How Much Should You Tip Event Staff?

Event staff play a crucial role in the success of events and help to ensure that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. If you’ve ever hosted or planned an event in which you hired event staff for, you’ve probably wondered if and how much you should tip these staff members.

While tipping is not mandatory in the event industry, it is always highly appreciated especially if the staff has done a particularly good job. How much to tip varies depending on the different areas of event staffing and different factors of each specific event, but a good rule of thumb is anywhere between 15-20% of the final cost of event staff.

How Much to Tip Catering Staff:

At events, catering staff are in charge of serving food and beverages, clearing tableware after meals, keeping dining areas clean, and keeping guests engaged. They are critical members of the team who provide professional, efficient, and friendly service.

When tipping catering staff the standard is anywhere between 15-20% of the total catering bill but can change depending on a couple of different factors such as: the level of service provided, the number of event staff, and the complexity of the event. If you found that the service was of a particularly high standard, you may want to tip closer to 20% of the total catering bill. However if the service was just average - 15% is also an appropriate tip.

There are many different duties that catering staff may be in charge of but no matter which role of catering staff, it is advised to tip all staff members the same amount. This usually comes out to somewhere between $35-$100 per staff member.

How Much to Tip Bartenders:

Bartenders are in charge of preparing and serving drinks to guests. They create a friendly atmosphere and build relationships with guests. They are also in charge of safety and compliance by making sure that they are only serving alcoholic drinks to guests who are of the legal drinking age and knowing when to cut someone off when they have had too much to drink.

At events where it is a cash bar, bartenders handle payments and manage transactions. They are also in charge of keeping the bar area neat and tidy in order to efficiently and fluently serve guests. Bartenders generally have a higher level of training than other areas of event staff and so the standard tip for bartenders is higher. A large factor to consider when deciding how much to tip bartenders is whether or not there is a tip jar.

What is a tip jar?

A tip jar is a container place on the bar where guests can leave tips for bartenders for their service. Deciding if a tip jar will be utilized during events is up to the event coordinators discretion.’ If a tip jar is permitted and the bar is an open bar, encourage guests to tip using the tip jar.

If there is no tip jar and it is an open bar, $15 per each hour the bartenders worked is an acceptable tip. If it is a cash bar, bartenders should be allowed to keep whatever tips they, receive from guests and 20% of all beverage sales.

In the event of credit tips, bartenders would get 80-85% of all beverage tips and barbacks would get the remaining 15-20%.

How Much to Tip Brand Ambassadors:

A brand ambassador is a person who represents a brand. Their focus is to communicate a brand’s identity to customers. As far as how much you should tip brand ambassadors, it is not industry standard to tip BA’s. Therefore if you find yourself wanting to tip your brand ambassadors due to especially excellent work, any tip would be more than acceptable and highly appreciated.

How Much to Tip Production Assistants:

In the event industry, production assistants help the production team with execution of setup, maintenance and tear down of an event. Production assistants handle a variety of tasks to ensure that events run efficiently and according to plan.

Their role can be both administrative and more hands-on tasks, assisting with different areas of the event’s production. Similarly to BA’s, it is not industry standard to tip PA’s and their hourly or daily rate is generally all you will need to include in your budget for the event.

Should you find yourself wanting to tip your production assistants as an extra thank you for their help, any tip would be acceptable.

Conclusion

When it comes to how much you should tip your event staff, it is all up to the discretion of the event planner. There are many different factors to consider when deciding how much to tip and it can vary significantly based on the specifics of each event.

Hopefully this article could help shed some light on this topic and assist you in making an informed decision about how much to tip event staff. These hardworking individuals are an important part of any event and tipping is always a wonderful gesture that definitely doesn’t go unnoticed.