Here in Michigan, it is pretty costly to build a commercial kitchen. and a homebased cake business is pretty much out of the question in this neck of the woods.

So, what is the alternative?
Find a facility with a commercial kitchen willing to let you use it.

Some go to churches (although I don't believe this is a fully licensed commercial kithen in most cases).

Others go to nearby operations such as restaurants and offer to rent their kitchen, (Something I would be very concerned about were I a restaurant owner).

So what does that leave?

Option 3.

Find a restaurant, coffee shop, etc. that is not doing as well as the others in your area. These folks are more inclined to accept new ideas and products to keep their business going.

In addition, you can probably negotiate a percentage of the profits to them rather than straight rent for your use of their kitchen. Some businesses may not be inclined to jump into the wedding cake business so you may have to start out making a few pastries, pies, etc. Surely a small price to pay for the free use of a kitchen.

Is this something you've actually done, CakeGuy?