Vendors and Tipping

We plan to tip our bartender, and we're including the officiant, the DJ, and the photographer in the head count for the meal.

I tipped our dj/photobooth person because he definitely was pleasant and went the extra mile. i gave him 15% tip.

We sent our photographers and videographers thank you cards with their tips after the wedding.

We gave hair/makeup, servers/bartenders, photo booth attendant, and DJ their tips the day of. Everyone received a 20% tip.

I've heard that if the person is the owner of the company (i.e. our photographer and DJ), you don't tip them. I've been wrestling with this, because I don't know if that's a hard and fast rule? I don't want to come off as a jerk if others generally tip them. Anyone else have advice on this?

Personally I would never tip before seeing the service in action.. Wait until after the honeymoon when you're not on cloud 9 at the party to assess how the vendors did. If they were bad or just doing their jobs, don't tip. If they went above and beyond the call of duty, then yes give them a tip. Whether they own their own business or not is irrelevant.

View Quoted Comment I’ve heard this too. My photographer had been amazing. Like best decision I made for our wedding. I want to get her something at least. But she has a second shooter so I’m not sure if I should tip her too? And am I supposed to tip the wedding planner?

Following this thread as I would like to know

Our venue gave us a sheet with recommended tip amounts on it which was really helpful cause I had no clue. Most of them were either $100 or $200 so you cane expect to spend quite a bit on this. For exact amounts you could ask if your venue has a recommendation sheet like that