What Vendors am i supposed to tip?

Do not tip anyone the day of the wedding or anytime before the wedding. Wait until after the honeymoon when you are able to objectively assess their performance on the product/service you received. The only vendors who receive tips (again, after the wedding day has passed only) are those who went above and beyond the call of duty. You do not tip anyone who has bad service, doesn’t show up, doesn’t provide what they promised after you paid them, only shows up to do their job with nothing special on top of it.


Another poster mentioned a bride who tipped a big vendor before/on the wedding day and is still waiting for the finished product/service 4-6 months after the wedding has passed. Just because it is common doesn’t give anyone the right to pressure or bully you into something you are not comfortable with. Don’t tip anyone unless they went above and beyond to earn it. Tipping culture in the US is out of control and many vendors don’t deserve tips period.

A service charge is not a gratuity (unless contract explicitly states it's included). You will tip DJ, waitstaff, bartender and anyone else who provides a service and delivery (you do not need to tip florist or photographer if they own the business)

View Quoted Comment Oh yes of course! No chance We’d tip before… that is a recipe for disaster… but completely agree about tipping culture… I honestly didn’t know this was a thing because We are spending thousands of dollars…so why am I tipping them??? I understand it’s rewarding wonderful service but for the wedding industry I personally think that’s a little much due to the fact there is thousands of dollars already being spent.

View Quoted Comment Many vendors expect a huge thank you in the form of a tip just for existing because they want you to feel like they are doing you a favor by showing up instead of realizing that you have hired them to work for you and that you hiring them is a privilege, not mandatory. Not all vendors are like that but enough are to earn that disliked reputation.

View Quoted Comment The last part is not altogether true. My DJ owns her own business and in the contract there is a line item that a 15-20% tip is appreciated.
I will be deciding post wedding if a tip is warranted.
Personally, I would prefer if they put the tip in the total fee.

View Quoted Comment Yes! I’d love that- it’d be a lot easier and one less thing to worry about

View Quoted Comment Honestly, the upcharge vendors charge when you put the word "wedding" on a request is as good as a tip to me.


I tipped my hairdresser because I always tip hairdressers, and we tipped our DJ because our original DJ from the company had a family emergency the morning of our wedding and another DJ stepped in last minute and was a super cool guy and did an amazing job with only getting the plan of the day a few hours before.
Everyone else (caterer, photographer, etc) I paid thousands of dollars to be there and do their jobs, which they did very well. But if a vendor charges more for a wedding than they would for a, say, birthday party, then I consider that a wedding tip built into the price. If they feel they need a tip so much to keep the business going, they need to charge more.
I'm very heated about tipping *every* vendor just because they do what you're paying them to do.