Bride buys her wedding dress for $2,000. But, the cashier had other plans

A wedding dress is the most important outfit for a bride. But imagine this: You finally find your perfect dress and when you go to pay for it, the cashier asks for a tip! That's exactly what happened to @inajosipovic, who shared this awkward moment on TikTok. She said, "Let's talk about tipping and the strangest place you've been asked to tip. I was shopping for my wedding dress about a week and a half ago, and I found 'the one' at the first store I visited. When I went to pay, they turned their little iPad towards me and asked for a tip."

"I was completely stunned. I stood there frozen, feeling like all the blood had drained from my body. I never expected to have to tip when buying a wedding dress," she added.

The store was almost empty when she arrived with her best friend and noticed only three people working there — possibly the owner and two stylists. Feeling weird, she took advantage of speaking another language to quietly ask her friend who had purchased her wedding dress at a different store the previous year if she had tipped. Her friend confirmed she had not been asked to tip. This information left the bride confused.

Standing there, mentally calculating the cost of the dress already, she thought about adding a 10% tip, which would amount to an additional $200 on the $2,000 dress. Although her mother was covering the dress's cost, she was using her own Amex to earn reward points.

Ultimately, she decided against tipping such a substantial amount, considering the high expense of the dress itself and questioning the expectation of tipping at a bridal store. Instead, she opted to leave a smaller $50 tip, which she calculated to be around 1.5% of the dress's price. Looking back the bride wondered if tipping for a wedding dress was even necessary or if it is a new compulsory thing nowadays.

Here’s what people thought of this tipping issue: "US tipping culture is insane. I was once asked to tip at a self-serve kiosk at a football stadium," said Amanda.

"Gen X here. The only people I tip are wait staff. Everyone else I say…no. No shame. No explanation," said Nancy.

"YES! Self-served frozen yogurt!! YogurtLand! I ask the clerk, 'Why?' She said cause we fill the containers. I said that's your job! No, I don't tip," said another user.

"1/2 I went to a bar and they swing the pad around. It started at 20% with sad face, 25% with a slant fact, and 30% with a smile face. I was SHOCKED," said another user. In the age of digital payments, tipping has grown more convenient yet difficult owing to "tipflation" which occurs when businesses adopt methods to get greater tips.

One popular approach is to add sales tax to the final transaction before offering a tip which considerably raises the gratuity amount. Experts recommend tipping 15%-20% of the pre-tax total. However, calculating tips after taxes can balloon the final amount, especially for larger parties, creating a sense of being compelled to tip more. Digital tipping prompts have increased the strain, with many Americans tipping more when prompted by tablets or smart card readers. This behavior, called "guilt tipping," affects a large number of people. Some restaurants have made tipping mandatory by including a predetermined gratuity on invoices, and tipping has moved to non-traditional industries, with tip jars appearing in unexpected places and internet businesses asking users to pay staff they never engage with directly.

Follow @inajosipovic on TikTok for more such videos and content.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on June 26, 2024. It has since been updated.