As a wedding planner, you may collect tips from brides to pass along to other wedding vendors on the day of the wedding. But do you sometimes wish the brides would remember to tip you?
I’ve recently received a few questions from wedding planners who wanted to know about getting tips, so I’m posting this Q&A that I originally wrote earlier this year for my Wedding Planner Tips ezine.
Question
I have a question about wedding planners getting tipped. Is it the norm? I’ve only been tipped once!
Should I add in my contract that my fees don’t include gratuity?
Answer
It’s not the norm to receive tips. Many brides don’t even think about tipping their wedding planning team and when they do, they still may not tip you.
The general rule that people follow about tipping is, they don’t tip business owners. As the owner of your wedding planning business, even if you write in your contract that your fees don’t include gratuities, it’s likely that the bride will tip your staff and not you.
Brides do often give gifts to their wedding planners. I have received some tips but I have mostly received unexpected gifts such as designer accessories, spa gift certificates, souvenirs from honeymoons, and jewelry.
My advice is to be sure you are charging what you and your services are worth, and this may mean you need to raise your rates, and don’t expect tips or gifts. These things are gestures from generous brides and they should not be made to feel obligated to give them to you.
And if you have a pressing question about starting or running your wedding planning business, you can send me an email at [email protected]. I will answer them on this blog or in my ezine, “Wedding Planner Tips,” which you can subscribe to here.
