When to Give Tips??

I've always heard of people giving the tips to the vendors the night of the wedding, but I've also heard it's appropriate to wait until after the wedding/honeymoon, when you can objectively decide how much you want to tip based on the service and/or products (photos, video, flowers, etc).

Do not tip anyone the night of the wedding. Wait until you come back from the honeymoon (usually 2 weeks) and are able to assess their performance with a clear mind that you will not have at the wedding. Then you only tip those who went above and beyond the call of duty. You do not tip for bad service, no shows, or simply showing up and doing their job. Be aware that catering staff is paid hourly.

We gave all of our tips the day/night of the wedding. We gave the various envelopes to our DOC ahead of time and she distributed them to the vendors.

I plan to put my coordinator in charge of handing out envelopes for tips the night of the wedding.

Our coordinator will be in charge of distributing the envelopes with the tips the night of our wedding.

I will also be putting our coordinator in charge of handing out tip envelopes the night of the wedding (and in the weeks prior to the wedding, instructing all vendors to see her before they leave), because I don’t want to worry about hunting people down to tip them. I get the reasoning behind waiting some time after the event in order to assess the service, but tbh I just don’t want the hassle of dealing with it after all is said and done. After returning from our honeymoon I know I won’t want to sit down and assess each vendor’s service, then have to address and stamp envelopes and take them to the post office. Plus then I would have to write out checks because I don’t feel safe mailing cash and there’s no way to ensure it’s received, and vendors typically prefer cash tips. I just assume have it all taken care of that night and not worrying about it again. I figure if there is a vendor that truly provides horrible service, I can always just take money out of the tip envelope before it’s given to them. Plus, I know it’s horrible to have to think this way, but I’ve heard too many horror stories not to... if you don’t tip vendors like your photographer and videographer the evening of, they may not do as good a job editing your photos and videos after, or may take way longer because they are prioritizing couples who tipped well.

View Quoted Comment

I guess it makes sense to wait and assess. thank you

View Quoted Comment

That makes sense. thank you!

View Quoted Comment

I see. That's a good option. Very organized

View Quoted Comment

That's a very organized way to do it.

View Quoted Comment

That's smart and organized.

View Quoted Comment

Lol yeah I don't wanna be hunting people down. And that's true about mailing out the tips. However I actually paid my vendors through venmo and quickpay. yay technology lol. If anything that's probably how I'd tip them.

View Quoted Comment I paid a good deal of ours through Venmo as well, but I know that won’t be possible for vendors that have multiple people to split it with, like bartenders, servers, photography assistant & 2nd shooter, string quartet, etc. I just want to make sure it is super convenient for them to split the money, and ensure they all get their share (where if I Venmo one person or send a check, that person may keep it all).

Wait at least a week so you can clearly evaluate their services

My vendors specifically said they don't want tips the night of the wedding because they don't want to handle money on my wedding day. I guess we will fo next day maybe? But I like the idea of waiting until after the honeymoon

View Quoted Comment

I looooooooooooove this idea. I'm going to steal it 😋.
One thing less to worry about!

View Quoted Comment

Oh wow that's interesting. yeah I guess we'll do it after.