Ok, I dont feel so bad then! Ive been doing this for 3 years and last year I got into wedding cakes and started doing weddings. So Im still at the getting my name out there stage.

weirkd -

I have noticed since I started reading here on CC that alot of decorators are anxious to do lots, be fantastic, have a store, etc........

If they asked some of us oldies but goodies, they would realize alot of this simply takes time....we have learned through the school of hard knocks. I remember when there was no such thing as fondant and gumpaste. You should see the primitive tools I used when I started doing gumpaste. There was no ICES, no CC, Food Network. Now I am really telling when I say that my family did not even own a TV when I started decorating as a hobby.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with wanting those goals, but it all takes patience and practice!

Ive just seen other people start up a business and be fully booked for the next two months! I know a lot has to do with location and the woman Im talking about has a bunch of kids in school so the teachers talked and helped out.
Im happy that my business seems to pick up every year that Im doing it. I dont mind being patient!
I actually have a book from Wilton that has fondant at a foreign European technique! My mom had bought a set of pans from a door to door salesman that was selling Wilton products! She bought a wedding cake set hopeing that when my sister and I got older, that she would make our cakes. Ofcourse my sister and I did more playing with the decorating than she did. But I actually didnt catch the bug until I saw the OSSAS on Food Network and saw how jaw dropping the cakes were. And I was planning on making my own wedding cake but my mother inlaw talked me out of it saying that it was too hectic a job for me to take on with being the bride. My cake sucked and I kick myself now for not doing it! Infact my husband said that we should renew our vows just so I can make the cake!

Renew your vows...great idea! I made my own wedding cake 30 years ago this June. I wanted to have a big 25th year party and create my dream cake. It would be MUCH different than the original! But I came down with breast cancer that year and all plans were put aside.

Now it is our 30th, but our son is getting married this year, so we will let his "star" shine. I am making their cake.

If your business keeps growing, then know that you are doing a good job and just keep plugging away!

Well Im glad you beat it! I have many friends that are either battling it themselves or their family and my family members. It just seems like as time goes on, the amount of people getting it is so much greater.
Im sure your son will really appreciate you doing the cake! They never will know the sacrifices you do for them until they have their own! I cant wait for the day that my son tells me that he finally gets it!!!
Thanks for the words of encouragment!

Without looking it up, I think I probably did about 5 wedding cakes last year. So far I have 5 booked for this year which I think is a great start. It's hard to imagine doing so many in one weekend as some of you mentioned. I have two booked for May 23rd and it freaks me out a little bit when I think about it.

Ha....May 23 is one of the slowest wedding weekends here...Indy 500 takes over the town, restaurants, traffic, and hotel rooms!

Our record for one weekend was a couple years ago on Labor Day weekend. We had 27 weddings to get out on Fri., Sat., and Sun.

We seem to be better organized when we are busy because we have to be! We had just one wedding last week and I forgot something! I had to make two trips downtown, so blew 1 1/2 hours

I remember the days baking at home and 2 weddings is alot of work

I too, am in awe of all of you! I'm still getting the word out too. Many people have told me "I'll need a cake for such and such", but nothing now! In the meantime, I worry that its never going to take off, in the meantime I have been decorating dummy cakes in order to have pictures for a portfolio, and practicing baking. What else should I be doing??

If you're specifically looking to do wedding cakes, call and introduce yourself to some photographers, wedding planners, and party rental stores in town. I lend dummy cakes to one party rental store and they use them in their displays and give out my business cards. Get a good website set up, too. Most brides start online these days, so you do need a good presence online. Look and see if there are wedding guides that are handed out at David's Bridal or other shop in town and call the publisher to see if there are networking meetings for advertisers. You can probably go to one of them as a guest before you advertise.

I get most of my business through my website and referrals from other vendors.

I'm in awe of you guys. I'm just a family & friends baker & that hasn't been much in the past few years. I'm getting back into this only because my niece wants me to make her wedding cake, why I don't know. I tried talking her out of it but she insists so I'm freaking out & it's May 2. I did the wedding cake & grooms cake for another niece 10 years ago & it turned out fine, but she wasn't too picky.
I just keep reading here on CC and hoping for talent, we'll see what happens.

Unfortunately we dont have anything bridal in our town. I dont even think where the mall is here we have anything bridal. The closest shop that is bridal is an hour and a half away. And there are tons of bakers on that side of the bridge. I have a website and also do some of the online wedding sites and get most of my work through that.
But once I actually get someone to do a tasting I have no problems booking them. I can actually say Ive only not booked two customers which is a nice feeling! So my main problem is getting people to pick me over the hundreds of them on the other side of the bridge, one including Charm City Cakes!

Are there caterers or reception sites near you that don't do cakes? You could talk to them about partnering up, or just putting you on their referral lists.

Maybe you could start a wedding networking group in your town. If you start it then you can be the founder and that gives you some cachet...Also, if you're having trouble getting people to stop crossing the bridge (I know exactly which one it is, too) to get vendors, maybe other vendors in your area are too. You could work together on some kind of a local-wedding campaign or something.

Yah, Im trying to get some of the venues near the bridge that do a lot of weddings to link up with me. Im just going to have to keep networking!