I am fairly new and have never made a cake this large. It is for a school football banquet. I'm not sure where to begin as far as how much cake i need to make. We have not sat down to discuss what will actually be made. She just gave me a heads up that they want to use me and I am just trying to get ideas. Can anyone help? I'm sure they are wanting something more low and wide than tall and tiered.

Also not sure what to charge. I don't want to short myself, but I also don't want to scare them off. If I do a good job, there's a chance I could get the order every year.

Thanks!

Oh My Goodness..Kudos to you..I would charge $2.00-$3.00 per serving for whatever you do whether it be slab cake,cupcakes etc...Yup that means $2400.00 base price..that doesn't include any special decorations etc to feed 800..Please don't be one of those "New Decoraters"...(and I mean no insult by that term so nobody brow beat me ) who will quote them $1.00 per serving just to get their name out there and get the order.. You charge because it will take you a long time to bake,make icing,organize anything for 800....

LOL

This might help you figure out how many cakes you will need for that:

http://cakecentral.com/articles/74/cake-baking-cutting-serving-guide-2-in-deep-pans

http://cakecentral.com/articles/75/cake-baking-cutting-serving-guide-3-in-deep-pans

HTH

I agree with KiddieKakes. Definitly charge at least 2.00 per serving.

Also, I would make a "show piece" cake, quite large in itself, but then I'd bake a bunch of sheet cakes that aren't displayed to feed the rest. If it's possible, I'd cut and plate most of the sheet cake and set the pieces around the main cake, that way, people can see the hard work you put in longer and you can cut the big cake last.

A lot of people do this at big weddings.

Congrats on the huge order! Sounds like a good time and good money!

Thanks, Kiddiekakes, for your advice. I realllllly want to charge $2400.00. I know it will take many hours of work. My time is definitely valuable. I will also have to recruit some help on this one I think.
Maliss

I appreciate your advice jhay. That sounds like a great idea.
Maliss

Ooh... also, I did a large cake for a wrestling banquet. It fed about 100, but I took four 9x13 sheets and pushed them together to make one big sheet. I was able to do 4 different flavors (that's what they asked for).

Base price for me starts at $3.50 and that's $2,800. Have you guys discussed budget. I think you may want to find out that first if you haven't all ready.

No, we have not yet. She just called me last night and let me know that they're going to need the cake and when they need it and that they want to use me. She will come in tomorrow. I just want to have some sort of an idea of how much cake I'm going to be making and how much I want to charge before she gets here. I'm afraid they're budget won't be huge since it is a school.

Well...School or no school...They can't expect you to do it for next to nothing....so make sure you stand your ground and if they say No and don't order...So be it!!

Good Luck ..I hope for you they agree you are worth every penny....all $2400.00 of it!

LOL

I understand that they are school, but a cake for $800 is never cheap. Now $3.50 is what I start at. I'm not sure where you are located, but you really need to figure out your cost. Schools tend to have a small budget for these type of things. $1000 would never cover a cake for 800 people. I want you to also really think about the time it is going to take you to make a cake for 800 people.