I was suposed to be making a four tierd cake for a wedding this friday, but the wedding was canceled. The groom is in jail!! The mother of the bride has already payed for the cake and is going to call me back to talk about some possible refund. the cake was for $250. this included strawberrys around each tier. She says she wants to pay me for meeting with them twice, and help with some of the cost of supplies I have bought. I bought a cake stand for them specifically for $60. I was thinking getting re-embersed for that should be enough. Also she would still pay for and pick up the strawberries. Does this sound fair?? To much, to little?? please need advice on this one.

I would make her responsible for at least half of the quote you gave her. Just to cover your time and anything purchased.

In the future, maybe you can set up some sort of cancellation policy.

I would think that anything you purchased specifically for this cake should be covered before you offer any refund. If you have already baked the cakes, those supplies should be covered also. Maybe, instead of any refund, you can offer to provide the cake when the wedding is rescheduled.

did you have a contract that discusses cancellations?? or was this possiblity discussed before?? With only 4 days left til the wedding, I don't think I would refund much, if any. Not many places will give refunds for cancellations so close to the wedding. I'm sure you've had a lot of prep time, supplies, etc go into this.

If this wasn't discussed, I would add up my cost of supplies you've already purchased and figure in the time you've spent meeting, planning, etc and then maybe refund the difference.

hope this helps a bit!! tough situation!
christine

How awful!!!!! I guess I would let her pick up the strawberries & pay for them......... I'm not sure how much you would want to charge for meeting with them twice... If you aren't going to use the cake stand in the future though, I would return it. They certainly aren't going to use it themselves, are they? And were you going to charge them specifically for the cake stand? A lot of people will buy the supplies & not always figure them into the cost b/c they will use them in the future.

Good luck! This poor family! I feel soooo sorry for them! Not sure what the situation is - but maybe its best the wedding is cancelled now instead of him ending up in jail right after the wedding or something........ of course, I don't know the full situation.....

Hey ..I would say if she is offering to give you something back I would take it.At least for the cakestand and the strawberries you may have already purchased.

I don't know your business situation, but on the contract that I use, it clearly states that any cancellation less than 30 days before the wedding, no refund is given. (I will sometimes make an exception if there is a death of an immediate family member.)

You have to remember...you are doing this as a business. You base your orders on the orders you have. You may have turned down other business for the day because of this particular one. Business is business. I can guarantee that none of the other vendors are giving them a single penny back.

Yes, it sucks, but business is business.

If you would like a copy of my wedding agreement PM me.
It says....
There is a $45 dollar is cake is cancelled prior to 28 day deadline regardless or any reason. After then 28 day deadline there is a cancellation charge of 20% of Sub total (minimum of $45). No refund is made if cake is canceled after _(enter date here)_
21 days before delivery date.

Hope that helps.

You already bought strawberries for a weekend event? Gosh - they grow fuzz around here in 2 days!

My husband is a carpenter, and he when uses equipment that he reuses, depending on what it is, he figures in a percent to charge for the equipment, and not the total amount. I would charge for all other supplies that you bought specifically for that particular event. Altho, sad that these peoples lives have been uprouted, you cannot be responsible for everyone's bad luck. I agree wholeheartedly with cancellation fees in the future.

I agree - a cancellation policy is definitely in order, but the other question is why wasn't the cake paid in full by now anyway? The point of them paying in full and not being refunded is the fact that you COULD have been paid for doing another wedding this weekend that you may have turned down to do THEIR wedding.

Now, with that said, if there's a chance that the wedding will be rescheduled, then I would ask for payment in full to be applied to the cake in the future.

You always want to be fair with the customer, but you need to respect your own time and money. ,

I wouldn't charge for the stand that you bought. It's my practice to keep upgrading all my supplies. If there is a stand that is out there, I will purchase it but I won't charge a customer for it. It just becomes part of my gallery.

I had a bride contact me today for a cake in September. I have a contract on my website that I require every client to sign. It states deposits are non-refundable. I also state that if the cake is paid in full and if any supplies have been purchased already, the bride is responsible for those costs. Depending on how much she has paid you and your policy, I would not refund any monies on such a short notice. If the wedding has been postponed, offer to hold her information for an alternate date, deposits, etc. As bad as we feel when weddings go sour, we are in a business to make money to support our families and we have to protect ourselves. Feel free to take a look at my website....contract button.....for my policy. And, ALWAYS make them sign a contract!!!
Good luck!!!
www.cakesbymeredith.com

It sounds like the strawberries are on order for the wedding??? Can they be cancelled??? I agree with 'cowdex' about the fuzzies growing in a couple of days if bought this far in advance.
As for a refund, I'd let her pay half of the $250 and tell her you normally do not refund this close to the wedding day.
GOOD LUCK!!!

cakesbymer, your wedding cakes are gorgeous! hopefully someday I will get half as good as you!

Thanks guys for all your advice. I will definatly be using a contract in the future. This was only my second payed wedding cake, so I am kind of new in that area. The cake is payed in full, and the wedding will definatly NOT be reschedualed. Not sure on the entire situation, but I guess the family just found out that this guy was wanted by the police for some time . I have not picked up the strawberries, but I have orderd them from a produce guy in town, he cannot cancel his order, and I don't think it is right to stick him with the berries. That is a bridge I am not willing to burn. With all the insight you guys have given me I am sure I will figure out something that is fair.

