Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 1153
Location: England
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:26 am
I don't see what the fuss is about here. If you're charging enough to cover your costs and make whatever profit you want to make - who cares if it's a dummy or not?
People are always going to want options and I don't suppose Prada is bothered about people buying clothes from a supermarket. I don't give a hoot if someone wants to eat a pile of twinkes, a sheet cake or whatever for their wedding. Do you really think that stopping dummies being available is going to increase our business?
woodthi32 Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 15, 2007
Posts: 534
Location: Oneida, NY
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:45 am
well, RENTING an already decorated dummy for $100 is an entirely different prospect................you could rent it a few times, MAYBE. MAYBE. Personally, I would never want a cake that looked like somebody else's. Of course I live in a small town, where it is possible someone at the wedding would have seen the cake before. WEIRD!!
I am thinking out loud and trying to adjust to the whole idea!
woodthi32 Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 15, 2007
Posts: 534
Location: Oneida, NY
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:47 am
regarding the cake being cut in the kitchen. I live in upstate NY and have seen it more than a few times. Generally, it seems, if there is ROOM to cut it in the reception area, they do, but sometimes there is simply not room.........
woodthi32 Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 15, 2007
Posts: 534
Location: Oneida, NY
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:54 am
janicecold
I don't thinkyou are being harsh. I think the thing that set us all off was the price that this magazine quotes. Everyone has individual tastes, and if a fake cake fits your plan better, you should have it. Point is, this magazine makes the customer think that somehow the absence of butter, eggs flour makes for a MUCH MUCH cheaper cake, and we all know that's bunk. The implication that our labor, talent, labor, materials, labor, creativity and LABOR are not worth more than that is INSULTING and propagates ignorance. It's sad, especially in this day of the Food Network and Ace of Cakes.
FrostinGal Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 07, 2007
Posts: 501
Location: San Diego
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:55 am
I can't say I've ever seen a cake taken to the kitchen for plating, either. For me, it costs just as much to buy the large styrofoam as it does to make cake. Sometimes, it works out less expensively!
When someone asks for a dummy cake, I explain this to them. When we break it down, they can get a delicious real wedding cake for less than what I would charge for a dummy.
When the cake is for family or friends, I don't have a problem adding an extra tier, because the materials cost is so minimal. For my daughter's sweet 16, I made twice as much cake as we needed, so that she could have a grand 5-tier confection! Cake or styrofoam, it's the time that costs!
What if we went around telling people that they shouldn't pay for subscriptions to magazines, since the magazines are already rolling in revenue from ads? It's just paper. Paper and ink! You have paper and ink at home!
FlowerGirlMN Not Registered
Joined: Jul 06, 2007
Posts: 639
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 6:10 am
mixinvixen wrote:
this all may sound spoiled to you, but i can guarantee you that, as the queen of bargains, if i could have had my dream day and fell a little short of money for the cake, i'd go for the styrofoam filled dream, and the people that i invited to attend, the people who really love me for who i am and not what i provide for them, would care less, as long as the cake was good.
Would you ask a baker (from the point of view of an average bride who does NOT decorate cakes) to decorate you a 3+ tiered dummy cake for $100? Also, would you follow that up with "and I'm going to buy sheet cakes from costco to actually serve"? I find that rude and highly insulting. A few brides mentioned this to me at the last wedding show I did, the weird thing was that they didn't seem to understand that it was an insult - they've just been conditioned to think that a dummy layer should be FREE or CHEAP. Wtf?
FlowerGirlMN Not Registered
Joined: Jul 06, 2007
Posts: 639
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 6:14 am
MomLittr wrote:
I had just clicked on an ad concerning this. While I personally don't like the idea as it is not something I would do, for those who can't really afford a nice big fancy cake, guess that is better than no cake for their pictures. But my thought is you still have to have enough cake for all the guests, so by the time you buy sheet cakes (usually the same price per serving) plus rent the dummy, does it really save that much?
deb
So if they can't afford to drive off in the Porsche they want to.. they should get a cardboard cutout instead?
Brides have options. They can scale back the wedding (cheaper cake, less expensive venue, etc), or they can scale back the guest list. It BLOWS MY MIND when someone asks me about getting a "free" or cheap dummy cake, want to get sheet cake cheap, and they're inviting THREE HUNDRED PEOPLE to their wedding!
step0nmi Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Oct 02, 2006
Posts: 3092
Location: WI
Birthday: Feb 02
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 6:20 am
This is what I'm getting at...for the purpose of I AM NOT DOING WEDDING CAKES! I already had one inquiry about doing a wedding cake for 300 and she wanted one tier a dummy and I was insulted! WhY!? Because I make awesome cake! You wouldn't go to some restaurant and have a very expensive dinner and then expect the dessert to be styrofoam...you know that you're paying for that!
