The Great Tipping Point

The Great Tipping Debate

Picture this:
You race into a family restaurant to pick up your "grab-and-go" dinner. You opened the app, you placed the order, you entered your payment info, jumped into your car, drove to the restaurant, and brought everything home for your family to eat. 
Did you tip the person who handed you the bags of dinner? 
Should you tip when no one served you?
If you haven't had this conversation with friends recently, you've probably seen news stories about it. We find ourselves in a tipping culture, where economics and perceived service blend into a moment that can be confusing and quickly add up. 

Tipping is about service

At Bridal Traditions, we're never too eager to jump into public debate, especially one that is more complicated than it appears. But this topic comes up and we do have our own thoughts about it. So as part of the ongoing "educational" aspect to this blog, here are our two cents worth.

For us at Bridal Traditions, tipping is about service. In fact, we've had brides and clients ask us if it was okay to tip, so we began providing that option based on those we serve.

We love that this is the case, by the way. When customers see what you do goes beyond providing a fitting room and taking measurements, then we're doing our jobs well.

The long and short of it is: if we provided service to you while you were shopping with us, we hope you'll feel like tipping your consultant. We never set an expectation and we NEVER make anyone feel guilty or shamed into tipping. If you're inclined, we hope you'll consider it. 

Often, our consultants work with brides (usually welcoming parties of 4 or more) for at least an hour and a half. These consultants provide wisdom and insight, but they are also listening to your story, your dream gown details, learning about your theme, what you envision. They then go into our gown selections and pulling dresses that meet those expectations. Our consultants are also listening for what isn't being said, and they are choosing gowns that you might not think would work, but that you'll end up LOVING. This happens all the time!

In other words, we provide service, attention, and care and plan to meet, if not exceed, every bride's expectations. And after the bride is gone, we put everything back in order and take care of every item that wasn't chosen, so that our next brides have the same experience filled with possibility.

Tipping is never automatic

If you're unsure about tipping consider these two points.
1) Was your experience more "help yourself" than heavy on customer service? Running in to get measured for an order or a quick accessory purchase - absolutely there's no need to tip! 
2) Our tipping is not the usual. We don't start with an automatic assumption that 15 or 18% should be considered. Wedding gowns are not cheap and this is a big and important expense. For this reason, we start by giving our customers the option of tipping as low as 3%, because we know the item you're purchasing is way more than a meal with a large drink. 

When all else fails, follow your gut. We don't judge you based on what you spent or the amount that's tipped. What we care about most is that every single bride and customer feels seen, heard and well cared for. Come see us if you're ready to start your shopping adventure! And if you want to tip, please know that our amazing team is grateful.