Hello everyone,

First, I would like to say I love this site and everyone's willingness to share his or her knowledge. I would like to ask if we could start a thread where everyone could share their list of cake serving sizes (for example what a 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 14 inch pans can safely serve) and their locations. I think that this will help me and other newbies in determining our costs and exactly how many people we can feed. Personally, I feel Wilton's chart is unrealistic here in Cleveland, Ohio because as one of the poorest cities our residents expect a lot for their few dollars. I hope we can get someone from all 50 states and other parts of the world to respond because this could really help make sure that we newbies are not under paying ourselves. Again, thanks to all of the members of the cc community.

The serving sizes depends a lot on who is cutting the cake. Wilton's Wedding cake sizes are fairly small. There is another chart at Earlenescakes.com which provides slightly larger sizes.

Then, Wilton also has a party serving which is a bit larger.

I understand what you are trying to find, but this really won't help most people determine their pricing.

The best way is to survey stores and bakeries in your close area. The standards can vary dramatically, even in nearby cities.

Also, your costs are part of what determines how you charge for cake.

You almost have a catch-22 ..... if cleveland is one of the poorest areas but if you are giving more cake in a serving than the standard, then the assumption is you have to charge more for a larger serving which people won't want to pay because it's a poor area so they expect to get more but more-costs-more which they can't pay because it's a poor area ...

and round and round and round and ......

I use the wilton wedding chart because that's pretty much how every venue cuts a wedding cake. I'm sure folks "expect" to get more at KFC but there's only so many pieces of chicken in a bucket, no matter what you "expect".

Thank you both for responding. Thanks JoAnnB for the Earlenes website. Indydebi you are absolutely right about this cycle. I made my first paid cake an 8 inch round cake covered in red fondant with a purple fondant bow and ribbon. This cake was for a lady who is a member of the red hat society. I only charged them $25 for the cake. I worked on that cake from 5pm until midnight because I made the bow three different ways. I assumed that 8 inch would feed 12 people. Unfortunately or fortunately she showed everyone in the building we work in and five people came up to me that day requesting cakes. One wanted a 3-D Elmo to feed 25 people. I told him $55 for a 3-D figure and he gave me this weird look like I can buy a cake, all the supplies and food for that price! The others I told them I would have to think about it, because I realized I was throwing out random pricing.

Please don't get me wrong about my city not everyone is down and out. There are plenty of people with money here I just have to find them. Thanks again both of you for the different perspective.