Do You Outsource Any Part Of A Cake ?
Business By sugarsugargal Updated 25 Aug 2009 , 7:13pm by marmalade1687
I have done some short courses in sugar flower making and frankly hate making them, so laborious !!!! i was pondering if i go into business properly would i be able to outsource this aspect...anyone have any comments or experience ?
thanks as always 
is it cheating ?! and do you tell the bride ?!?!?!
I have been wondering if there is a market for that. I love making the flowers and would like to sell them. I just did not know if people would buy them. They are so time consuming because I hand paint all of them. I don't even know what to charge for something like that.
If the bride ever did ask, then yes, I would say I ordered them online. For the exact reason I just listed. I'm not good at them, and I don't have the patience to learn either. They can be purchased online for pretty cheap, and the people who do make them are quite skilled at it.
I have been wondering if there is a market for that. I love making the flowers and would like to sell them. I just did not know if people would buy them. They are so time consuming because I hand paint all of them. I don't even know what to charge for something like that.
I've actually sold some on Craigslist before for decent amounts of $$. TX doesn't license home kitchens but the flowers can be sold as a decoration only, in which case it doesn't have to come from a licensed kitchen.
So you don't have to be licensed to sell the flowers?
As far as I know, you don't, because it's not a food item, it's a decoration. But probably someone will come along and say I'm totally wrong 
I am new to cake decorating and a stay at home mom. Thought that cake decorating would be the perfect solution for me, but I can't do it legally. So I won't do it, except for my immediate family. I enjoy making the flowers the most. So this may be the perfect solution.
is it cheating ?! and do you tell the bride ?!?!?!
"Cheating" implies something immoral (copying someone else's answers on a test) or something illegal. Buying pre-made flowers, pre-formed cardboards, pre-made fondant, pre-churned butter doesn't fall into either of those categories.
Do I tell the bride? Why? If she asks, I certainly will. But I dont' tell her where I buy my other supplies, so why would this even come up?
is it cheating ?! and do you tell the bride ?!?!?!
"Cheating" implies something immoral (copying someone else's answers on a test) or something illegal. Buying pre-made flowers, pre-formed cardboards, pre-made fondant, pre-churned butter doesn't fall into either of those categories.
Do I tell the bride? Why? If she asks, I certainly will. But I dont' tell her where I buy my other supplies, so why would this even come up?
Yep, it's only "cheating" if you're telling everyone that you do one thing (make your flowers in this case) then go buy them instead. If nobody asks and they don't care, don't worry about it. if they ask, tell them. No big deal.
I buy 98% of my flowers. They come in, in white and I color them. I say that they're handmade, which they are. If brides ask, I say that some I make, some I buy, which is true. I do point out that I color them and add dusts and bring them to life.
I buy most of mine from David at www. a v a l o n d e c o .com. He appears to be a small biz like me and when I'm purchasing something I like to throw my $ to another small biz. He ships quick and packs well.
I have decorators buy pieces from me all of the time. I make whatever they want not just flowers. I mail them and have absolutely no problem with them taking full credit for the cake and its decorations. If I had my way, I would not make cakes and would stick to just doing the decor portion of the cakes.
Check out Country Kitchen SweetArt - I have never used them but I saw them at ICES and got their catalog. I've never seen so much cake stuff in one catalog.
www.shopcountrykitchen.com
They apparently give discounts too for orders over $100
Just curious, do you markup the price on the purchased flowers or do you charge for the total cost?
funny question. Yeah, I mark up the flowers. I'm in biz to make money.
For some of them that cost about 90 cents each I get $4. I do NOT want to undercut the florist, so gumpaste flowers coat about the same as real.
Ok, cool! I thought so, I just wanted to make sure for future reference! Thanks a bunch!
is it cheating ?! and do you tell the bride ?!?!?!
"Cheating" implies something immoral (copying someone else's answers on a test) or something illegal. Buying pre-made flowers, pre-formed cardboards, pre-made fondant, pre-churned butter doesn't fall into either of those categories.
Do I tell the bride? Why? If she asks, I certainly will. But I dont' tell her where I buy my other supplies, so why would this even come up?
EXACTLY! who asks "where did you get the flowers?" or "where did the butter come from?"....if someone asks that i'm sure i'd have a strange look as it is a strange question..and if they're asking about the little things, i can imagine what the rest of our run would be like together..imho! 
make your job as easy and fun to do, afterall, our goal in life should be to be happy(whatever that means to you), and painting hard flowers is not fun to many 
, so don't do it...buy it
I buy 98% of my flowers. They come in, in white and I color them.
Doh!! (As I slap my hand on my head!!) I've been paying the extra money all these years for colored flowers just to find out that I can do this!! Another reason to keep reading Cake Central!! 
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