Joined: Oct 02, 2006
Posts: 3092
Location: WI
Birthday: Feb 02
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:02 pm
My grandmother just sent me an article about the whole "fake cake" issue EVERYONE discusses on here! I can't believe it's being published in magazines now!! Do they not want bakeries/decorators to make any money??? WHY?? I don't get it! Actually, this article goes to the extreme to say that a $500 some dollar cake would only cost...$100!!! I don't think so!!!
Here is what the article says if you can't read it:
As the cost of weddings keep soaring, some couples are finding at least on way to cut corners: a fake cake. Why not? Real wedding cakes fetch about $543 on average. For as low as $100, you can snag a pretty good replica made out of foam, with a secret compartment tucked in the back for hiding that special first piece. Once that ritual's done, just whisk it away and serve guests slices of something less pricey. How sweet is that?
What are your thoughts on this? I am just shocked!
BTW.it's Reader's Digest...I think me or someone like Indydebi should write to them!
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lomikesa Frequent Member
Joined: Apr 26, 2006
Posts: 344
Birthday: Feb 21
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:52 pm
I actually did this for my sons first birthday/baptism 18 years ago. The theme was sailors and ships, I made this huge fake cake with card board and icing it look like the Titanic! and made the regular cake to serve the guest with plain white bc icing, everyone though the ship face cake was for real, and when told it wasn't they agree it was a great idea!
GI Forum Fanatic
Joined: Oct 02, 2006
Posts: 1204
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:14 pm
I saw this. Yes, it is the Reader's Digest. I was appalled! As a guest to a wedding...WEDDING....I'll get dressed up, do hair, nails, makeup, clothes, etc. Bring a nice gift. Probably brought a nice gift to the shower. Or a gift-card...something, ya know? Something nice.
By gollly, I'd better get a piece of their "nice" wedding cake and not some schmucky sheet cake they have hidden in the back-kitchen!
(Please no offense to anyone who did this to some other sort of party, I'm talking about a black-tie, cocktail dress wedding, folks!)
But I think this subject has been thoroughly hashed somewhere in the CC forums.
lomikesa Frequent Member
Joined: Apr 26, 2006
Posts: 344
Birthday: Feb 21
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:27 pm
By gollly, I'd better get a piece of their "nice" wedding cake and not some schmucky sheet cake they have hidden in the back-kitchen!
(Please no offense to anyone who did this to some other sort of party, I'm talking about a black-tie, cocktail dress wedding, folks!)
But I think this subject has been thoroughly hashed somewhere in the CC forums.[/quote]
Some people do not care about the decoration as much as to the taste. I had beautiful decorated cakes that where not so great tasting at some fancy weddings.
mixinvixen Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 23, 2007
Posts: 956
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:27 pm
i really don't mean to tick anyone off here, but what i find more unbelievable is people getting up in arms over someone else's budget.
at our wedding, i had a budget of $2000 and the dreams that had built from the time i was a little girl and were worth well over $50,000, probably. i managed with a dress that fit my budget, a church that was free, a photographer that managed to miss some of the most precious memories, a hairdo that fell before i even got to the recieving line, a cake that was quickly picked out of a book, and a ridiculous uninspiring honeymoon, etc...yes, indeed, i am just as married, but i will always mourn for the wedding of my dreams...or even a small reasonable piece of it.
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.
indydebi Forum Matriarch
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 22137
Location: Indianapolis IN
Birthday: Jan 19
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:34 pm
Look, I add styrofoams to my wedding cakes all the time to add the height and grandeur that the bride is looking for.
What ticks me off about articles like this is that I am NOT doing a 3 or 5 tier styrofoam cake for a lousy hundred bucks.
What ticks me off about articles like this is the impression it leaves with brides on what things actually cost.
What ticks me off about articles like this is that these articles set me up to be the bad guy when *I* have to be the one to explain to Miss Bride how the magazines and websites are lying to her, and *I* have to be the one to tell her what she's really going to pay.
I could care less if I get a piece of "real" wedding cake or the same cake baked in a sheet pan.
I don't like the way they are misleading brides.
MomLittr Forum Fanatic
Joined: Feb 01, 2006
Posts: 1724
Location: Barnegat, NJ
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:34 pm
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
GI Forum Fanatic
Joined: Oct 02, 2006
Posts: 1204
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:34 pm
lomikesa wrote:
Some people do not care about the decoration as much as to the taste. I had beautiful decorated cakes that where not so great tasting at some fancy weddings.
