Is service charge the same as tip?

Check the contract but those are usually separate charges

Check your contract or ask the venue's coordinator. My service charge was not the gratuity.

I had a line item for service charge and one for gratuity. I'd check your contract and/or ask your venue.

My venue specifically charged an 18% gratuity fee and state sales tax. Your contract should say. I'm thinking that the service fee does not go to the actual employees serving.

We got married at a hotel, also, and our service charge included gratuity. I was afraid to know the answer, but I finally checked with the on-site coordinator a week prior to the wedding. For 23%, they better get paid a hefty tip! But like some of the other lovely brides above, check with your venue.

Ask your venue! Our venue did not include gratuity in the service charge!

You should ask your venue. I work at a venue where we get a portion of the "service charge"...5% of it to be exact. It may cover some gratuity, but not what is an appropriate tip in my opinion. If it were truly a tip, it would say gratuity. A service charge leads me to believe that the venue is getting a cut of it, and not all if any of it is going to the staff.

My venue did include the gratuities in the service fee, so it definitely depends on the place!

No- service charge is pretty much like overhead.

Usually there are two line items for that.

Usually separate but check the contract

Often the service charge is NOT a tip, and does not include a tip. It is often used for the staff salary, and then you would tip on top of that. However, you don't need to give another 20% for tips. You can do a flat fee per server, such as $40 each.

At my venue the 21% service fee actually include gratuity for all the staff, I made sure I specifically asked my venue coordinator. Definitely check with yours before making any assumptions

Not usually. Service charge is usually for things like staff salary, while tip is extra for their hard work. Two very different things.

Usually not. Ask your venue.