Hi everyone,
The wedding is on November 1st and I'm trying to figure out how much cash I need to pull out for tips. I'm having a hard time figuring out from the below who needs to be tipped as none of these contracts have any fine-print (all my contracts are through family-owned businesses). Everyone will be getting reviewed. I'd appreciate it if you could let me know if my thought process here is correct:
Band - I do not believe I need to tip. They were independently booked, are getting their hotel rooms paid for as stipulated in their contract (I was able to upgrade them to suites due to work connections), and will be getting a meal. They have been excellent communicators and have given advice when they didn't have to but I do think I've already done enough?
Florist -The florist was booked through a friend's aunt who owns the shop. I believe I should only tip the deliverers. However, the employee who went through our proposal is not the aunt and she did do a good job, so I'm feeling conflicted here as well.
Cake Baker - Independently owned shop - should only tip deliverer?
This is where I start feeling very confused:
The Event Coordinator for the Venue - She has been my point of contact since booking the venue. She sat with us to help us pick a date, asked how many tables and chairs we needed, set up our floor plan, and took my venue payments. Does she need to be tipped? She wasn't very responsive throughout the process and was pretty disorganized. Perhaps just the support staff, like those who set up the tables and chairs? There is also staff that will be watching the trash throughout the night...what about them? I'm just not sure, as all of this was included in the contract (and this was a pretty pricey venue). There was not any fine print about service charges or gratuities.
Parking Attendants - Valet parking was REQUIRED by the venue and is provided through the contract. Do they need to be tipped? Can I leave this up to the guests (I know this sounds rude but it's what I do when I attend weddings)?
Caterer: The caterer owns his own restaurant and is also the chef, so I'm not sure if he needs to be tipped. I know the bartenders, bussers, and servers will most likely need to be tipped. However, I actually bartended at a wedding and we had a tip jar??? I asked if his contract included gratuities and I'm waiting for a reply on that now.
I apologize for the long post but thank you so much for reading! I'm kind of stressing out! lol
