Remember, it's a paycheck, not your wedding cake!
Sweep your hair up into a beehive, crank up the doo-wop music on your hi-fi, and get to it.
I made one last year for a bride.... She was so thrilled about how it turned out. She called the next day and told me it was the exact cake she had been dreaming about since she was a little girl.
Not everyone has the same taste. Embrace the cheesy plastic stairs!
((HUGS)) Please be sure to post a picture! I'm sure you will make it look super fab! 
You don't have to add it to your portfolio - I certainly wouldn't *barf*. I would turn on the oven and think of the money though 
!
If you have the equipment, well then stay strong!
I don't, so I turn them down as well.
I post very seldom but have been a member for years. I have seen so many people refuse to do what they consider ugly cakes and it is not right. We should be doing what our customers want unless it is against our moral standards. Everyone's tastes are not the same. I hate doing wedding cakes that are very plain with just ribbon trim around the bottom but I seem to keep doing them. It's what the bride wants. Everyone should just suck it up and keep our customers happy.
I hate doing wedding cakes that are very plain with just ribbon trim around the bottom but I seem to keep doing them. It's what the bride wants.
Oh man I so agree! I HATED doing those things! I felt like I was going brain dead and I could pull anyone in off of the street to make those for me! 
I consider those the "paint by numbers" of cakes! 
But they paid the bills. The bride loved them. And they referred others brides to me because of it.
I post very seldom but have been a member for years. I have seen so many people refuse to do what they consider ugly cakes and it is not right. We should be doing what our customers want unless it is against our moral standards. Everyone's tastes are not the same. I hate doing wedding cakes that are very plain with just ribbon trim around the bottom but I seem to keep doing them. It's what the bride wants. Everyone should just suck it up and keep our customers happy.
I agree. If the bride is happy, she'll refer her friends to you. If you say no, you'll be known as "the baker that only does the cakes she likes."
I post very seldom but have been a member for years. I have seen so many people refuse to do what they consider ugly cakes and it is not right. We should be doing what our customers want unless it is against our moral standards. Everyone's tastes are not the same. I hate doing wedding cakes that are very plain with just ribbon trim around the bottom but I seem to keep doing them. It's what the bride wants. Everyone should just suck it up and keep our customers happy.
It's not that their "ugly" cakes. It's cakes I don't do. That would mean I am not the baker for them and they are not the client for me. I bake from scratch, not a mix. There are people who prefer a boxed mix cake. That doesn't mean cause they are a customer, thats what I should make. it means, once again, I am not the baker for them and they are not the client for me. No, we should not be doing whatever somebody wants. We each have our own way of doing things and it is for a reason. For me, a marketing reason.
Charge an "ugly cake I can't put in my portfolio" fee.
((((Hugs)))) Mensch!
OK, I'm putting on my flak jacket before posting this.....
I like the old school cakes. When I get married, I know what i want for my cake. NO FONDANT! I want a 3-4 tier, with pillars, covered in American BC, with.....BC Swags!!!!!!!!! Yes, that's right, I want BC ruffled swags. And BC roses. No fountain, stairs or plastic attendants though. Like Leah_s said, a girl's got to have some standards.
However, I must bow to all of you who can make amazing wedding cakes in Fondant and BC. I will never match your level of artistry, and can only imagine being that good.
Edited: I found a picture of pretty much the cake I hope to have someday, without the cherub and bells, probably fresh flowers. No, I won't be making my own. But, my WMI would do a wonderful job on this, I believe! Found the picture on a website from Finland - please let me know if it's yours, and I'll add credit.
During these times I don't feel we should be turning away cakes that are not our taste, after all if the bride is happy she will return and recommend you to others. If it means more work in the future surely its worth it to turn out the occassional cake that we wouldn't want ourselves.
I had a bride call about the whole stairs and fountain thing.. I told her that she would have to purchase the equipment and the fountain which is costly. I did actually give her a list and cost on everything needed. I don't take orders for them specifically because 1. I don't have the equipment and wouldn't use it often. Waste of money for me to even purchase something I would never use. 2. Its not the kind of cake I want my business to reflect. If its the brides style then great.. that's her day, her cake. I want my work to reflect a more modern, contemporary feel.
The one question that I have when I get a request for something that I don't like is "Will the bride be happy?" If the answer is "Yes", then fine. I might not like it, but I know that I have some very different tastes. Some people look at what I like and say "How can you be so plain?" and others look at what I like and say "Wow, that is certainly out there!" I do know a couple of people who have "standards", but they don't have nearly as much fun as I do.
And as coarse as that may sound, this is really what I say to the dear sweet customer.
"I'm so sorry, but I don't offer designs like that. Would you be interested in a custom design for your reception?"
There. Sweet as pie. I have not met one person who sticks to their guns about the original theme.
Here's why I don't do the stairs/bridesmaids/groomsmen cakes.
When people at the reception ask "who made the cake" I don't want my name associated with that tacky (my opinion) cake.
Just like penis/hoohoo cakes, won't do them, don't want my name associated with ejaculation cakes....my opinion.
I would have no problem telling the bride that I don't offer that design, but I'd be happy to offer an alternative that would be even more beautiful then the one she originally chose.
So Mensch are you taking the order?
Auntmamie, I love that cake! It's what I grew up seeing, and even though I totally adore fondant and modern designs, I'm not turning down customers who want that style of cake for two reasons: first, it strengthens my piping skills, and secondly, this style of cake WILL come back.
All of these decorators brought up in the Era of Fondant are gonna have some learning to do when buttercream - particularly the Lambeth style of decorating - comes back.
And mark my words, it will.
I have my personal limits...for example, I don't do genital cakes because that's just gross on my moral compass, but classic 70's and 80's designs incorporating stairs and fountains? Hellz yeah.
Thumbs up to all the snobs who can afford to turn away business just because YOU don't like the cake. Sometimes brides tend to forget that it's not about her, it's about the cake designer. LOL 
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