Hi there. I have yet another pricing question. How do you charge for a birthday cake vs. a wedding cake. By the serving for both, a base price then an hourly charge, etc.? I have looked up a lot of the bakeries in my area and you practically have to buy a cake to get a quote. I was able to get pricing for standard birthday cakes with roses, etc., but cutom cakes have to be quoted. That's great but dosen't help me figure out pricing. All of the Birthday/occasion cakes I have done have been custom...not that most cakes arn't. But I don't feel right charging the same price for a birthday cake that I would for a wedding cake. Am I wrong? I would love to hear what you all do. Thanks.

i've never understood the logic of why everyone in the wedding industry thinks that the word "wedding" instantly makes something more valuable.

my cakes are the same, regardless of the occasion. i bid on the job per each design, and i have set MINIMUM prices per slice...this way they know up front that their design will be NO LESS than this much, but potentially could be more, depending on the design. after the design price is established, i then add up the equipment rental fees and delivery and such, and give them a final price.

i believe this is cut and dried, up front and transparent pricing. i gain trust in my clients by showing them the goods up front and letting them know that they will be treated the same as other clients, whether it's a $75 dollar smash cake, or a million dollar wedding monstrosity!

you know, when I order my eggs from GFS or Sysco, they don't give me a discount if I tell them I'm going to use them in a birthday cake and not a wedding cake. I've also observed that birthday moms take up more of my time than brides do. (shoot me now!)

They can call it a birthday cake, a wedding cake, a celebration cake, or a kiss my butt at 8th and Main cake .... I dont' care.

It's all the same price.

Some birthday cakes nowadays are just as involved as wedding cakes.

If they're tiered cakes then I charge the same amount. I charge per slice, if there are a lot of gumpaste or fondant flowers or figures I price those separately. (I use the Wilton wedding chart to determine #of slices for each size pan)

Use a matrix to figure out all of your costs......ingredients, boards, boxes, support system, utilities, etc., then go from there.

So for me it doesn't matter if it's a 4", 8", 12" all occasion cake or 4", 8", 12" wedding cake it would be priced exactly the same.

Same amount of cake and work so why should birthday cakes be cheaper?

I do put as much time and energy into birthday/occasion cakes as I do wedding cakes. I guess I never looked at it that way. I like the idea of simple cut and dry pricing across the board. Thanks for the advice!