Should we tip the DJ and photographer?

A friend of mine is a photographer that works for a major company (Fred Fox), and she's always frustrated when she is the only one who is not tipped (which happens often!). She works very, very hard and is on her feet for the entire wedding, and is one of the most important people there! I def say tip the photographer!

Professionals charge a professional fee and what they believe their service is worth. If you believe their service was worth more than the the service they provided because they did an outstanding job, feel free to tip. Good professional wedding vendors don't expect to be tipped.

After your wedding is over, you may not feel obligated to tip your DJ no matter what he charges.

The only vendor you hire for your wedding that can make or break a wedding day is a DJ, and by hiring a super cheap hobbyist DJ... the odds are against you. "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten." You get what you pay for.

@Professional Mobile Entertainment - I dislike your response; it's just what I would expect from someone who charges an arm and a leg for service. High prices are not always associated with good quality. And just because my DJ does it as a hobby does not mean he is untalented, mind you. It means he has a passion for it, which probably makes him better than most people. Also, the reason why he can afford to give reasonable prices is because he's a full-time architectural engineer. And when I say "super cheap", I mean not the ridiculous price quoted to me by other DJs.

@ Melcees we PAID everyone and FED everyone. I don't think you have to feel bad if you are getting a low rate b/c they quoted you the price. You didn't make up the price. If you just want to tip him then go ahead but I doubt if he'd feel slighted if you didn't. Our DJ was a "hobbyist" too and everyone LOVED him! My coworkers are still talking about how much they enjoyed the music we played. We told him we wanted old school music and he gave us old school music. They only thing we gave him was our 1st dance song, a song for his fraternity to serenade me and he handled the rest. All for the low low price of $250!

Ladyleee -- you're absolutely right. If everyone dances & has fun, no one cares if the DJ has a company, works in bars, clubs --- fun is fun. and if you can save a few bucks, even better.

Tips are for people who provide exceptional service. If they go above and beyond then a tip may be appropriate - but as a general rule, tipping is relegated to those who provide a service - and provide it well.

But I wanted to mention something that came up earlier in this thread about the $/hour. A good DJ will put in time beforehand developing the timeline with the wedding planner, you, and the other vendors. They'll collect the music needed, listen to it to insure there aren't any skips in the CD or problems with the files. They may burn custom CD's for your event as a backup. They may research customs, cultures, and even practice before the day of the event. Ok, the really cheap ones may not... but a true professional will.

A photographer may only have a certain number of hours on site shooting, but the amount of time it takes to edit the photos generally runs more then twice the amount of time it takes to shoot those photos or more. Just some thoughts to consider.

Your still gambling when you pay a below average price, and this is one of the biggest days of your life.

ladylee I hate to say it, but you got lucky, congrats. If your guests fun that's awesome.

A bride could find a beautiful wedding dress at Goodwill too. But how often does that happen?

Melcees, don't be angry, I wouldn't be on here posting if I didn't care

or know what I'm talking about. I'm very passionate about weddings

because after 20 years in the industry I've seen & listened to so many horror stories I could write a 5 hundred page novel. It truly breaks my heart.http://www.professionalmobileent.com/disc-jockey-Letters.html

I charge what I believe I'm worth, and my clients will tell you I'm worth more than what I charge. So if the national average is worth an arm and a leg, that's a pretty good deal...for an arm & a leg.

Would you let just anyone perform a root canal on your teeth, or would you seek a professional? You have only one chance to get it right.

You don't have to take my word for it.

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/went-to-wedding-today-and-the-dj-sucked/b11e78c4a8469186.html

@Melcees - I'm sorry you didn't like my response, I would be on here if I didn't care. I've seen so many many horror stories I could write a book.http://www.professionalmobileent.com/disc-jockey-Letters.html

"High prices are not always associated with good quality". True.

But if your paying a below average price you're still gambling, and this is one of the biggest days of your life.

You can also possibly find a beautiful wedding dress at Goodwill too, but how often does that happen? You just have one chance to get it right. You wouldn't let just anyone perform a root canal on your teeth.

I charge a professional fee. My clients will tell you I'm worth every penny, that's all I care about.

I'm not sure if i'll tip them or not, im already paying them quite a bit, but I know i'll definately feed them, because the food is amazing, and thats practically a 60 dollar tip already. However, im not feeding the caterer and servers, i dont feel its expected of me. oh, and ill feed the person with our photobooth as well. probably not a tip for them, because..they bring the thing, buut, they dont do a big service besides that, like i said, the food should be good enough i feel.

alsooo...i think we should try being a little more positive on this site. i lot of us like to unwind, read through the threads and vent. and i dont want to have to start venting about the threads. just try to remember, we dont actually, truely know one another where we'll ever be able to fully understand where another person is coming from, so we should allways respect others opinions while providing our own. as for DJ prices, we know they're all over the board, and cheaper ones can be amazing, and...