I agree about not burning bridges with vendors!

Just curious, why is the groom- to- be in jail ? sounds like he's in there on a serious charge since they don't expect him to be out soon, otherwise they would not cancel the wedding. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise that they don't get married. Maybe she was to marry a bum or a looser!! maybe God just didn't want that to happen.

I am not in the cake business so I would not know how to handle such a dilema, but I would think maybe refund her half, since you have already made or bought some things for the cake. Just my idea.

Well, in all fairness to everyone concerned, I would ask if there is a chance that the wedding will be rescheduled, if so offer to make the cake then. If not, then having to pay for the strawberries and perhaps a $50.00 cancellation fee is fair. You will use the cake stand over and over again, so don't sweat that.

I agree with you about not burning in bridges as well. However, I would make the mom of the bride to pay for all costs that you have incurred.

I hope you didn't start baking this cake yet b/c those supplies would need to be included in the cost you incurred.

i have a clause in my contract that the cake uis to be paid for 90 days in advance. in some cases 60 days in advance. if they cancel for ANY reason, (besides death in family) i keep full payment. Reason: wedding cakes in Ny are booked months to a year in advance so at the 2 month prior to wedding i can NOT rebopok that day and have in turn already turned away otehr brides as i only do 1 wedding cake a day.

I forgot to mention that I do have a cancellation policy in my contract. If the event is cancelled for any reason two weeks or less before the event, the deposit is non-refundable. If full payment was made then only 50% of full payment will be reimbursed. It truly helps with all the confusion.

um........... Hello?

The groom is in jail. He didn't get hurt, or sick, or something like that. Sorry, but jail is because the man has to face consequences of an undesireable action.

So you should suffer four days before the cake is to be delivered? Girl, they are past the "no refund" deadline. You are prepared to live up to your end of the deal; they need to live up to theirs.

I also make it known that I refund nothing for cancellations later than two weeks ahead of time...... I probably should do a month, though.......

With 4 days to the wedding I wouldn't refund anything. So but it isn't my falt that they are cancelling. If you want to be nice than that is up to you, but keep in mind that there were cakes that are still taking place that you could have done, so you turned away business for them and now they want to leave you hanging. I think not. I know that in the end you will most likey use all the stuff that you bought but that isn't even the point, the point is thzat you cleared the time for them and you time has a price.

Vic

I don't know about you, but I count my eggs before they are hatched. Sometimes when I know I will get a stipend (I teach school, we get money for doing extra chores, that is called a stipend) I mentally spend it, sometimes before I know that I am going to do the task. So if I were to get paid for a cake and it was 4 days out, I would be thinking of what bills I would be paying for with that money. Mentally that money is already mine.

That being said, we don't want to be a bad person, so we try and work with people. Soooo, I would AT LEAST consider the cake stand my payment for my mental and other efforts. I would want to charge a cancellation fee equal to ALL SUPPLIES I already purchased, including the stand. Yes you'll use it in the future, but you were "borrowing lunch money" to purchase it with the idea of paying it off with this one cake. Cake by by, then so goes the excuse to buy the stand. Have them pay for it! Gift to yourself!

Instead of a wedding cake you could always offer to bake up a "special" cake that they can take to the would-be-groom in jail.

I agree with the last poster about making a different cake. It'll save you some time, not having to decorate a wedding cake. You could get in extra practice of doing something creative and it might make the (ex) bride-to-be feel better. Maybe that would be a good alternative for others who have no cancellation policy's. I understand its a business and I assume it doesn't happen often, but this seems like a fair alternative for both parties. You could even include it in your book~ new section for cancellations. Get creative and come up with cute ways to say- better now than a divorce in a year... JMO

ETA- I did not mean the cake should go to the locked up ex, just liked the idea of them (bride or whoever paid for the cake) receiving a cake anyway.

It could be a funny, I told you so (from mom) or a stack of 'divorce' papers saying better now than later, a mended broken heart...

Oh my goodness! "Reward" the guy who is in jail (with a "different cake")for doing a crime!? I think the poor would-be-bride and family deserves a condolence cake!

The unfortunate thing about this, what else is the bride's family having to cancel and having to pay for because of this guy's law breaking? If you can come up with a personal "deal" that works for you and them in this case, then that is what I would do. If the bride's family is "paying for the groom's crime" then they deserve some slack, in my opinion. Sure, that doesn't make it right nor fair to you, but I think you could sit down and talk with the mother to work out something that is fair to you both. She sounds like a reasonable person if she is willing to pay something.

Hope this works out well in the end for you and the poor bride's family.

Well i don't know what to say as not been there myself and not had any one cancel on me.

I suppose i would deffinately add up the cost of the ingredients and materials you have already purchased. Have you already made the cakes? Then add on time you have spent on it. really hard to judge but a rough idea and think of any thing you have turned down. Add it all up and add on a couple of quid for anything you have missed and refund her the difference.

Will be hard but sure you can come to some comperised just explain to her why you have done this and that and say that you are being nice as many others would not be so generious.

On the other hand say she cannot have a refund four days before the wedding and that your sorry but business is business you have spent your time and you have alreasy allocated that money else where.

Good Luck i think we can all learn for this i know i will now consider an cancellation policy.

Nicole