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Hi everyone, my makeup trial is tomorrow morning, do I tip her? If so, how much would you tip? And if you know for sure that you’re going to book her, do you tip for the trial AND the day of? Thanks!
Elena - here’s a program template that might come in handy:
http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/01/31/menu-and-program-template/
Miss Kiwi - i would tip for the trial and the day of. i have friends that work in the industry, and people generally tip for both. i usually tip 20% if i have a relationship with them or if i’m happy. otherwise 10-15% is standard. good luck - hope it goes well!
1. M - I’m doing the hands ceremony, it’s just like the rose ceremony, adding it near the end, after the vows
2. Grace - we are paying $275ish ($2.50/person) for our 3 tier wedding cake that feeds 110 people
ilovehamm- my church fees were a basic $250 fee ($450 for nonparishioners) + $225 musician fee (included organist & cantor)
Speaking of makeup trials, I have a question. Are y’all paying for the trial AND the day-of makeup? The cost of my wedding day hair covers a trial, but the day-of makeup does not, but I don’t want to gamble on how my makeup looks…
When I asked for a quote about a wedding cake for 100 ppl I was told it starts at $4/slice. When I asked about birthday cakes, I was quoted $2/slice from the same bakery. Hmm……I smell a negotiating opportunity.
m ~ i’m thinking of doing a hand ceremony too and found this useful link:
http://www.weddinggoddess.com/work7.htm
Question: Who do you tip (other than hair/makeup, transportation, and wait staff)? And how much do you usually tip? Every other vendor we have are the owners of their one man company.
question for the hive — I am thinking of a March honeymoon to Thailand. Anyone know where I can start to research to see if it would work. Any must-visit resorts? Is March an OK time to hit Bangkok and the beaches?
ilovehamm- We are paying about 950 (650 for church and pastor, 150 for their mandatory coordinator, and 150 for their own music people. If we brought in our own, we’d still have to pay 150…lame i know!)
Rebecca — Zazzle! I used them for everything and seemed to be best price.
our church fees (catholic) are very cheap compared to others that i hear about. it’s $400, including the coordinator and any altar servers you may have. does not include musicians.
Linda — For a lot of our tips we gave giftcards or gift certificates. Sad, but true! (And I confess we re-gifted a few gift cards this way as tips/thank-yous.)
This was especially good for the military chaplain officiant, because he wasn’t allowed to accept a gratuity, and we really wanted to thank him, so we gave him $100 in gift certificates for a local restaurant. For young people who helped with minor things, we gave movie passes (in pairs); we checked first that they’d be accepted at the best local theater.
Grace - The quotes I got for Buttercream tiered cakes were $3-7 per slice; fondant tiered cakes were $6-10 per slice. However, those quotes were from Bakeries. You can always contact a Wilton Cake instructor at your local Michaels store (or cake supply store) - they usually bake & decorate cakes as a side job and charge much less (ie $4-6 for fondant)
ilovehamm - We’re paying $500 for the sanctuary, pastor, sound guys, DOC, and set-up/clean-up staff. I can’t remember if the pianist is included in that….better check 
I thought this was kinda high when I first saw the figure, but looking at everything involved and what others have said here maybe it’s not. That figure is after giving us a $50 discount since I was born, raised, and still am involved in that church.
ilovehamm- we’re paying a $150 officiant fee, and the $200 church fee is waived because it’s FI’s family’s church.
grace - we’re having a 3 tiered cake to feed about 75-80, with a half sheet cake to feed a total of 150ish, and we’re paying $350 (plus $50 deposit for cake stand) including tax & delivery.
Grace: my buttercream-frosted cake (with elaborate details, though) is $1.75/slice plus a delivery fee and a deposit on the cake divider.
M - we’re planning on doing a hand tying ceremony. We purchased a length of tartan in my fiance’s clan tartan (his last name) and we’ll be asking our minister to introduce it by talking about it’s symbolism and then my sister will read the hand ceremony that was posted on weddingbee a while back (if you search for hand ceremony, it’ll come up) while the minister ties our hands together. We’ll then pull on the knot and slip our hands out thus, tying the knot. We’ll keep the length of tartan in a shadow box on display. It’s a bit of a combination of a couple of different traditions here, but we’re making it our own! Hope that helps!
grace-My cake will be 3 tiers for 150 people and it is costing apx $350 but it depends on your baker.
