Taxes, service charge and tips, oh my!

Generally the vendor meals just consist of the entree course because they don't really have time to sit down for the full meal because they're working. We did our speeches during the entree course and the vendors were supposed to receive their meals during the appetizer course so they could be ready but somehow the venue mixed it up and we had to wait for our vendors to finish before we could start speeches so make sure you work that out in advance! If your friend is being your photographer, then they won't really be able to participate in your wedding as a guest so keep that in mind before you book them!

Oh this is a useful article!

https://www.weddingwire.ca/wedding-ideas/the-ultimate-wedding-tipping-guide--c355

That is a relief, I am glad to hear that! One less thing for you guys to worry about

I know that some venues said that the 18% gratuity didn't include the tip, and I was like whaaaaaaatt, is that normal? So I wrote to you wonderful bunch We have a friend who is a professional wedding photographer who is giving us a heavily discounted price, so I would feel really weird about asking for a cheaper price/smaller meal than the rest of our guests, but that is good to know for the rest of the vendors thanks!

Awesome! That's good to know, thank you!

All my contracts with my vendors include taxes and gratuity so this is nice, my FH and I do not have to figure out any tips which is a relief

It depends on the vendor. You can always ask them what it covers to be sure! Our reception venue charged gratuity so we didn't need to tip the servers on top of it. If your vendors are going to be there during dinner, you should provide them with a meal. (Photographer, videographer, DJ, coordinator) The caterer will generally have a vendor meal option that is less expensive than the full meal for the guests.