe I'm missing out on some service they should be providing?

Just figured I'd ask because it was suggested that I tip $800 for maitre'd and $100+ for each attendant and I'm not exactly sure what it is that they should be doing...

Thanks!

I'm not sure what a DOC does during the reception because I'm not having one, but I can tell you from working in a catering hall the Maitre D does everyting you can imagine from making sure the room is set up the way you want it (linens, favors, etc), everything runs on time (coordinating with the kitchen and DJ to time courses properly), dealing with special food requests or random questions from your guests (they are the go-to person for the servers when they don't know how to respond to a special request), interact a lot with you and your parents to make sure the service and food are up to your expectations, wrangle up you, your husband, and bridal party for introductions, cake cutting, parent dances, etc., and at the end of the night they help you pack everything up. I would bet your DOC would have to go through the maitre d for most food related questions since most chefs are very territorial and would freak out if a DOC came anywhere near the kitchen :) Also, at most venues, the maitre d is supposed to distribute some of their tip to the servers...if you are unsure of how your servers are tipped that is something I would ask (the 20% service fee you pay on top of your price per head does NOT go to servers at most venues!!!!!)

The bridal attendant is basicially your personal waitress and helps you from the minute you set foot at the venue to the moment you leave.

I've never heard of people tipping captains. They are more like food expeditors and help set up and break down the room. Unless someone specifically points them out to you, I don't think you have to tip them because you probably won't notice them. They are more 'behind the scenes' than the maitre d or bridal attendant. Hope that helps!

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Posted by db276952

This is my breakdown as of now with the amount of people in parenthesis. It is kind of similar to yours. We have more than one photog and live musicians so that is why the photog and dj seem higher...We are going to give the cash to the primary vendor and have him/her distribute to their team accordingly.

1000 Maitre D's &Bridal Attendant($5.5pp)(3)
250 DJ (3 for 5.5 hours)
350 Photo (2 + 1 Assist for 10 hours)
120 Video (1 for 10 hours)
50 PhotoBooth operator (1 for 4 hours)
15 Florist delivery (1 for 1 hour)
100 DOC (1 for 6 hours)
20 Hair
20 Makeup

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Maitre de' s/ bridal attendant seems high and hair and make up seems low. Photogs also seem high. But hey, it's up to you! Are you doing a limo?

This is the list my DOC told me:

Alter Boy- 10.00
Church Musician: 25.00
Limo (Day)- 100.00
Limo (Night)- 35.00
Photo- 200.00
Photo Assit- 100.00
Video (2 person hubby and wife team)- 300.00
Bridal Attendant- 150.00
Maitre'd- 150.00
DJ- 100.00
MC- 100.00
Make up- 25.00
Photobooth- 100.00
Hair - 25.00

My FH and I are not very happy with this list. We don't want to be cheap and if they do a great job then we have no issue tipping them however the amounts are a bit much. We have paid some vendors thousands of dollars already. They are suppose to do a good job cause that's the service we paid for. So to us it seems a bit extreme.

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Posted by cupcake8503

How do I tip the florist delivery person if they are delivering to the RH and I won't be there?

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We will tip the florist when they drop off the bouquets and boutonnieres.

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Posted by sandr325

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Posted by cupcake8503

How do I tip the florist delivery person if they are delivering to the RH and I won't be there?

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We will tip the florist when they drop off the bouquets and boutonnieres.

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Oh ok. I only ordered my table centerpieces through the florist. We got our bouquets, etc through someone else. Gotta figure this out.

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Posted by scottsbride

This is the list my DOC told me:

Alter Boy- 10.00
Church Musician: 25.00
Limo (Day)- 100.00
Limo (Night)- 35.00
Photo- 200.00
Photo Assit- 100.00
Video (2 person hubby and wife team)- 300.00
Bridal Attendant- 150.00
Maitre'd- 150.00
DJ- 100.00
MC- 100.00
Make up- 25.00
Photobooth- 100.00
Hair - 25.00

My FH and I are not very happy with this list. We don't want to be cheap and if they do a great job then we have no issue tipping them however the amounts are a bit much. We have paid some vendors thousands of dollars already. They are suppose to do a good job cause that's the service we paid for. So to us it seems a bit extreme.

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I was going to tip the church musicians until she told me to make it out directly to her. It's all profit for them. Call me cheap, idc, I didn't top them, especially since she already required $125!