Another Tipping Question - Alterations Lady?

I did. She was independent and the quote I got was so much less, than at the salon where I bought my gown.

Errr, I wasn't planning on it. Mine owns her own shop. I think my alterations are costing about $400 (hem, and let out by adding fabric) plus I'm buying $80 in shape wear and referred one of my BMs to her.

Watching this to see what others are doing...

I think at some point the tipping needs to end....you going to tip your dentist next time he cleans your teeth? haha. But seriously though, her job is to alter your dress, so that is what you are paying her for. She either does her job properly or you have a crappy dress. I don't think a tip is necessary. I've never tipped my dry cleaner who adds on a missing button or the woman at Nordstrom who hems my pants.

Hmmm I don't know if I would. Is she the owner of the business? By doing on the side and not charging you taxes she is also "saving/keeping" more of the money when she should've paid the taxes but do what you feel is right! If you want to send you a thank you card with a gift card- do it!

I wasnt going to, i am using the lady that the boutique where i got my BMs dresses from uses. now i feel like i should because she may give the shop a cut but at the same time she could already be charging me a little more than she would outside of the shop... ehhh!

She is not the owner of the store. I think they do cash only to probably keep costs down (not having to claim it on income taxes, and keep costs down for the bride), etc. She was just super nice. Said she would take the armpit seams in a tiny bit without charging because it's not much work (literally 1/8") She knew of a small trick to tighten them a tiny bit without a full on change. The sheet they gave me for estimates was $150+ for ballgown hems, $150+ for a bustle, etc. So I think she charged less because I purchased a dress that was simple with alterations (the bottom has no design and the tulle has no hem. There is just a stain liner that is a basic hem) so she charged me less than the sheet said it would be.

Nope....I think the tipping is getting out of control. I am tipping the service staff and that is it. I am paying for the services rendered already. I am not going to pay on top of that. I have photographed weddings before and the price I charge is my total price. I do not see a point in someone tipping me on top of that. It is a unnecessary expense.

Rachel - I know what you mean. "Under promise and over deliver". They gave me a sheet that said those prices and up, and I knew they had to give those as just guidelines because every single dress is different for every single person. So giving a hard number per alteration across the board is impossible.

I guess I'll see how good of a job she does and go from there! Thanks, everyone!

Hmm.... I would have to say no. But yet again I am a HORRIBLE tipper. Seriously, I have issues with tipping people when it is their job to do what they are doing. Unless they go above and beyond I don't tip. And its true what @tahoegirl said, tipping is getting out of control!

Oh and @Pancakes totally unrelated to this post but I did my boudoir shoot and I thought of you when I saw the pictures since we both were a little skeptical because of our weight. You looked smoking hot! and it totally gave me the courage I needed to get my boudoir session done. I love hoe I look in some pictures. lol.

I just picked up my dress last night and honestly, I felt terrible not giving her a tip, but it's getting out of control. Does everyone need to be tipped? She was lovely and did a wonderful job. I plan on recommending her to everyone and anyone in the area. Giving her more business is like a tip, right? haha

GAWD, I hope I'm not supposed to do this! She's an independent, bridal only seamstress that is VERY good and I'm paying an unheard of, shit-ton of money to take my dress to her...I couldn't bare to give her any more, even as much as I love this cute little ol' lady.

I did not but my alterations were done through the bridal shop and more than one person worked on the dress. I'm not even sure if I met the ladies who actually did the work.

As an Alts CSR, I'll say this; some do some don't. It's really rare that someone does tip anyone in our department

I'm following this because I haven't even started to think about tipping.

Honestly, I thought it's was supposed to be what @Tahoegirl said. Photographer, florist, etc. I would assume the cost of their labor is included in the cost given in the contract? The only vendors I assumed I would need to tip are caterer (for the servers) and Hair/MUA. Is that wrong?

We didn't.

Because she was rude & basically told me my size changed and that's why it wasn't sitting on my boobs right. This was pre-pregnant. So I hadn't changed. She screwed up my dress and didn't want o fix it. But i released my pit bull (aka my mom) on her & she did. I was so upset I was crying in the dressing room.

I am not planning on it. My alterations are super $$ so I am hoping its included....

@Miriam - I'm so happy your boudoir shoot went awesome and I'm honored that I helped give you a boost of confidence! That was definitely my intent to help other brides out! I know most women are hard on themselves and nitpick every little "flaw" that FH doesn't even notice. I think boudoir sessions help show us what we look like through our FH's eyes! Yes, I could stand to lose 40 pounds, but I look freaking ridiculous in most of those photos, and that was before editing was done! Being happy with who we are is extremely important. And just because we are not a size 2 does not mean that we can't rock it

And thanks, everyone. I know that tipping gets a bit out of hand. I know that in the wedding industry, referrals are better than tips because more business will bring in more than a tip from one person and it widens their customer base. Since my alterations are a lot cheaper than I budgeted, maybe I will give her an extra $20 or so if she did great.

Yeah, I'm with Katie and Tahoegirl on this. I plan on tipping hair and MUA and servers, but that's it. If someone is giving you a quote for services, it would be for what they feel is fair, otherwise they would change the amount.

I also have a problem with them doing cash only so as to avoid taxes... but that's a different issue.

Rebecca - I don't know if that is the actual reason they are taking cash only. I was just speculating. She mentioned how many brides will say they want something, then when it is done, they say they want to change it again, but don't want to pay for it. Since you can't pay for it ahead of time (because you don't know how much work it will be) I think this is just an extra security fee for them so they aren't doing thousands of dollars of work on one dress to only collect a couple hundred.

I was questioning this, because I also went to a local business. My seamstress was amazing and did a great job at a very fair price. I got my all lace dress taken in on the sides (twice), had my cap sleeves/straps moved, cups sewn in, 1 point bustle, and my belt sewn on for only $120. I was going to tip her even if it wasn't protocol because she did such a good job for such a good price, and everything was done quickly at that. I was happy to see when she checked me out on her ipad that there was a option to add on a tip by just tapping the percentage increment you wanted. I was happy she had that so I didn't have to ask her if tipping was expected/normal, or to just push some cash in her face.

ETA: Tipping is out of hand in the wedding industry, I'm sorry, but I just paid 1K for a DJ and now I am expected to give him another $100-200, whaaaa? But if your seamstress did a really good job at a fair price then a little something I think is in order. Maybe not 25%, but an extra $20 bill would still be nice I think. But if it were a seamstress at DB, they didn't do a very good job, or it was very expensive in the first place, then I wouldn't have.