True, very true! But then, after I sent that message, I guess I've only been to one or two weddings in the past decade! Both were very lovely, beautiful and yes yummy cakes. (And both couples are still happily married, too! )
.......I'm going to get off the subject of wedding cakes..... since I don't know how to make them, just eat 'em!
newlywedws Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 17, 2006
Posts: 596
Location: MacDill AFB, FL
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:36 pm
I have seen a website that will actually rent out "fake cakes"... I just can't help but wonder how sanitary it would be...esp in regard to renting the "cake" -
I got a lovely wedding cake for $243 from a nice bakery in Oklahoma...I was amazed that it wasn't over $350 -b/c it was similiar to the fancy castle cake that was on the cover of a Wilton book a few years back -of course it wasn't as big...a total of 4 cakes (which included our 1st anniversary cake).
I was a bride on a budget, and I pulled it off and didn't even spend $2000 - My dress was $500 - I made all 5 bridesmaids dresses -less than $100 to make all five, I made their flower bouquets, my bouquet was only $35 from the florist, and I made my own garter, the unity candle set I decorated...and had a lovely wedding cake. It can be done!
meldancer Frequent Member
Joined: Mar 08, 2007
Posts: 251
Location: Vinton, IA
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:36 pm
I too saw this article and was confused. The article makes it sound like a great option, but on the other hand the picture of the lady with the face says another. I guess depending on how you take the article, it could benefit either side.
cakesbybert Frequent Member
Joined: Jan 20, 2006
Posts: 376
Location: Kansas
Birthday: Jan 16
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:39 pm
We all shouldn't be appalled by the use of the "fake cake" - but by the price that they say you can get one for - HA! -
Real cake or not my time for a large tiered cake whether real or fake is the same - just minus the baking time. Part of the cost of the cake is the price you pay for the talent of the cake decorator not just the cake to eat.
Why do they think it would be soooo much cheaper??
edit to add - part of my wedding cake was "fake" just so that I could have the height I wanted - did not need the cake, if I remember right we only saved about $50.
Last edited by cakesbybert on Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
woodthi32 Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 15, 2007
Posts: 534
Location: Oneida, NY
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:43 pm
I can see renting one for $100. A compartment in the back? What the heck is that all about?
That's really ridiculous to think that a "fake" cake should be cheap. Since when is labor "fake"? Fondant? Fake? gumpaste? fake?
please! Sure I'll subtract the cost of the butter, flour and eggs for that tier, but, in my experience, dummies are just as hard (sometimes harder because they are so damn light) to decorate.
BTW anyone have any tips on decorating dummies. THe light weight has been a problem when it comes to putting a "crumbcoat" on a turntable......Should I just do straight fondant??
Tomoore Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 28, 2006
Posts: 658
Birthday: Nov 19
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:43 pm
Personally, I don't know if It think it'll be a big deal. Also, I wouldn't be insulted to not recieve a piece of (extravagant) cake at someone's wedding. I went to a girlfriend's wedding where I was served lobster, it was an all day elaborate affair and I never tasted the huge wedding cake. (I wonder sometimes if it was a fake). I ate chocolate mousse. I didn't feel slighted. I think she wanted the cake to match the rest of the wedding...maybe they needed to cut something and that was it.
BCJean Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 12, 2007
Posts: 941
Location: California
Birthday: Apr 03
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:45 pm
I personally don't see this as that much different from decorating the whole cake with fondant and gumpaste....then pulling it all off to eat the cake underneath. Since the cake is taken to the kitchen before serving...no one really knows what they are getting...and if the sheet cake they are actually served is made from the same recipe you would have for a wedding cake...I don't think the guests are being short changed at all.
Of course, my idea of a wedding cake is to make an awesome tasting cake, ice it in buttercream and serve it right in front of the guests. It used to be that was what decorating was all about....make something beautiful that you could cut into and eat.
Times are changing and what used to be important to people no longer holds true. I never really understood why the groom rented a tuxedo for the ceremony, while the bride paid way over her budget for a wedding gown. I guess we will get used to whatever becomes the in thing to do.
indydebi Forum Matriarch
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 22137
Location: Indianapolis IN
Birthday: Jan 19
Posted:
Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:49 pm
BCJean wrote:
Since the cake is taken to the kitchen before serving...no one really knows what they are getting...
I've asked this before, but is this a regional thing? I'm almost 50 years old and I've never seen a wedding cake taken to the kitchen to be cut. I've been cutting wedding cakes for 25 years and I've always done it right there in the reception room, with a group of people standing around watching how I do it.
Around here, if you tried to take the cake out of the room, people would question it. Watching the person cut and serve the cake is almost as much a part of the reception as throwing the bouquet.
If I attended a wedding and they took the cake to the kitchen, I'd wonder what they were trying to pull (and hide!).
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I don't think so!!!
But then, after I sent that message, I guess I've only been to one or two weddings in the past decade! 
)
since I don't know how to make them, just eat 'em! 
