Wedding Serving Vs. Party Serving Size

Decorating By kellertur Updated 16 Jan 2010 , 12:15am by mirda6275

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kellertur Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 3:41am
post #1 of 12

Do any of you ONLY do one size ( 1 x 2 x 4" ) regardless of the occasion?
I'd like to do this but wonder if many people complain about how small they *feel* a wedding serving is, especialy for party cakes?

I'd rather have one base price per serving for all cakes. I charge the same now for both but a previous post made me question this...

Does your rate change for wedding and party cakes?


Thanks icon_smile.gif

11 replies
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indydebi Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 4:12am
post #2 of 12

It's semantics anyway.

8" square serves 32 of the 1x2x4 servings. At $3/serving, that's $96.
8" square serves 20 of the 1.5x2x4 servings. At $4.50/serving, that's $90.

Why $4.50 for the bigger servings? Because they are getting 50% more cake (12 cubic inches compared to 8 cubic inches).

The serving size is just a predetermined size to give an idea and to enable you to figure pricing, if you price by the serving. If I were selling an 8" square cake, I'd tell them, "This cake serves 20-30, depending on how you cut it. The price is $96." They can cut it in half for all I care, but they are paying for the 32 servings.

Look at the label on a can of soup. The small cans say one can is 2.5 servings. Yeah, right, in what country????!!!! icon_eek.gif But I don't divide it out into 2.5 servings and then complain about how small it is for 4 people. I buy three cans and make all of them because we measure out larger servings, so I know I need more soup.

People hear "one inch" and they think "Paper thin". It's not. I'd tell folks "It's about the size of a folded over peanut butter sandwich" and 99% would say, "Oh! That's fine then!" And for the 1% who still made a "are you kidding me?" look, I'd suggest "If your family has hearty appetites, I'd suggest you go for a bigger cake."

KFC is not going to throw in some extra pieces of chicken just because my family eats like Jethro Bodine. If we eat bigger servings, then we need to order more chicken, uh, I mean a bigger cake.

Decide if you're going to be a business or a cake welfare dept.

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kellertur Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 4:27am
post #3 of 12

I'm definitely a business. icon_smile.gif

I wasn't sure if anyone had done away with "party size" all together and just goes by the wilton or erlene's wedding sizes for every cake, therefore only having one base price. I see what you're saying...

Thanks. icon_smile.gif

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LaBellaFlor Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 4:32am
post #4 of 12

I have donw away with the "party" size concept. Actually, I never started with the party size. All my cakes are 4" high, at least and call it a wedding cake, call it a birthday cake, it's all cake and cut the same way.

And Indy, you ain't lieing about the soup servings!

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indydebi Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 4:53am
post #5 of 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by kellertur

I wasn't sure if anyone had done away with "party size" all together and just goes by the wilton or erlene's wedding sizes for every cake, therefore only having one base price.



The key is to pick one serving chart that you go by and stick with it. Easier all the way around! thumbs_up.gif

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kellertur Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 5:01am
post #6 of 12

I use the Wilton Chart. I printed a Wilton chart from here which lists 3 sizes for each cake.

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CakeMommyTX Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 5:34am
post #7 of 12

I use the Wilton Party serving chart to determine how much cake to bake.
Now how they cut it is ultimatly up to them, but I do let them know approx. how many servings their cake will feed if cut correctly.
I go with the party size because I personally like a bigger piece and I would'nt feel right with those dinky little wedding servings.
I went to a retirement party once where they cut the cake in 1" slices, and it was a really good cake, I wanted more, and that little sliver left me so unsatisified.
I never want to leave a customer feeling unsatisfied.
But to answer you question I use one chart for all my cakes, wedding, birthday or mothers day, cake is cake regardless on what day it is served.

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kellertur Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 6:36pm
post #8 of 12

What kills me is that when I set up/delivered my 5-tier cake, the caterer came over to ask me about the cake /how many flavors, etc..
I mentioned my servings size and that it fed X amount of guests. I also explained the top tier would be served, she was getting a free, fresh one next year.

He then said (nicely): "No, that doesn't matter to me ~ I cut the cake to fit the plates. I slice them small, I'll make it so the bride and groom can still take home the top."

Is this acceptable? I don't encounter other vendors very often, so I was wondering if this sort of thing is common practice. Does this end up making me look bad if the pieces are super tiny? Or is this not even worth giving a second thought?

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TexasSugar Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 8:16pm
post #9 of 12

My changing moment was when I was asked to do a 2 tiered birthday cake and I started figuring the servings as party servings but didn't change the price that I was losing money on it. If it was a wedding cake I'd have to do all the same work and yet I wasn't charging any differently.

From then on I do wedding servings for all cakes, no matter what the occassion and have not had anyone complain about the size of the cake at all. It also makes it easier for me to figure prices and you don't have to explain why one cake is this much and another cake is that much. If you want to you can always give them the size range for both. "The 8in cake will feed 20-32 depending on how you cut it."

You can cut the cake how ever you want, but my prices are going to be based off the wedding serving size. If you want bigger prices then you need to order bigger cakes. If you want to you can always give them the size range for both. "The 8in cake will feed 20-32 depending on how you cut it."

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leah_s Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 8:33pm
post #10 of 12

Keller, as long as your both PROVIDING a larger sized serving and CHARGING for a larger sized serving, you're fine. As in Indy's example, wedding size = $3 per servings, but party sized, which is 50% more cake is $4.50 per serving.

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kellertur Posted 15 Jan 2010 , 11:44pm
post #11 of 12

Thank you, I just updated my pricing.
I can't believe that never occurred to me. For some odd reason, hearing 50% more cake just wasn't "clicking" dunce.gif , but now I understand. The size of the cake is the same, but they were getting more servings for less/same cost. Got it! thumbs_up.gif

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mirda6275 Posted 16 Jan 2010 , 12:15am
post #12 of 12

Thank you for posting this thread!!! I have been struggling with this as well and trying to get my pricing together so I'm not undercharging and was struggling to make sense of how to charge for different serving sizes. Thanks everyone for sharing your advice!!!

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