Miss Kiwi- Tip on both days for sure.
question for the hive…i can’t attend a wedding but still want to give a monetary gift…what is the appropriate amount? she’s an old family friend and we grew up together but lost touch for a looooong time…
Jen - i went to thailand a few years ago at the end of march. it was perfect - it wasn’t too hot, humid, or rainy. i was at pattaya on their beaches and then a few days in bangkok.
ilovehamm - our church does weddings by donation, but when we asked him, our pastor said the average donation was $300 (canadian funds.) This is for parishioners, being married by someone on the pastoral team. Don’t know if it makes a difference for non parishioners, and if you bring in someone from outside, obviously that’s a separate issue. We can bring in any organist/musicians. We went with the parish organist, who I’d rate as very good, and he’s charging us $200. Cantor is a friend. We also had to pay for a marriage prep course. I forget what that cost, but I think it was $70.
However, I have heard of cathedrals, or churches that are in some way landmarks charging $1000 even for parishioners, for just the ceremony.
bride08 - what region/city do you want recommendations from?
ilovehamm - oh, 2 more costs at our church: If the priest marrying you is unavailable to coordinate your rehearsal, a trained parishioner coordinates and you pay them an honorarium, I think of $40. Altar servers (typically 2 kids) get $10 each.
My church is $600 (non parishioner) and $200 for parishioner, same as the church that I attend now (different states). The church organist charges $200. Three churches five miles away (beautiful cathedrals) charge between $1000-$2000. My sister’s church charged $600 including coordinator and music.
1.M-I don’t know where your ceremony is, but if it’s a church, I would check with them about the hands ceremony. I have heard in one case at a catholic church where they would not allow the hands ceremony.
Jen - Thailand is absolutely perfect in March. How awesome! Must visit places: Koh Phi Phi and Phi Phi Lei. Phuket is a bit overly touristy (I’d skip it). Guess it depends which side of the peninsula you’d like to see. Koh Samui is stunning as well.
question for the bee:
one of my ushers is my sister’s boyfriend - they have been dating for seven years, live together, and have a child together, but are not married. what should his description be in the program, etc. (i.e. “friend of the bride”)???
Grace — we had a 3-tiered cake serving 100 people, and it was $275 (and fabulous). However, every single other bakery we looked at was 400-450. Budget $500 and then feel smug when you get it for less than that.
Jen - i went to thailand with my fiance last year…we did bangkok, chiang mai and phuket and loved it all. if you are going for more of a relaxing trip, definitely look at phuket or koh samui or one of the other islands. As Miss Lovebug says, Phuket is a little touristy, but from what i could tell has the nicest resorts - so it sorta depends on your budget.
I will say that we enjoyed it so much we are planning on going back for part of our honeymoon!
[...] KDN would like to know if brides typically pay for their makeup trials and day-of makeup? The cost of her wedding day hair includes a trial, but her day-of makeup does not. (She doesn’t want to gamble on how her makeup looks.) [...]
Question for the hive: my 12-year-old little sis will be in my wedding party as a junior bridesmaid, and I’m having a hard time finding an appropriate “bridesmaid” gift. Most standard bridesmaids gifts are way too old for her, and all the flower girl gifts are too babyish. I’d like to give her a nice keepsake that she won’t outgrow, and that she’ll also think is cool (she’s in that ‘tween stage where her standard response to any question is ‘whatever’). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
Andria– I would say Bride’s family. Vague, yes, but I think it does the trick. One of my ushers is my sister’s long time boyfriend as well, and I had the same question but finally settled on this. He’s pretty much my family anyway!
You makes me think of fall in love- day on my Bangkok trip. I fall in love thai-chinese girl at china town at my first sight…. Now,I want to come back in Thailand again!!!!
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Beehive
Feature Launched: Aug 31, 2006
About: A forum for readers to post questions and get feedback from the hive, aka the weddingbee community.
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