Tipping the Wedding Planner

[kkbutterfly]

Hi Everyone!

We just got back from our AMAZING Disney wedding (SBP and The Attic - both were absolultey perfect) and Disney Dream honeymoon! We want to send our planner and assistant thank you/tip gift cards but we're not sure how much to send. We've found mixed results on the internet and I thought I'd ask the boards (you've been so helpful though the whole thing!)

We want to send soemthing to our planner (who was great), her assistant (who answered all our emails), and the two assistants who were there day of (one walked around the Boardwalk and Y&B with Randy Chapman and held my water, shoes, ect and the other was a saint at corrailing our family who doesn't take well to following directions). Just a note, we stayed at the minimums and had a small dessert party the night before.

I was hoping you all could help us out and give us tips, what you did, ect!

Thanks in advance!!

Kate

 

[dreamcometruemom]

Hey kkkbutterfly, I was thinking the same question months ago
So happy to hear that your special Disney wedding day was everything you wanted, the culmination of a lifetime of of dreams.
There are many sources out there regarding wedding planner gratuities some excellent sources say 15 percent of the wedding fee, some say up to $500.00. Those are good starting points. The Fairy Tale Disney wedding planner are permitted to accept tips, they have been your sounding board, and the go-to person to make sure everyone is in their place, flowers, catering, transport and all things moved along in a timely manner, and steering you in decisions that kept you in or below budget. They even work around the weather with back-up plans. The limo driver, photographer, florist are with you a few hours, the wedding planner/assistant has been assisting you for months. Start with $400 for Wedding planner, $250 for assistant.

Visa or American Express gift cards are the least worry and most acceptable, nothing else comes close.

http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-...ng-vendor-tipping-cheat-sheet.aspx?MsdVisit=1

http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-...ide-wedding-tipping-00000000006385/page2.html

 

[gamberlane]

Is this something that is expected? I am having an escape wedding and it seems like a lot to be shelling out another few hundred dollars for this person when I am not asking for anything special (and frankly I've not been overly thrilled with my planner either). My photographer has been as much, if not more, help and I definitely plan on tipping her, but is the tipping of the wedding planner expected?

Will I seem like a jerk if we do not?

 

[TBdisneyMC]

I don't think it's expected, and from what I've read, most people just give gifts or gift cards. I've never heard an amount as high as the PP, for Disney at least. If you aren't/weren't thrilled with your planner, then it's certainly not required. They get paid by Disney, so I don't think they rely on tips. We gave our Planner and floral consultant each a box of salt water taffy (which we got free with our wedding favors order) and an American Express gift card each - $100 for our planner and $50 for our Floral consultant. They were both very helpful and quick in responding to questions. We didn't have too much contact with our planner's assistant (only to schedule our planning session) or the assistants on the day of the wedding, so we didn't tip them. Also - we had a Wishes wedding, so I'm not sure if planners/consultants are less/more involved in Escape weddings, if that makes a difference.

This topic comes up periodically, so if you search 'tipping planner' or 'planner gift' you might get some more ideas of what others have done.

ETA: If found some previous threads:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2984450&highlight=planner+gift
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2883823&highlight=gift+for+wedding+planner
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2774319&highlight=gift+for+wedding+planner