Tipping for Alterations?

I am not tipping my seamstress as it has never crossed my mind to tip. But I’m sure they would appreciate anything you tipped.

I have heard that the best thing you can do for a wedding vendor is give them a really good 5 star review. They might appreciate that even more than they would a tip.

I am not even paying close to you but I am not tipping. She is charging what she feels she is worth plus I am paying $85 for her to steam my dress. I am not planning on tipping. If things go well I will leave a great review and recommend her.

My seamstress owned the business so I did not feel a tip was necessary.

I thought we tipped everybody for daughter's wedding, but I never even thought of the alterations person.... Her alterations were done at the bridal salon and cost about $450. Now that I think about it, my only concern would be how much of the $670 the alterations person is actually getting? If the bulk of that is really going to the shop, and he's getting a basic hourly rate -- and it sounds like he's done a great job and been very accommodating -- I might tip him. However, if he's an independent contractor who works with the salon, and all or nearly all of the $670 is going to him, I wouldn't be as concerned about an additional tip. Sorry, not much help!

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That's a great point, I am not sure if he is an independent contractor or employee. I could always email the shop owner (she's who I worked with for everything else), but that seems awkward lol. It seems like most people did not tip, and it honestly didn't occur to me until I was paying. But there was no prompt to "add tip" on my payment, so perhaps I am overthinking it. Thanks for the input!

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Yea, my sister said I could perhaps just give him like $20-25 if I wanted to. I don't want to insult him with a small amount if I am supposed to give more, but seems like it's not the norm to tip for alterations from the comments. Thanks!

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I plan on giving the bridal boutique a rave review, so perhaps I will add a section for him as well. Thank you!

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That makes sense. I've read that is generally the case for vendors who own their own business.

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That's a good point, I am sure he charged accordingly (I sure would hope so for the price!). It was also slightly more than he originally quoted me, which was $500-600. He mentioned my hem alone took 5 hours... whoa. Thanks, Kristen!

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Yeah, if you've developed a bit of a relationship with the owner, I might mention how impressed with the alterations guy you are and see if she gives you a sense of how he's related to the shop -- employee or independent contractor. I also agree with your sister, that if you decide to tip him, I think it can be a more nominal amount, like $25, rather than a full percentage. And, like others said, I'd be REALLY specific in your reviews about your experiences with the shop and with the alterations person.... There just don't seem to be easy answers to this stuff!

All the tipping every single wedding vendor really adds up! I hadn’t even thought about tipping until this app ! Lol. I know that sounds bad...but all the etiquette and the tipping i don’t understand sometimes. We are already paying them for a service including delivery, etc. They set the price they see fair. I am tipping Hair and makeup artist and that’s about it.

View Quoted Comment Yea, I agree!! It’s so expensive. Thanks for the input! I do plan to tip for hair and makeup as well.