Do you want to express appreciation and thank your vendors for their services? Not sure how much you should be tipping your vendors or if you have the budget to tip?

We see this question all of the time!

If you hired a vendor and went through the whole booking and contracting process with them; you are aware of their services and breakdown of cost/invoice. If you are managing an event and weren’t a part of these conversations, you’ll want all of the contracts and invoices to reference when making these decisions.

In many occasions, vendors do you include a gratuity, service charge, or a tip % in their proposals. So, it is always important to review your invoices and first note if they have already been paid or included.

If they are not included or seen on the invoice keep in mind a few things: (1) Each vendor should be covering their cost and charging what they need to be compensated for their services. (2) Your vendors love what they do (should).

(3) Anything additional you give them or do for them is appreciated but not required or expected.

What is a standard % to tip my vendors?

Over the many many years of being in budgeting and tipping conversations, we have not seen any consistency to these %. Determining factors to tipping and total costs for each vendor also include years of experience, quality, hours of service, location, etc. Keep in mind, each event budget is wildly different, each with their own set of priorities and stakeholder preferences. We guide our clients to approach this question in way that feels natural to express their appreciation for the partnership and service.

Examples: hand written card, cash at their discretion, a bottle of wine, a gift card, floral arrangements, client review, and simple verbal appreciation go a long way.

More often than not events are budget conscience and each penny is typically accounted for; some events even include tipping in their budget!

Depending on the client and how they handle their budget, a percentage of their vendors cost might not be right to them, their company, or their goals.

Instead, remember there are endless ways to show appreciation in your own way!