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okeewap
New member
Username: okeewap
Post Number: 1
Registered: 06-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 07:39 am: | 
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My daughter is having an open bar at her wedding of 200 people. The bar tip is not included in the price. Many people will tip as they go to the bar to get their drinks. How do we know how much to tip at the end of the night? |
jammie
Senior Member
Username: jammie
Post Number: 1165
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 07:53 am: |
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Let me ask my coworker, he does a lot of private affairs. 200 people with a tip a jar.
I know he varies his price, if there is no tip jar. I hate to be too personal but could you tell how much you are paying the bar staff, or are they making regular wage at their establishment. It may help to get a more informative answer. |
okeewap
New member
Username: okeewap
Post Number: 2
Registered: 06-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 08:03 am: |
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We are paying $18.00 per person for the bar.
My daughter has attended five weddings over the past two years with open bars. She said she tipped for her drinks at all of them and feels that most people also do that. |
tricky
Member
Username: tricky
Post Number: 164
Registered: 05-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 25, 2006 - 09:44 am: |
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No, no, no.
At a hosted bar, the bartenders should be compensated by the hosts of the bar. Guests should not be expected to tip, and no bartender should put out a tip jar. I bartend (occasionally - once a month or so) for a catering company who does the $$$ money weddings/events in our city. We are absolutely, under no circumstances, ever allowed to have a tip-jar. (We make between $15-$25/hour depending on our own experience, the time and location of the events, and the number of bars present at said event. I have no idea how the invoices to the party hosts are written; if there is a service charge, if there is a % tip written out, etc... but we never have a tip jars and instead get a paycheck instead.)
Service is included in the catering tab. Period. Guests don't tip the wedding servers, guests shouldn't be expected to tip the wedding bartenders. Hosted bar.
If your caterer is suggesting that you allow their bartenders to have a tip jar, they aren't very professional and I doubt that the service you have and will receive from your caterers is top-notch.
(This is pretty much the only time I refuse to tip. At an event with a hosted bar - wedding, other reception, fundraiser) there should be no tip jar; the bartenders ought to be making $20/hour from their employer. That's the deal with catering. You don't have the opportunity to make "mad loot" like in a real restaurant, but you also deal with a much happier, much more polite, much more patient public.
All of that said, I think you/your daughter (the hosts) are responsible for the entirety of the bar tip. Percentage is probably inappropriate because it is catering. How many hours is the bar open? I'd estimate about $30/hour/bartender.
If the bartenders are still going to have a tip jar, maybe $15/hour/bartender. (It might be done elsewhere, but it's only a notch a cash bar, IMO.) |
jammie
Senior Member
Username: jammie
Post Number: 1168
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 25, 2006 - 06:26 pm: |
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okeewap, the information I got today was that if the bartender is being paid a wage by the establishment. If the tip jar is in place than the host of the party is under no obligation to tip additionally.
This information was obtained from a coworker that also does private parties. Myself personally I'm not sure what is proper. When I attend functions and there is a tip jar out I tip. |
billiardscafe
New member
Username: billiardscafe
Post Number: 5
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 25, 2006 - 10:28 pm: |
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okeewap,
From my personal experience. Guests will not normally tip at an open bar. You may have 1 to 2 people tip out of every 10, but doubtful. At our functions, the bar bill is figured with a tip and that tip is distributed among the bar staff. What are the bartenders being paid? That would be a key question in knowing whether to compensate them additionally or not. |
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