Love Offerings aka Tips

Yes we are tipping our vendors but I haven’t budgeted for it! Oops 🙊
I fugured I would see what left and determine their tip then?!?!

We didn’t really create a budget for our wedding but made sure to tip all of our vendors well. They work hard to make your day special and even though most of them own their own business they are giving up weekends and family time to help make things perfect for a wedding. So many people don’t tip them and it’s unfortunate. I got thank you cards for each one and put money inside to give them on the wedding day (provides their service was good of course).

Our wedding was on a budget too and it was hurting me so much to do the tips! Lol but I decided to do it even if we were out of budget. You don’t have to give so much, I gave $2 per person, plus gave $20 to each photographer, $30 to the decorator (which she only did the his and her table), I did the rest of the decor, $20 to the bride assistant and $10 to the florist from the venue that set up my own decorations.

View Quoted Comment Lol I hope you have some leftover! I had to forget about the budget for the tips!

We are tipping after the wedding. Our venue includes gratuity for the servers and bartenders the night of. As for DJ and photographer, we are going to send a handwritten thank you with a check for a tip immediately following the wedding. We want to make sure that everything goes smoothly first, even though we are pretty confident in the vendors we hiredA

We are tipping to the vendor then when everything is complete.

View Quoted Comment We calculated 15%, 18%, and 20% for each vendor ahead of time and them just gave them what they deserved. Honestly if we hadn't planned for it they all would have received like 5%.

View Quoted Comment We also made personalized thank you cards and put tips inside. Each vendor was very thankful and trust me they earned it. Being apart of a wedding is no easy task, it's a lot of pressure to get everything perfect.

View Quoted Comment Initially we we're just going to give $20-$50 to each vendor and then I realized we typically top in that range at restaurant for a much smaller bill. Ultimately we calculated 15%, 18%, and 20% of each vendors contract and gave them what they deserved.

View Quoted Comment My planner told me that when couple's tip typically the servers and bartenders fall under the radar so I'm glad your venue accounted for that.

View Quoted Comment Are you typically all of your vendors or a select few? Also, how are you determing how much to tip each vendor?

We will be tipping but I am not sure how much yet. The servers for example, we pay $25/hour. Well above standard server wages that are dependant on tips. I think we pay the bartender like $75-100 per hour. Again well above livable wages. So I am somewhat conflicted about tipping.

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I totally understand why you are conflicted. Perhaps you should just tip the photographer and videographer.

Honestly, I find calling it love offerings a bit off-putting. It's a professional relationship, not a personal one. Gratuities or tips are a standard practice in this type of hiring.

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Thanks for your feedback, however, my understanding is not about it being a personal relationship but more about how much you "love" the vendors work. Additionally, because it is wok at a wedding, "love" is the topic of conversation. Lastly, I would not consider love offerings a standard practice in weddings as many people do not pay more than they are contracted for while others do which is why I wrote this discussion post.

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$50 to each vendor.

View Quoted Comment Thanks for sharing.

We will tip... but we dont know how much. We have a lot of research to do.

We are tipping our officiant 100%. Literally a 100% tip. She is doing our ceremony for 20% of what she charges, so we're still getting a deal.

Does this sound okay?

$50 on $450 for officiant
$100 on $500 for photographer (family friend)
$100 on $800 for florist
$50 on $1500 for caterer (in addition to the 18% gratuity they charge)

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I don't think there is one right answer so whatever you decide will be appreciated.