I don't care about the dummy thing, but thinking this is a cheaper version of a cake when you are paying all this other elaborate expenses for the wedding just makes me mad! That is why I am not doing wedding cakes yet! Too much stress on me for something I love doing.
So, I guess we need to all ban together and tell them NO dummy!
HOW HERE THINKS INDYDEBI SHOULD WRITE TO READER'S DIGEST!???? MEEEE!!!
janicecold Regular Member
Joined: May 15, 2006
Posts: 185
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Birthday: Jan 13
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:59 am
As I have said before, I don't see the big deal about the dummy cakes!! As I read some comments I am actually feeling like I am being scolded for having a fake cake at my wedding. As I have said before I had a fake cake, one due to the fact that cost of a real cake was considerabley alot more and the number two reason, the caterer already provided me with deserts in the charge of the meal and saw no reason to pay for real cake on top of it.
I know that it is not right for people to think that a fake cake should be so cheap, that is far from the truth. I know that there is just as much work to a dummy then a real one. What I am asking you to do is to consider other reasons for these brides requesting for a dummy. Making a dummy cake displays your decorating ability just as much as a real cake and man let me just say that the people on this site are very talanted and I wish I had half as much talent as some of the people on here!! You just might get more orders from other brides when they see your cake decorating abilities.
Maybe I am being abit sensative here but I do find some of the comments harsh towards brides wanting a fake cake.
fondantgrl Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 11, 2007
Posts: 574
Location: Atlantis
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:09 pm
whatever fits the budget. either way is ok. I don't see what the problem is. It's just like wearing fake or real diamonds as jewelry. Expensive Jewelry retailers are not angry that a lot of people wear fake jewelry that look real and expensive...
FlowerGirlMN Not Registered
Joined: Jul 06, 2007
Posts: 639
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:22 pm
You can bet your butt that the jewelery makers would be angry if the wedding magazines started advising brides to make their own or buy at a pawn shop!
Like I've mentioned before - As a florist - wedding magazines are NOT our friend.. florist or caker. The suggestions to have DIY flowers, etc etc.. it's almost like they want brides to cheap out on other aspects of their wedding so they can afford the $7000 gowns that advertise.
I have YET to see a bridal magazine article on how to make your own gown.
CakeMommyTX Forum Fanatic
Joined: Aug 07, 2007
Posts: 1160
Location: where the sidewalk ends....
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:26 pm
To tell you the truth I never even knew that there was such a thing as a "dummy" cake.That is until CC I always wondered what bakeries did with all the cakes in their windows, did they throw them away, how long can a cake actually stay fresh. I even thought the wedding cakes on display at wal-mart were real. But then again I am a grown women who has to sleep with a blanket pulled up past my neck because I am afraid of vampires, so I might not be the best person to contribute to this discussion.
CakeMommyTX Forum Fanatic
Joined: Aug 07, 2007
Posts: 1160
Location: where the sidewalk ends....
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:26 pm
To tell you the truth I never even knew that there was such a thing as a "dummy" cake.That is until CC I always wondered what bakeries did with all the cakes in their windows, did they throw them away, how long can a cake actually stay fresh. I even thought the wedding cakes on display at wal-mart were real. But then again I am a grown women who has to sleep with a blanket pulled up past my neck because I am afraid of vampires, so I might not be the best person to contribute to this discussion.
step0nmi Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Oct 02, 2006
Posts: 3092
Location: WI
Birthday: Feb 02
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:26 pm
I think what we were all trying to say is...we don't mind the fake cake. It's the fact that the magazines are saying that it is CONSIDERABLY cheaper when it's not that much cheaper! The article quotes a $540 cake to be $100 dummy wise. And we all know that we don't give that significant much of a discount on those!
So sorry if things were sounding harsh. I think we were all just debating the possibilities of why and how things are happening here. It's a good discussion!
terrig007 Frequent Member
Joined: Jul 31, 2007
Posts: 495
Location: VA
Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:27 pm
My cake was cut in the room right after we cut it ourselves and we were married in Newport News, VA. My cousin just got married in Glen Ellyn, IL, (a surburb of Chicago) and this was the first time I've ever seen them take it to the back to cut it. At the time I thought it was a bit strange because the piece I got looked different than the actual cake (it had fondant on it but my and everyone else's piece had bc The piece they cut was real and it was the second tier from the top. I mean sometimes you just aren't able to afford the most expensive cake that you would like but you can afford something else that isn't quite real but at the same time doesn't really harm anybody either. The most important aspect is to celebrate the couple's most important day in their lives (well until the children come along) and wish them the very best. It's about love, not whether or not the cake is fake. Celebrate the day!
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