Bartending At a Wedding???

Question

I was asked by my friend to bartend at her wedding and she said she would pay me. We are not the closest friends and she has kind of left it up to me with the compensation. How much should I ask her to pay me? I am taking off a day of work but at the same time she invited me to the wedding so I would not be working anyway. Secondly, would it be tacky to have a tip jar or should I just accept tips as they come? It is an open bar. Im a poor college student so any extra cash is helpful. Any suggestions are great. Thanks!

Answer 1

ask her for 150 that should make up for all the cheap b******s that don't tip @ open bar's in weddings

:)

Answer 2

Ask her to pay you $300 for the night. Four a weddign reception of about three to four hours $300 is good. And no tip jar people are obligated to tip you regardless. You will make $400-$500 in one night if the wedding is 100+ people.

Answer 3

What you SHOULD do: Insist on doing it for free, take whatever tips you get as compensation.

What you'll realistically do: Just charge whatever you'd make at work that day, plus gas money or 10% or whatever. It's a wedding, people are already throwing down gobs of cash as it is and many will become quite closely acquainted with whoever is giving them free alcohol. (It ain't a wedding without the alcys, after all) A tip jar is not only okay, but a pretty d**n sound move in my opinion.

Answer 4

You'll do it for free as your wedding gift and put a modest tip jar out (not a huge tacky one).   People get really cheap when it comes to weddings.  It's not just rfree food and drink and this will be a great way for you to provide an excellent present since you are strapped for cash.

Answer 5

you could leave like a small basket or something on the counter that doesnt necessarily say "tips" on it but just hope that someone gets the idea and others follow.

Answer 6

well the reception genernally last about 4 hours so $100 would be $20 an hour.  You can also ask what she thinks if fair for a starting point.  Most bartenders get a general $175 for 5 hours for catering events.

For a tip jar I would get permission from the bride first and make sure its classy looking like a bar glass, nothignt hat actually says Tips, but maybe "thank you"

Answer 7

Deciding on a price is always hard.. depending on the length of time I would probably say 100-150 and about the tip jar I would ask her if she would be ok with it before I decided to put a tip jar out. Afterall it is her wedding and you don't want to do anything that wouldn't be ok with her.  :)  Good luck

Answer 8

Depends on where you live.

Call some local venues or your local pro bartending school to see what the going rate is for bartenders to tend a wedding.  

I should think that for a 4 hour reception you should get no less than $140; (that is if you don't live in Big City, USA) ; that's only $35 an hour.  

And no, it's not inappropriate to set out a tip jar.