Castello di Rosciano
It is a much believed myth that couples should not plan for gratuity for vendors for their destination weddings in Europe. This is simply a falsehood that we wish we could erase from the internet! That being said, it should be understood that European vendors will be incredibly grateful and not expectant of a tip, which to us makes it even more important to create awareness around this to our couples. The staff that works on your wedding are hard working and dedicated employees that often work back to back weddings for days on end in Europe since many destination weddings take place on weekdays. It is not the same breakdown as what would be “standard” for a US based wedding.
Castello di Petrata, Photo by @audrawrisleyphoto, La Badia di Orvieto Photo by @oliverflyphotography
We have created a cheat sheet for our couples to take into account as they are budgeting.
Catering Staff
5% of the final bill if it includes the mise en place. 8-10% if it does not include the mise en place.
Catering Representative
200-300 EUR. This is the person that has been working with you or your planner all along the way to revise your proposal, host your tasting, and organize everything with the catering company.
Live Musicians
50-100 EUR per person. Make sure to get a count on the amount of musicians that you have throughout the events, and then we recommend putting them in envelopes breaking them down per musician vs doing one lump sum to make sure each person gets their portion. i.e. Band Member 1, Band Member 2, etc.
DJ
200-400 EUR
If your DJ is just for the later half of the evening on the lower end of this range is great. If they are DJing the entire event – ceremony, aperitivo, reception, dancing, etc.- the higher of this range is appropriate.
Sound/Lighting Technicians
50-100 EUr per person. Sometimes this person may be underneath your DJ or Band, but it is important to take them into account when dividing out the gratuity amounts. They are just as important as the musicians themselves and often are there longer hours.
Wedding Planner
10-15%. Your wedding planner likely has been working tirelessly with you through the planning process for 8+ months. Acknowledging their hard work and dedication is always appreciated. They are usually the silent maestro in the background helping everyone else look good!
Photographer/Videographer
100-150 EUR per person for wedding day for 8+ hours of coverage / 50-75 EUR for additional days of 2-3 hours of coverage.
Make sure to take into account how many shooters you have for each day, and then organize the gratuity accordingly. Sometimes you might have 2 shooters for wedding day but just 1 for the surrounding events.
Venue Representative
150-200 EUR per day. This varys a bit because many times for European weddings guests may be staying at the venue for multiple days or could be just hosting for one day.
Beauty
5-10%. Make sure to separate these out based on the amount of artists you have
Floral Designer
5-8% of the total before tax, service, install, and delivery charges. Some companies break everything down by line item and some don’t, so also use your best judgement on this one.
When it comes to gratuity always make sure to account for these in cash in the vendors currency. VAT or tax can be incredibly significant in Europe (22-33% depending on the country), and if it is run through a wire transfer that will automatically be deducted from the vendor. Also, it is important that the actual human you want to receive the gratuity is given the envelope. It is unfortunately quite common that if gratuity is sent to a company it remains with the company vs the individuals.
No matter where you are in the world your vendors are working incredibly hard to create the perfect celebration for you. If you are happy with their efforts and end result it is always appreciated to be recognized in the form of gratuity like any other service industry professional.
Artimino, photo by @mantino_photography
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