Wedding Reception- Staff Gratuities ? How Much? To Whom ?

[mathepac]

Need some advice on what you should do by way of tipping staff at a wedding party. When I asked the Event Manager she told me that the package is inclusive of service but that most clients give a gratuity to the person in charge at the end of the evening & that this can be distributed amongst the staff. What % is expected & can I be sure that a cash amount handed over to the "gaffer" will be passed on & in a fair way?

I think you're crazy - this "inclusive of service" notion in hotels and restaurants thing really bugs me. If I shop in Dunnes or LIDL or Tesco, do I tip the check-out staff or the one who points me out this week's location for the corn-flakes? If I go to the cinema do I tip ticket-seller, sweetie-seller or ticket-checker? If I travel on an airline do I tip the aeroplane driver, the assistant aeroplane driver, the check-in attendant, the cabin-crew, the customs or immigration officials?

Tipping is demeaning, it provides hotel and catering establishment operators a means of avoiding paying a proper wage to their staff and a service charge is just a means of screwing more money out of consumers for what in a lot of cases, IMHO, is a set of products and services that are over-priced, poorly presented, shoddily served and not worth the asking price, not to mind plus service charges and tips.

Rant over, and I still think you are nuts to want to go throwing your money around.

 

[ubiquitous]

I got a great bit of advice from a mate in the catering industry when I got married 8 years ago. He suggested I meet the head chef at least 3 or 4 days before the wedding day and slip him a few quid. I did exactly that. I gave him IR£100 and whispered "make sure everybody is well fed on the day".

And that's exactly what happened. The food was exceptional and everyone was delighted.

I have advised many others to do likewise and it has never failed.

What's the difference between this and bribing a planning official?

 

[g1g]

Also bugs me that when you're on a package holiday they expect you to tip the bus driver that drives you from the airport!!! And now alot of companies are charging extra for sitting together and a transfer to hotels.

 

[Johnboy45]

agree with a tip for very good service but still remember the night out a few years ago with big group of friends. At an office party type of function, the service was absolutely crap, veg came ages after the main food arrived, they started taking away salt/pepper/etc half way through the meal. dessert arrived as they took away the dinner plates. Everyone complained and *****ed - but yet at the end of the meal one couple insisted we all contribute 20 euro each to tip for the waiters. Rest of us saw red and flatly refused - the waiters hadn't even earned their wages that night not to mention a nice fat tip.

Tip when service over and above the expected is received.

 

[John Rambo]

agree with a tip for very good service but still remember the night out a few years ago with big group of friends. At an office party type of function, the service was absolutely crap, veg came ages after the main food arrived, they started taking away salt/pepper/etc half way through the meal. dessert arrived as they took away the dinner plates. Everyone complained and *****ed - but yet at the end of the meal one couple insisted we all contribute 20 euro each to tip for the waiters. Rest of us saw red and flatly refused - the waiters hadn't even earned their wages that night not to mention a nice fat tip.

Tip when service over and above the expected is received.

Similar happened us...arrived for dinner at 8, didn't get seated until 8.50, they were pulling plates away from women who hadn't finished and refused to give us dessert or coffee because they needed the table at ten. Yet one couple insisted on giving a tip. Needless to say, they lost the argument.

 

[Staples]

What's the difference between this and bribing a planning official?

A planning official is a public servant, paid from the public purse, whose duty it is to act in the public interest. By taking a bribe, they're compromising their ability to act independantly in the best interests of the public.

Slipping some guy a tip in advance is a private discretionary transaction with no positive negative implications on any third party, particulalrly the public.

Big, big difference.

 

[ubiquitous]

An employee is a servant of their employer, paid from the employer's purse, whose duty it is to act in the employer's interest. By taking a bribe, they're compromising their ability to act independantly in the best interests of the employer.

Slipping some guy a tip in advance is a private discretionary transaction with no positive negative implications on any third party, particulalrly the public.

Their employer might disagree (as might the employer of the planning official)

 

[Jack The Lad]

Slipping some guy a tip in advance is a private discretionary transaction with no positive negative implications on any third party, particulalrly the public.

Not if you tip him to lace wealthy Aunt Agatha's treacle pudding with arsenic.


Seriously though, your argument is less than water-tight.