Catering is usually one of your biggest wedding expenses. It’s also the vendor category with the most confusion around tipping. That confusion comes down to one thing: the difference between what’s in your contract and what actually reaches the servers.
Let’s clear it up.
The standard tip amount
15-20% of your catering bill is the typical range. Or if you prefer thinking in flat amounts, $20 to $50 per server works too.
For a $10,000 catering bill, that’s $1,500-2,000 in gratuity. Significant money.
But here’s where it gets tricky.
Check your contract first
Before you budget for catering tips, pull out your contract and look for these terms:
“Gratuity” or “Tip” — This goes directly to the service staff. If your contract includes 18-20% gratuity, the servers will get it. You’re covered.
“Service Charge” or “Administrative Fee” — This is different. Service charges legally belong to the catering company. They might share some with staff, or they might not. You can’t assume.
The distinction matters because if you see “20% service charge” and assume it’s a tip, your servers might get nothing extra. Read the exact language.
For a deeper breakdown, check out our gratuity vs service charge guide.
What to do if gratuity isn’t included
If your contract doesn’t include gratuity (or only has a service charge), plan to tip the catering staff separately.
Here’s how most couples handle it:
Give it to the catering captain. At the end of the reception, hand an envelope to the head server or banquet captain. Ask them to distribute it among the team. They’ll know who worked your event.
Calculate per server. If you know how many servers worked your wedding (usually the captain can tell you), $30-50 per person is a solid tip for good service.
For a team of 8 servers at $40 each, that’s $320. Plus maybe $50-75 for the captain who coordinated everything.
What if service was just okay?
The staff showed up, the food came out, nothing went wrong. But nobody went above and beyond. That’s fine. Tip at the lower end of the range (15% or $20-25 per server).
Save the 20%+ tips for the teams that genuinely exceeded expectations: proactive service, accommodating last-minute changes, keeping everything running when something went sideways.
The “who gets the money” conversation
If you want to be sure your tip reaches the actual workers, ask your caterer directly:
“The gratuity we’re adding—does that go directly to the servers who work our event?”
Good caterers will answer honestly. If they’re evasive, that tells you something about the company.
Example breakdown
Your catering bill is $8,500. The contract includes an 18% service charge but explicitly states this is “not a gratuity and does not go to servers.”
So you budget for tips separately:
- 10 servers × $35 each = $350
- Captain: $50
- Total: $400
You give the envelope to the captain at the end of the night. The servers who actually served your guests get the money.
Don’t double-tip unnecessarily
On the flip side, if your contract clearly states “18% gratuity included,” you don’t need to add more unless someone was exceptional. A $20 bill to a specific server who really took care of you is a nice gesture, but don’t feel obligated to tip on top of included gratuity.
Need to calculate tips for catering and your other vendors? Our free calculator does the math and tells you exactly what cash to request.