Many brides and grooms, or their parents, are very shy about making payments to a wedding professional in person, but are usually more embarrassed when dealing with their wedding clergy regarding payment, and especially when giving a tip. I’ve been to both ends of the wedding altar and I can tell you that it’s a lot easier to deal with than you think and there is a smart way.

Everyone is a bit unsure of what is correct, mainly because wedding ministers as a whole have historically dealt with rituals and correctness in situations and most people don’t want to cross the line. But remember that wedding professionals deal with this topic on a daily basis and so they understand your discomfort and have seen it a lot. For them, it is part of the workday.

Do I tip? Definitely yes. How much? It depends, but it’s not unusual to double a fee. How? There is a good time to tip when you pay the balance of your officiating fee. Why? Because tipping means ensuring proper service. Your marriage officiant still has your marriage license when you separate (they are usually required to file it themselves). Where? At the signature.

How do you pay and tip with class? It’s not that hard after all. Tipping someone should be done with joy and gratitude. Consider the following wedding information.

Most officiants charge between $275 and $900 for a wedding ceremony. It all depends on the location of the wedding ceremony, what things you think you need from your wedding minister, and how busy they are. The busier the wedding minister is, the more expensive they will be overall.

Most wedding vendors will ask for a deposit in advance and the rest will be paid on the day of the wedding. Remember to make a quick deposit as wedding professionals are constantly receiving calls and emails. A typical wedding professional receives between 10 and 100 requests per day. That’s a lot of requests for time to juggle. Frankly, the first person to commit by making a deposit wins that time slot.

We recommend that you send the deposit by check or credit card to the officiant you have chosen immediately so that they can retain your time and also so that there is a paper trail. However, in my experience, the balance must be paid in cash.

When you pay the balance it is usually more embarrassing for people since it is in person and there is no “right time”. But there is.

The best thing to do is bring an envelope with each wedding vendor’s name on it and put the rest in cash in the envelope. If you’re at a big wedding, give it to your best man or father of the bride (whichever makes him feel more important) and have them dole out the money for you.

Be sure to pay the balance you owe your wedding minister in cash or your license may not show up in time for the check to clear. Worse yet, if you travel after your wedding and your check bounces, you may not be married when you return from your honeymoon. A wedding officiant is required to file their marriage license within a certain amount of time with the county, usually 10 days. If you are paid by check and it bounces while you are in Tahiti, then you may have a bit of a problem as the clergy at the wedding don’t know if they will pay your bad check.

The best time to pay is at the marriage license signing. There is always a shuffle of papers from each person and when the wedding officiant signs it, he can easily hand over the envelope with a “Thank you!”

And don’t forget the free ministry. You can also include that in the envelope. What is the proper tip for an officiant? $75 – $150 is the right tip for the officiant and if that sounds like too much, consider this: Your wedding officiant is probably the lowest paid of most of the wedding professionals present at your wedding, and yet you need a that person at your wedding. ceremony more than anyone else there, or else. . . you wouldn’t be married Yes, you don’t need to tip a wedding official, but think of it this way: It’s good karma and a good way to start your marriage off with a positive vibe from the one person who joined you as husband and wife. woman.