Gifts for Vendors

Keep in mind that if the venue said that you should not tip his staff, they might not be ALLOWED to accept a tip or gift without putting their job in jeopardy.

I probably wouldn't give cash for a pro w/ a contract. and def not "tip" anything until you get your pictures back. I think a nice thank you card and review is fine. But if you want to go beyond a Starbucks gift card is always my go to for working ppl. Also something she can put in her office, so she has a story to tell future clients. I would probably avoid flowers, I'm sure they're around that stuff all the time.

Reviews on all major sites (FB, YELP, google, WW). I agree with waiting for your pictures, but if you still feel like giving her one maybe a nice bottle of wine, a giftcard to a restaurant? For your DOC, I agree with purplekitten to check with the venue. Express to them that you really want to do something for her outside of your contract with them and make sure it won't put her in jeopardy. If they give you the go ahead, the same ideas above would work. A nice cash tip would be good as well.

A gift card is not a tip -- it is a gift. I'm sure she would appreciate that! Anyone would but maybe ask the venue if you can give a gift card?

Thanks @PurpleKitten and @Laura. You're right. I should make sure she's allowed to receive gifts.

I would think something small might be nice. Here is what we are thinking

Dj/Photobooth attendant/limo driver - cash tips

videographer - cash tip (she owns the company and has a helper we are going to tip 100, so 50 each)

the photographer is a great friend of my brothers, who is doing our wedding. We don't really know if my brother is paying him or his friend is just doing it for us, so we were thinking giving him $100 as a thank you.

Our one decorator has gone above and beyond, meeting us at venue, etc. She does a $200 refundable security deposit, FH asked me if I factored her for a tip and I said no we are already paying 1200 plus 200 security, he said when she asks where she should send it to tell her to keep it.

We don't have a DOC, but the banquet managers at our venue will be there for us for that type of thing. They said the same person will be at our rehearsal Thurs night and at the wedding Fri night. Depending on how everything goes we figured we will send something, maybe an edible arrangement or an arrangement of flowers. Something she can enjoy and a nice gesture without putting a real dollar amount on it. Also, since she is a banquet manager at the venue she is already paid a salary and just going above and beyond their responsibilities to make everything perfect for us.

A lot of brides send a thank you letter or card to their DOC. My boss (Wedding planner) had me make a collage out of some and frame it. Its hanging in her office. Its a nice thing to do and its also a conversation starter when she has consultations, so it helps her out too. Maybe something like that might be nice.

I bought a gift for our venue GM who is also my wedding consultant/coordinator. Frank is totally doing it all for me and I am so grateful. We got him a scarf from the Hudson Bay Co., as it's quintessentially Canadian and, since we're coming overseas to him, we thought he'd appreciate it. And yes, he's someplace where he'd need a scarf :-)

For the tips, I'm holding off on until after the wedding.

The only vendor that has a tip included was our limo.

I found out a few months ago that our DJ's birthday is the day before our wedding. I plan on getting him a gift card to his favorite restaurant since I'm sure he would have spent the day with his family if he wasn't working our wedding.