Gratuity not required but appreciated?

We waited to tip until after the wedding (except the transportation because they just included their tip when they charged us and we couldn't change it). I didn't want to tip just to tip, we wanted to tip based on service. The vendors all knew this in advance too.

How many waitstaff you will have is something that you will want to know even if gratuity is included. I would ask how many and let the vendor distribute the tip.

Ask in advance how many servers there will be. I’d tip $20-$50 per server depending on how expensive the service is and how many people are serving/how many guests there are. You should tip in cash (if you just add it to a credit card or check, the servers don’t usually get to keep it). Give it to the catering manager or banquet manager to distribute.

I would have the vendor distribute the tip. There will be so much going on during the wedding that it would be much easier on you or whoever you assigned to hand out the tips.

I also don't know if we should tip since our service charge fee is about $3k