Sensitive subject, tipping is. I tend to over tip, to Mr. SB's chagrin. We ate a diner the other day, $16 or so for the bill. Seeing as I n.e.v.e.r. have change, I had a $5 that I was happy to leave and he was shocked. In my mind, the extra $2 doesn't make a big difference to me but maybe the waitress (who obviously doesn't make a ton of money) will appreciate the "big" tip. Or maybe I'm delusional. Whatever.
(Counterpoint: Mr. SB tells me it's not my job to make up for salary injustice in the world by paying more for my meals.)
Anyway, this wedding business... we're paying some people a bomb-diggity amount for their services already. And some people own their own business while others work for companies. So who to tip? And how much? (*Seriously... there are MORE decisions to make?!)
Probably WILL tip:
- Guitarist - works for an entertainment company
- Violinist - same as above
- DJ - same as above
- Priest
Probably will NOT tip:
- Civil officiant - charging us a (large) flat fee for services
- Pianist - charging a us a (smaller, but still large) flat fee for services
- Photographer - works for herself, we're already providing a meal
- Cake baker
- Florist
- Venue owner
Unclear:
- Catering staff - a full 9% surcharge is added as "gratuity" on top of the lots of money we're spending on labor
I think I need to hire a decision maker for this last week......
Making a living off of what people tip me, I can absolutely assure you that while the two dollars doesn't mean much to you - it may mean the difference between a bad night and a good one to your waitress. It depends for the wait staff at your wedding. (I agree with your other decisions for tipping) If they do a superb, couldn't've been better job maybe throw in a "few more" (~1-3%) dollars. If they are just Ok - good, don't worry about it. they are getting paid anyway (and most likely decently.)
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