Do you tip your wedding official if you're also paying him?

In My Humble Opinion
1

In about 7 weeks time I will be getting married and I’m trying to sort out all the last minute details.

We are having a Marriage Commissioner perform our ceremony in a hall (as opposed to a minister/rabbi, etc) and we are paying him a fee ($235). He will not be attending the rehersal (which is super low key anyway), and we aren’t having a pre-meeting with him - we discussed things on the phone and thats it.

Should we tip him as well? I know it’s customary to tip religious officials or the church or whatever, but I wasn’t sure about this guy.

If we should tip him, how much? $50? $100?

Thanks!

2

I can’t see a reason to tip him. You are paying him already, and from your post it seems that this is a business he is running. You don’t trip the proprietor of a business; you tip employeees who are paid less than minimum wage because it’s understood that they make their money off gratuities.

3

I’d say no. The guy is providing a service. A service which he decided is worth $235. Not like a waiter or pizza delivery guy who is working at a set wage and depends of tips to make a decent income.
He set the price, you agreed on it, case closed.

4

Not if you ever want to set foot (heh) in there again.

I also vote no tip.

5

Yes, you tip them (here, anyhow).

I tipped ours $75.

We got married about 4 weeks ago.

ETA: The fee was only $75 though…

6

On further contemplation - the reason we tip is because the majority of the $75 fee ($65 of it) goes to the government. That’s right, she only makes $10. So the tip was her ‘payment’.

If the guy gets paid for officiating, I would tip much less then we did, if at all.

7

The woman who cuts my hair is the proprietor of her establishment. She has yet to turn down a tip from me, or ban me from her establishment.

Of course, she doesn’t drive a caddilac and live in a big house, either.

8

Humm - weird - I think we’re in the same place. (Calgary, AB)

We’re getting married in Cochrane and his fee of $235 was pretty standard.

Where did you get married that she only charged $75?

Also, if it’s true that $65 goes to the government, he’s still making $170 for less than a hour’s work.

Hummm.

9

Ah, we got married in Creston, BC. Obviously BC is different.

10

But Skald was referring to tripping the proprietor. I bet you haven’t done that, have you. :stuck_out_tongue:

11

We got married in Calgary by an officiant, and it seems like her fee was around $230, too, and we did not tip. We didn’t know we were supposed to, so we just paid her fee and that was that. We didn’t tip anyone, actually - the wedding industry is such a scam, with all the prices jacked so high, I don’t think I would have tipped even if I knew I was supposed to. If you want more money, just charge more. No one seems to have a problem charging whatever they want for weddings.

Just a wild-ass guess, but maybe clergy get tipped because they traditionally didn’t charge, so it was a little acknowledgement of them taking the time to perform your ceremony.