So many gratuity question (Destination Wedding)!

Servers might be included in your overall cost, but i usually do 20%. does mexico have a tax? if it does you can just do the 20% on the before tax price. (fh always does that, i never thought of doing that till i met him)

eta: my caterer had the 20% gratuity added into the contract and it was as a group not per server so he divides it out to them. Band and DJ since you are at the resort i would also do 20%. same with hair and makeup people at the spa/salon.

Oh, I forgot to explain that I won't know how to determine 20%. Since it's a package wedding, I don't know what percent of the total goes towards the dinner, so I don't have a number to take 20% of. :-\

Ohhhh...... hmmm

eta: i would probably assume that food and beverage is going to cost the most. so i would think that would be 1/2 of your over all and then all of the other vendors i would be about the same amount for the remaining amount of your package???...

eta2: saying that your total is 10k, i would divide the remaining 5k after food/booze by the 3 vendors, that would be about $330. i am not sure about servers though, i was going to say that if you did 20% of the 1st 5k it could be good? but that would be $1000 so i guess it depends on how many servers there are.

i would double check the contract and see what it says about gratuity and make sure its not included.

This is tough! Maybe change your title to be "So many gratuity questions- Destination" and you may catch the eye of someone who has been through this.

Can you call/email the event coordinator or whoever you've been communicating with to find out what is the norm for the place you're getting married at? I would assume that it's similar to tipping practices in the U.S. (From what I've read of tipping in Mexico/Canada online).

I'm glad you posted this. I am also having a DW and would have never thought about tipping (how horrible am I?!?) Just seems like to much separate tipping for so many different vendors.

OKay, so I emailed my wedding coordinator. I asked:

"Would you be able to give me any insight in to how gratuity is generally handled with these wedding packages? Firstly, who should we be giving gratuity to? Secondly, do we give it to them individually, or do we give it to someone to distribute it? Lastly, what is an appropriate amount?

We're trying to plan how much cash we need to bring, so any information you can give us would be very helpful."

She responded that she is not allowed to suggest any amount for gratuity. Which made me angry and makes me want to not worry about it.

I think it's fair to assume that the food/beverage/service cost is 50-90% of what you are paying for your wedding package. I am not sure what your package includes, but food and beverage is just under 50% of my overall budget, and I have read that that is average. I would read up on travel guidelines for tipping in Mexico, and follow those for percentages. Guides like Lonely Planet or Fodor's usually have that kind of info.

Well, Jacqui, it's an all-inclusive resort, though. So like.... food is already paid for by virtue of each of the guests staying there. Drinks, too.

It's really hard to break down.

Maybe try posting this on the trip advisor forum for the area you are going to? I have been using that for my HM and get a lot of good tipping advice. I know it's different for a wedding but it's worth a shot.

Purplekitten, our DW is also a package deal, all vendors are included - even make-up/hair (well as an add-on), including photography & videography. To us this made it kind of tough at first, but FH suggested that we tip 20% of the total package deal, Our officiate stated we do not pay the music magician, make-up artist (but we do tip her at time of service), photographers, etc.. from our pocket, all monies still owed will be paid to him (our officiate ), and they distribute the fees + tips. Example: our Ukulele Magician is $250 for the hour at the beach, Officiate pays him and tips him, we have no monies exchange with him.

I do know your vendors can not give you an idea amount to give as a tip, but if you know the total package amount, you could figure a reasonable tip amount to give. If your resort does not distribute the tips, I would do that personally. Also, because I will be tipping the MUA separately, I will deduct that amount from the package price to get an accurate tip amount for our over all amount, i.e. if your hotel rooms were included in your package (you do not need to tip for your room), I would deduct that amount from the package prior to tipping, then tip the resort staff prior to departure for other things such as room service/cleaning. hope it helps.

I know this is an old thread but as I frantically google "wedding tips destination / costa rica" this is at the top of the list, SO if nothing else, I am hoping that maybe this is visited frequent enough that I can get advice from others that have been in a similar boat.

I am getting married (YAY) next month in Costa Rica The resort is all inclusive. And I know from when I was on vacation in Costa Rics, tips are not viewed as mandatory the way there are here, especially in NY, but I believe this would be a little different for a wedding. I am trying to update my budget for tips (obsessive spreadsheet user over here). And I am totally lost. I have asked the coordinator and she told me "tip whatever you want". I google costa rica tips and I see that a few dollars is more than enough for daily service. I see some people mention if you are paying an individual for a service don't tip them at all. But these answers are not as straight forward as I need.

I (tentatively) plan on tipping as follows and PLEASE provide any suggestions/recommendations, especially people who have had/worked/are native to costa rica/know anyone who is in costa rica! lol

*My coordinator (service cost included in package) - $50. Because she is a doll. And the wedding sales rep located in Florida told me $10-$50 would be more a good range. I know that is a lot for Costa Rica and I think she deserves it.

*Transportation (not provided by hotel, I found them and paid them in full myself) - $1-2 per person (4 trips on diff days total (2 from hotel and 2 back), about 20/40 guests on each bus). So, $40 $60 $40 $60

*Saxaphonist for welcome party (paid through hotel) $300 for 2 hours. I was thinking just a small tip since $150/hour seems steep for Costa Rica. So tip maybe $10?

*Guitar Trio for processional music (service cost included in package) - $10 each guitarist

*DJ (paid through the hotel) $600 for 4 hours. $30

*Servers for wedding and welcome party - (invoice paid included gratuity charges of 15% of all food so I am assuming this gratuity is charged up from for the servers so no additional tip planned)

*Bartenders (all inclusive resort, but paying for service of 2 bartenders at welcome party and wedding $100 per bartender so I am thinking that most of that is going to them) maybe just additional $10 each to start their tip jars off?

*Excursion tour guides (not provided through the hotel, I found them and paid them myself) - $100 for tour guide(s) for each group excursion (ATV zipline 4 hours long ~ 20 ATVs rented & Full day tour of volcano ~ 15 people)

*Hair and Makeup (service cost included in package but she charges $80 for hair and $80 for makeup) - $25

*Photographers & Videographer (not provided through the hotel, I found and paid them myself) - 7 hours of photographer and 4 hours of videography with all photos taken provided to me within 3 weeks $3,400. I was thinking $25 each (I believe there are 2 photographers and only 1 videographer)

THOUGHTS? SUGGESTIONS? RECOMMENDATIONS? Obviously service will be a factor. But I would like to budget as if everyone did a great job. If anyone goes above and beyond (as my coordinator has already done) than I will have extra cash on me anyway.