Service Charge on Venue??

Not sure if that's normal on a venue that's not providing food... But our venue, which is doing all of our food and beverages, has tacked on a 23% service in addition to 8% tax.

I would just ask your venue what that includes.

My venue has a 20% service charge and taxes on everything (but it's broken down kinda weird and was hard to figure where and why each tax was applied).

Yep. I have one.

Yes, It's standard practice. 18% is great! Ours is 22% but they ranged from 20%-25%. I would ask your venue what the service charge includes, staff, set up, break down etc.

Thanks everyone, do you know what the service charge pays for?

Ask them specifically, does the service line include tips? If not, ask them, what are tips expected to be?

Very common. You will be hard pressed to find a venue without a service fee.

Mine was 20% plus 9.25% tax (my venue required the on-site restaurant to cater, and supplied all wait staff). My venue said that the 20% service fee included tips, but no one would tell me how they were allocated so I tipped about 15% on top of that too.

Pretty standard. Ours is 20%. Each place is different. You will have to email or call your venue and ask them to clarify what the charge covers. For some its a tip, others it to pay their staff a better wage, etc. Your venue is the only one that can tell you what the charge covers.

Yes, especially if they set up and break down for you. That's how they pay those people. Like my venue cost 4,000 for the venue plus the service charge. 4,000 pays their bills (water, electric, property tax and possibly mortgage) then a service charge is added because they are doing it all. Plus I'm using their catering and bar services. Thankfully though it's cheaper to do all inclusive and have only 1 service charge instead off all of them.

Ours has something similar:

All food and beverage charges are subject to a 15% catering fee and 5% gratuity. Food, beverage and catering fees are subject to 8% sales tax.

Service charge varies by venue and location. Some will include tax and gratuity, some will not. You need to ask your venue. Our's covers tax and paying staff. We're still responsible for tips.

My venue service charge includes the staff setting up the room for my ceremony and flipping the room to the reception.

I think that's pretty common. Our pricing includes 20% service charge on top of tax, which is 8.375 where we live.

My venue had a 23% service charge and 8.50 tax. They added it to EVERYTHING!! Every meal, cocktail, ceremony, soda, etc. Make sure when crunching numbers to add service charge on before tax. Ours covered gratuity.

Very common!

That's not true Susan, and if it is, it should be questioned.

Your venue has a service charge to cover the salaries of the staff who works on the day (and you should ask them to make it clear). Usually, it is not a tip.

That is odd. The venue is tacking a % service charge for just rental of the venue (no food/drinks service included)? This is the first time I've heard of this and find it surprising people are saying it's common. My venue is not tacking on a service charge, at least it's not mentioned in the contract we signed. There's a flat rate for 8 hour rental of the venue on certain days/seasons, includes setup and breakdown (your hired cater takes care of the turnover from ceremony to reception).

Common. We charge 6% sales tax, 9% liquor tax and 20% gratuity. The gratuity gets split amongst the banquet staff that works the weddings that day.

I agree, ask what it is for because usually food is involved with a service fee. I do not charge a service fee on top of venue rental fee, just the taxes required.

As someone who works at a banquet hall, the service charge usually covers the salary for the waiters/waitresses, bartenders, etc. for the evening. Every banquet hall is different though, so you'd have to check with yours. It's usually why most places that have a service charge still say gratuity is appreciated, because the service charge isn't a tip, it's the payroll.