Wedding tip calculator
How much to tip every vendor — pick who you’re using, enter your costs, and get a suggested tip for each, with a running total for your envelopes. Free and printable.
First, the trap that costs couples hundreds 💸
A “service charge” on your catering or venue contract (often 18–24%) is not automatically a tip. Ask the manager: does it go to staff as gratuity, or is it a house fee? If it’s already distributed, don’t tip the staff again. Full tipping guide →
Your estimated tip budget
$990 – $1,570
Customary, not mandatory. Set cash aside in labelled envelopes and hand them to your coordinator.
The 2026 wedding tipping cheat sheet
Customary US amounts. Treat them as starting points, not invoices — and always check what your contracts already include. Read the full guide.
| Vendor | Customary tip |
|---|---|
| Caterer & wait staff | 15–20% of the food / catering bill |
| Bartenders | $20–$50 each |
| Hair & makeup | 15–20% of the hair & makeup bill |
| DJ | $50–$150 |
| Band | $25–$50 each |
| Photographer / videographer | $50–$200 (optional) |
| Officiant | $50–$100 |
| Wedding planner / coordinator | $50–$200 (optional) |
| Transportation / driver | 15–20% of the transport bill |
| Delivery & setup crew | $5–$20 each |
| Ceremony musicians | $15–$25 each |
| Venue coordinator | $50–$100 (optional) |
Wedding tipping questions, answered
How much should you tip wedding vendors?
Customary amounts vary by vendor: 15–20% for the caterer, bartenders and hair & makeup; flat amounts like $50–$150 for a DJ or $50–$200 for a photographer; and per-person tips like $25–$50 per band member. For a mid-size wedding the total usually lands somewhere between $500 and $1,000+. Tipping is customary, not mandatory.
Do you tip if there’s a service charge?
Not necessarily — and this is where couples lose money. A service charge (often 18–24% of the food and beverage total) is frequently a house fee, not a gratuity, so it may never reach the staff. Ask the catering or venue manager directly whether it’s distributed to staff as a tip. If it is, you’re covered; if it isn’t, tipping the servers and bartenders directly is the right move. Never pay a separate “gratuity” line twice.
Do you have to tip the business owner?
No. You’re never obligated to tip a business owner — a solo photographer, a planner who owns the company — because the price they quoted already reflects what they want to earn. Point your tipping money at the employees first: the second shooter, the assistant stylist, the banquet servers, the delivery crew, who work an hourly wage on a long day.
Is it rude not to tip?
No. Tipping is customary, not mandatory, and a vendor who quoted a fair price isn’t owed a tip on top of it. If your budget is stretched, a glowing review and a referral are genuinely valuable to a small vendor — often more than a one-time tip, and they cost you nothing.
Is the tip calculator free?
Completely free, no sign-up, and nothing is saved to our servers — your selections stay in your browser. Print the result as a cash cheat-sheet for your envelopes, and add the total to the free Budget Builder so tips don’t surprise you the week before.