Vendor Tips

Hi Amanda,

If your photographer owns his/her company, there is no need to tip. Same with Cake and DJ. Hair and makeup you should definitely tip the regular percentages.

As for vendor meals, usually they will state in their contract if a meal needs to be provided or if a meal isn't provided they have 30 minutes to step out to grab something. Though, I would highly suggest a providing meal as they are going to be with you all day and providing you with beautiful images. Treating your photographer/videographers well will make them go the extra mile for you. Most venues have a separate menu specifically for vendors. And most of the time your vendors won't eat much, so it will be a waste to provide the same meal as your guests. Of course, that shouldn't stop you from providing them the same menu option as everyone else. Really up to you! Happy planning.

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I agree completely. I think feeding them should kind of go without saying. Our photographer is going to be with us literally the whole say.. 12 plus hours.. there is no way I wouldn't feed her and I would rather that then have her leave to go get food. It's inconvenient for them and then you lose that service for the 30 mins or how long it will take. Too much to think about.

View quoted message THIS EXACTLY! Only tip if you like the service and they work for a company (not their own). However, as far as feeding them goes, I think it’s courteous to feed your vendors no matter what. I’ve had some that state in their contracts that either I feed them or they get to take a 30 minute break to go get food.

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I should ask my venue if there is a menu only option for vendors. We pay per person but it's including the open bar and everything and obviously the vendors won't be drinking. That would make more sense.

The only people I offered the meal for are the people who are with us the whole day.. I just wasn't sure if it was meal OR tip or if you generally did both.. We are good either way... but we definitely won't let our vendors starve or have to sneak granola bars all day.

I know our DJ for sure requires a meal as they are there all day/night, as for everyone else I still have to ask. Our venue has a "menu" only option for vendors that we pay for, so its a lot cheaper than what we are paying per plate for all the guests. So I think for the vendors that for sure have to stay and require a meal, I will tip. However for the rest of them I am not too sure, maybe just $20 bucks, and like Tori said, depending if they work for their own business or work for someone else.

I think it also comes down to your budget and how much you have available to tip your vendors at the end of the night

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That's a good way of looking at it.. I will look into that. The photographer for sure is freelance, so you're right. she picked her pricing.. Thanks!

For me personally, I’m going to be feeding my vendors. It’s a long day for the bride and groom so it’s also a long day for photographer, videographer, etc. They need to eat!


We are going to tip some of some of our vendors, I.e., photographer, videographers, bartenders, hair and make up. I think I’m going to cap the tipping there though. I know some people tipped their florist and cake person also but I’m not doing that.

I agree with Tori- it was never expected to provide meals in past and now it is. Our meals aren't as much as yours but in our eyes ours are still expensive. if the vendors are expecting meals, they have let us know- otherwise I won't be providing and will give a tip based on how well the night goes.

That is a tricky one with meals being more and more expected or even required in some contracts.

For myself, our meals aren't that expensive so it's not a big deal for us but in your case I would say to first go by the rule of whether they are working for a company or are their own bosses.

If they work for a company and not themselves then I would say to maybe tip them a $50 or if there are more than one doing the job (say 2 photographers), then tip them $20 each. If they are all on their own then they set their price and the supper should be sufficient.