When, Who, and How Much to Tip for your Wedding

Figuring out who and how much to tip shouldn't feel like a guessing game. It can be easy to lose track of who you should be tipping and how much you owe the given the number of people involved in making your wedding day as special as possible. Planners, valets, photographers, caterers, and vendors all generally require tips - and don't forget about their assistants! Below we've compiled a helpful list of who expects to be tipped for providing services on your wedding day and an estimate of how much each tip should be.

Distribution of tips

The best way to distribute tips is to sort them into envelopes with the vendors names on them well before your wedding day. This will reduce the stress of possibly disributing tips last minute, whih can be quite a hassle. Give the tips to your wedding planenr or trusted a friend that distribute them to your vendors after their services have been performed. In addition, you can include a thank you card as a reminder of how much you appreciate their services.

Photographer/Videographer - 15 - 20% of the total cost - or $50 - $200.

Florist - A thank you card with $50 - $300 depending on the final product and level of set up required.

Officiant/Minister - We recommend giving a gift to your officient/minister or $50 - $100 if you are getting married in a church. A donation to the church would also be an acceptable tip.

Band Members - $50 per member.

DJ - $100 - $500 depending on how much you enjoyed their performance at your wedding.

Coat Room/Restroom Attendants - $1 - $2 per guest.

Transportation/Limo - 15 - 20% - typically $200 would be the maximum.

Valet - We recommend giving your valet a thank you card with $50 - or distributing gift cards to each valet for to thank them for their services.

Event Planner - It can be worked into the price. The amount your event planner expects to be tipped may be in your contract - typically it's around 10% of your total bill.

Assistants to Vendors - $50 - $200 per photgraphy/planner assistant.

Catering - We recommend tipping 10 - 20% of the total cost, or approximately $50 - $100 per staff member.

Friends that have helped - We recommend distriubting card thanking any friends that helped you along with gift cards amounting to $50 - $100 each.

Hair and Make Up - 10 - 20% of total cost, giving your stylist a thank you card is a nice gesture as well.

Bartenders - if your bar will not be a cash bar, the bartender should be tipped $50 - $200.