(cont) expensive ones can suck. its a gamble we all have to take. this wedding stuff can get a little stressful huh? haha...be happy, i think we all like eachother on here

"im not feeding the caterer and servers" LOL that's funny.

"cheaper ones can be amazing, expensive ones can suck"

I don't want to come across negative here at all, but I'm

just a bit curious on how you know this. How many weddings have you attended where a DJ was performing, and do you approached

them to ask how much they charge?

Many Dj's Photographers, (any service really) often charge less in the beginning to build their client base and word of mouth. Cheap doesnt mean bad, but cheap can be a sign they are inexperienced. If you have seen their work and they are up to your standards then dont be afraid just because of a price. Everyone has to start somewhere and you cant roll into the wedding world charging top dollar if you dont have the experience and client base to back it. Dont listen to people who try and say the price should be a determining factor, as if you dont charge enough you cant possibly do the job well. We did our first few weddings for free to get people to see us.

However,tips are not expected but usually food is. We usually decline meals but most photographers are there 12 hours and need to eat, unless you want them leaving and going to their car or running to grab something Id feed them to make sure they are there. Just a thought. Goodluck

*sigh* i tried to back you up PMEDJ. but now, i must rant back. how unfortunate. youre not about to make any friends on here if you question how someone knows something. people dont appreciate their knowledge being questioned. and now to answer your ridiculous questions.

1. i dont feel it matters how many weddings ive attended, but..quite a few, no, i wont count, and yes, a DJ was at all of them.

2. and if im being invited to a wedding for someone do you really think id go up to the DJ to ask what they charged? hopefully i feel close enough to the B&G to ask them, but seeing as ive been to a good 4 weddings just this past year alone, i know some had family friends that did a great job and other more expensive djs that simply weren't as good.for the record, my dj cost a lot, probably in the upper end of people on this site, but i really liked them when i met them and feel its worth it. i feel cheaper djs could be just as good.

@specifically PMEDJ: when you start off a sentence with, not to sound negative, BUT.......chances are, youre going to say something that will upset a bride on here. and when you ask a question for, lets admit, the purpose of further arguing YOUR point, not making anyone happy with that either. These are very active brides on this site...id stop upsetting them if i were you. i would like to stop arguing now, as i said, this site is for brides to share ideas and support eachother, not to argue with vendors on price when it wasnt even the subject if the post in the first place. and thats all i have to say on that

Good grief, all I wanted to know is how you got this information.

People can be very uptight on forums. I see brides recommending wedding vendors all the time without even experiencing a performance first. Then be disappointed after the wedding. People think McDonalds is good, but you wouldn't serve McDonalds at a wedding...Why?

I just didn't want you to think I was trying to be negative. My goal is to educate brides, and help them from disastrous wedding.

http://www.professionalmobileent.com/disc-jockey-Letters.html

Are warning signs on a highway negative?

What did I say that was so upsetting?

My "information" was cheap djs can be great, expensive ones can suck. as in both are possibilities. how i got this information, is a little thing called common sense. not to mention a fair amount of testimonials on a company that were completely split.

Perhaps I will serve McDonalds at my wedding. Why? cause its tasty and no better time to indulge yourself them at a wedding.

Warning signs on a highway bug me, and you kind of do too.

rhetorical questions to attempt to prove a point are not cool either.

conversation so over. i dont plan on looking at this thread again. im gonna go look for that thread on positive thoughts and what we're thankful for to see some happier people talk.

I first commented on this thread to back you up by saying that everyone should simply respect eachothers opinions, now i look like a total snot and i dont appreciate it. *sigh*

I wish you well, and please don't take down the warning signs, we need them.

Here's a reality about wedding vendors like photogs, videogs, DJ's, musicians, etc. The majority of them are weekend warriors (which is fine)...but means quality has absolutely nothing to do with their pricing. Most of my videog friends hate that I charge so little...but all of them either have day jobs, or do other video work during the week to make ends meet, so their prices are not based on the laws of "supply and demand" like most businesses. They don't HAVE to book a wedding every week, so pricing is completely arbitrary: charge as much as you want...and if someone finally pays it...it's all "extra" money.

That's the awesome thing about WW...you can get real reviews about vendors, regardless of their price. (I'm a big Yelp-er...that's why I love WW...real reviews!) I just got home from eating at what I consider the best restaurant in Houston, which also happens to be one of the cheapest.

More OT: Tips are for service workers. Professionals are commissioned.