Just curious to see what others would charge. Here's the specs:

6" (to be saved)
10"-chocolate cake, peanut butter mousse, shortening based buttercream, covered in fondant
14"- styrofoam dummy cake, lightly iced and covered in fondant
18"- 1/2 chocolate cake, peanut butter mousse, 1/2 white cake with strawberry filling, all with shortening based buttercream and covered in fondant.

Decorations are like the cake in picture called Orchids and Drapes here:
http://www.sweetart.zoomshare.com/1.shtml/Traditional%20Wedding%20Cakes

So based on that, what would you charge? TIA

~nicole

$550-$600, but don't take my word for it. I don't know your area. That's just based on my area. Good luck. Looks like a beautiful cake.

Wish I could help you - that cake is out of my league. I wouldn't even attempt it since it's beyond my current skill level.

Are you making the orchids or using fresh flowers? You have to think about time and cost either way.

Around $1000.

I'd say about $600. Can't remember how many servings from an 18 as I never made that size.... I'm guessing 120?
Add up how many servings this one would yield (including a 14" even though that one is going to be styro) amd multiply by no less than $3.

Yes just over $1,000 plus flowers, delivery, tax.

But what I would do is recommend a 5x8x11x14 which is about the same servings without all that hoopla. Toss in a little anniversary cake all boxed up so you can serve the top. They save a ton of money and you save your back.

18" cakes weigh a ton! And with all those fillings??!!

I'd do an upcharge on that sucker to encourage them to take it all in cake to eliminate the 14 dummy and save my back from that 18 incher.

I mean do the 14 in a square and you probably hit it perfect in servings.

If they keep the 14 dummy and go with the 18 base I'd also upcharge for the drape--that's gonna take another ton of fondant.

My peanut butter mousse requires refrigeration--do you have a walk-in? Will it fit in your frige??

What's wrong with 16x12x8x4 or 15x12x9x6 all cake?? I did not figure out all the servings--it's close.

Without the flowers, which I'm thinking are fresh, with delivery, $893.55.

That's such a big base cake. I hate making the huge cakes.. I'd go with k8memphis' idea and suggest a smaller difference between the tiers and do it all cake. The 4" difference is a bit much. I really prefer the 3" difference.

That being said.. I charge the same for dummy cakes as I do for real cakes.. that's 245 servings by my chart.. and done in fondant with the drapes would be $6.00/serving. The flowers look fresh so if you aren't making them I wouldn't factor those in the price.. that's $1470.00 without delivery. I wish I was doing that cake..

I mean I know peanut butter and jelly is a great sandwich but it is pretty unattractive to me in a shared tier of a wedding cake. Would the peanut butter smell/taste seep into the strawberry cake? That kinda grosses me out for some reason.

I'm just running my mouth--don't mind me.

Yeah.. I would think so too K8.. this might be a good segway into getting her to change her mind about the arrangement of the cake too. I would suggest going with the 3" difference and having each tier have it's own flavor. Plus.. when they cut it.. they may not line it up right and end up cutting some pieces with both flavors.

Thanks for all the input. Unfortunately, I knew after I got all the ingredients that I ripped myself off with the price I'm charging, especially since the wedding is this Saturday, and I only got the order maybe three weeks ago at most. Next time, I'll definitely be charging more. I think in my area, it'd probably go on the lower end of the prices you all gave, but I didn't even charge that much. Oh well, I know better next time. Anyway, I'd suggest changing the sizes, however since its so close and I started baking today, its a little late for that. I think my biggest problem is that I charge too little because I'm afraid to lose the sale. I'm just getting started and want to build a good repoire (sp?), but I also need to make a little more than chump change.

To explain the 1/2 & 1/2 bottom, the only 18" pan I could find was a rental at the local cake supply store that is actually two half circle pans. So my thought was to bake it so that it would be 1/2 and 1/2, since the difference in servings between the 10" and 18" is so big. What I plan on doing is putting a board in between the two halves before I put the fondant over. The only worry I have about that is that the two halves may start to split. I'm crossing my fingers that that won't happen. The board will also keep the flavors from running together.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to doing all the fondant work, as that is my favorite. Wish me luck!

~nicole

$840: $4 serving for actual cake $2 serving for decoration of summy cake plus standard delivery fee rounded to the nearest $5 is how i eould charge. but i would avoid 18" at all costs!!! I hate doing anything over a14" due to the weight! best of luck though

The way I see it is I'd rather lose a sale and make two cakes at $200 each than get every sale and have to make 10 cakes to make the same amount of money. We all undersell ourselves at some point.. just count it as a learning experience and don't so it to yourself again.. . Find a servings chart you like and stick with it and then sit down and figure out what it costs you to make your cakes and then make sure you charge enough to make a good profit.. make sure you think about EVERYTHING involved.. shopping, gas, baking, decorating, cleaning.. ALL of it. It's about more than just ingredients.. it's about the time it takes you to do everything. Youre time is the most valuable commodity here.