mua & Hair Stylist Tips$$$

I would just give them the money that you would have spent on the goodie bag, instead of giving them the goodie bag. There's no guarantee that they'll like/use the items, and if you give them cash, they can choose how to spend it.

No you are never required to tip every single vendor. Plus you should not be doing that at all. A tip is only given to vendors who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, regardless if they own a business or not. You do not tip anyone the day of the wedding because you have not seen the service in action with an objective mindset to evaluate their performance. That is done when you come back from the honeymoon.


Tipping culture at least in the US is completely blown out of proportion and it really needs to stop. Vendors expect tips for treating customers like crap and not following through with what was promised, showing up to do their job with no concern about the quality of work, and just for existing. Those groups have done nothing to earn a tip, and none should be given. If they don’t make enough to live on before tips, that is the fault of the employer for not paying them high enough wages. You don’t pay the difference in what the employer is responsible for.

I would definitely find room in your budget to give them cash

This whole thing of vendors charging more for wedding services is ridiculous. What’s the charge for hair for a non wedding event. If it’s significantly lower, they’ve already built those charges in. Tipping on top of that is egregious in my opinion.
I agree with Michelle that you don’t have to tip every vendor. Only when they have gone above and beyond. Example: Someone in another post tipped her photographer generously and she is still waiting for her photos four months later. Don’t tip before the finished product is received.

A hair stylist and make up artist should always get a tip, regardless if it's for your wedding or anytime. I don't think a goodie bag would be received well as a replacement for a tip. If you didn't tip they wouldn't say anything, but they would wonder if they didn't do a great job. 5-star reviews go a long way if you really didn't want to add to the cost you're already paying. What do you consider a ridiculous amount of money? Are they charging more than average compared to other HMUA for your area?

Just my opinion, as a HMUA who has done many weddings, with and without a team, a traditional tip would be best. It may not seem like alot of work but it is, just like the caterers, DJ, Venue, etc; and that is one of the major "vendors" you want to take care of, being that your dress, hair & makeup will be the major factors for your photos. Your photographer also should be tipped well. I've received nothing below a 15% - 20% tip, as a reference, from my experience only.

I’m not tipping all of our vendors. While i would like to tip my photographer, he’s already costing us $6500. I don’t have an extra $1300 for him on top of that. I’m already paying him more than any other photographer I’ve seen. If I can manage it I will but if I can’t then I don’t think we’re wrong for not having that much to tip. Then I would need $700 tip for videographer and so on and so forth. We’ll try to tip where we can but we don’t have an extra $3k to tip all of our vendors on top of a $30k wedding that we’re BARELY going to pay off in full once we use all of our gift money we know we’re getting from certain family members. We’re certainly going to try but we may be only able to afford some of our less expensive vendors. Especially because we’ll be moving 2 weeks before our wedding, purchasing an RV and a new truck and hitting the road full time. So we’ll have to see what we can do realistically

View Quoted Comment Just so you know, there’s no reason to tip 15-20% for those more expensive vendor. We tipped our photographer because she went above and beyond for both our engagement photos and our wedding day, but we only tipped $100 on her $3,000 package.

I would like to hear from some wedding planners. This is a little overwhelming with the amount we are already spending on our wedding. When we set our budget "tipping" was not a line item. I agree that above and beyond should be compensated. However, on my wedding day we are paying and hiring the best and we expect top service and quality, as weddings are NOT cheap. Also, check your invoice, our venue has an added gratuity.