Wedding Tipping

courtesy of Storkie

Planning your wedding and reception can be an incredibly exhilarating process, as it's very important that you remain prepared for your big day. One key aspect that is often overlooked when planning a wedding are who you should tip and how much. You have likely hired a lot of different vendors to help make your special day the best it could be, but not every vendor gets tipped the same way – or even at all. So, it is important to keep in mind just who you should tip and how much beforehand.

Here are some guidelines for what wedding vendors to tip and how much to tip them.

wedding planner
Most likely, your wedding planner won't expect any tip. However, if your wedding planner did an excellent job for your big day, you can certainly offer the planner a token of your appreciation. About 50% of couples tip their wedding planners, and it is more common for those with more extravagant affairs to do so. To tip your wedding planner, you can give them a cash tip of up to $500. This should be handed to the planner at the end of the reception in an envelope by the bride. You could also give the planner a nice gift, such as professional photos the planner can use for their portfolio.

wedding ceremony officiant
If your officiant is affiliated with a church or synagogue, you would typically make a donation to the institution. This should be a donation of $500 or more. You may tip less if there was a charge to use the facilities, though. However, if it is nondenominational, an optional tip off $50-100 may be given, but this isn't necessary as you will likely be charged for use of the facilities.

To see the rest of the article on wedding tipping, please visit pages 8-9
of the July issue of The Best Wedding Sites Magazine.