I know lots of people just go with the Wilton charts for weddings, but how do you reconcile that with your party servings? I love party cakes and don't want to stop doing them, but I know that would quash lots of my business if I charged as much for party cakes as I did for weddings. How do you work all this stuff out and oh yeah, what chart do you use??

Danielle

My thought is this... same amount of cake.. same attention to detail.. same price period. Party cakes tend to be more or a PITA than wedding cakes too. Unless you are doing things different (like not torting your party cakes or something like that) the price should be the same. It won't be long before your brides start wondering why the heck they have to pay more for the same cake just because it's for a wedding. I use a modified wilton chart.. I round down to the nearest 5 to make the math easier. So if wilton say 24 I say 20 and if it says 38 I say 35.. and so on.

Ah, someone who must not have heard my KFC story!

I use the wilton chart to determine pricing, not necessarily to determine the number of servings (although they frequently coincidentally are usually the same).

They are welcome to cut it any size they want ... but they are PAYING for the number of servings it's designed to serve, based on a standard servings size.

In a bucket of 8 pcs of chicken, KFC has determined that 2 pcs is a serving, so this bucket feeds 4. Now just because my family eats like Jethro Bodine and I plan to feed 2 people four pieces each, that does NOT mean I get it for half price because I'm only going to feed half of the number of people with it.

Same with cakes. An 8" cake is designed to serve 24. Just because someone plans to cut it into 12 pie-shaped wedges does NOT mean they get it for half price.

If they plan to cut it bigger, they better plan to buy a bigger cake.

We are also on the bubble in the cake world as the definition and style of cakes are taking a huge swing in the eyes of the consumer. "Back in the day", a wedding cake was a big ornate, highly detailed decorated work of art that cost a pretty penny .... and birthday cake was a twenty dollar sheet cake.

Today ... birthday cakes are big ornate, highly detailed decorated works of art ... and you're NOT going to get them for twenty bucks because "it's JUST a birthday cake!"

I cannot justify a lower price just because someone CHOOSES to call it something other than a wedding cake. If I do the same work ... I get the same price.

On my price chart, I have a column that shows, "You get this many pieces if you cut it this way ... you get that many pieces if you cut it that way." Same price ... different servings ... they get to choose.... I get the same money.

And I agree that birthday moms can tie up more of my time over a $60 birthday cake than a bride does over a $400 wedding cake!

Thanks, ladies,

yes, I would agree that they certainly can tie up the same or more time for a less expensive cake. I just love to do them. Debi, as always, thanks! I will definitely check out your site and see if that is something that I can add to mine, maybe that would help with some of my own confusion. Jkalman, I am always thrilled to have your advice as well. I hope to have half the talent you do someday Wait, does that sound like brown nosing? I don't mean it to, I just really always appreciate you two for your expertise and the fact that you are willing to share it. It means alot to newbies like me.

Danielle

I use the Wilton wedding chart for wedding cakes and the Wilton party chart for party cakes.

Hey Indy... the responses you give out time and time again... do you have those types up and saved somewhere or do you just type and type and type!? lol

I'm basically with Leah. The W Wedding chart is 8 cubic inches of cake and party is 12.

I use both the wilton and Earlene Moores.Earlene offer a bit bigger serving size than wilton but I totally agree with Indydebi...if people order a cake for 50 and cut the pieces too large and they only serve 40..that is their problem.I charge according to what the cake will serve.I also get frustrated with people who say"I want a 3 tiered cake to feed 120...but the pan sizes to make it look proportional will feed 145..They either order a smaller cake or have leftovers...You won't believe how many people say " Well can't you just delete 30 servings but keep the same size"

Laurel

Do those of you who charge different for party cakes than wedding cakes ever have someone ask why? I couldn't justify it if I was asked so they are all the same. I had party servings once, but they were more expensive than wedding slices because they were the same amount of cake in the end.

True, if someone asked exactly why the serving sizes are different it would be a difficult one. For me, anything tiered gets priced per serving for the same amount as a wedding cake (regardless of the occasion) but then they are still getting that larger serving size. Satellite cakes count as tiered. Single cakes for parties (like sheets and 10" rounds) do get priced lower than wedding/tiered cakes per person.

I just don't think people see the two types of occasions the same as far as what they should pay and what the sizing should be. This is what I have worked out for myself. Sometimes I hate it tho, cause party cakes often take longer than wedding ones!

txkat- I *really* like your line of thinking with that.

I price the same... but what makes it more expensive is when you start adding tiers and needing support. Extra foam core, torting.. etc.

I charge 2.5 to start (minimum 50 servings, or $125) as soon as you want tiered its at least $3.. and up from there.

I am a frim believe that it should be based on the time it takes to make a cake. not the occasion.

Wow indydebi, that post was a work of art.

Thank you so much. I never thought of it that way before. You have educated me. You are so wise!!

See, I take control of the conversaton right from the start. How many do you want to serve? OK, that's x number of tiers. Oh, you want to buy another tier? Great, that's another x amount of servings, so $x extra.

But I'm pretty assertive.