Nobody here said they won't or don't do bc and piping, in fact I do more bc cakes then fondant. I love me some good piping but....plastic stairs and little plastic BM/GM are against my moral standards. 
Again you have to use the "snob" word.... 
Now it's just not scratch bakers that think we're snobs it's bakers that won't do plastic stairs/fountains.
Anyone else fall in the "snob" category? May as well get it all out there.
I so have to LAUGH OUT LOUD at all the
"Well, how DARE you not want to do want the bride wants!!!!!!!!!!!" comments.
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1) my dentist won't even do root canals -- he ships patients off to someone else -- he knows his limits.
2) trying walking into BMW or Rolls Royce or Lamborghini and saying "I want a 1/2 ton truck" -- when they are done laughing they'll show you the door.
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Any business has a RIGHT TO SPECIALIZE -- to say this what we make. Want something else, go somewhere else.
It's called a free market economy. I sell my goods. You sell yours.
If I want to be the Lamborghini of cakes and you the Chevy -- so be it.
Just stop insisting I be a chevy because you are!
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MENSCH -- save your sanity -- turn it down!
......... 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 have my personal limits...for example, I don't do genital cakes because that's just gross on my moral compass........
Exactly how I feel!!
Do your very best to make it beautiful. These designs WILL come back.
Hey Deb, see the little smilies at the end of my post? They indicate levity, jokingness (just made that word up), poking fun...don't get all worked up. 
Every one of us who cruises by the local Sam's or grocery store bakery or peruses Cake Wrecks and looks down on the rushed, crappy shell borders and sloppy writing is a cake snob. LMAO
Hey Deb, see the little smilies at the end of my post? They indicate levity, jokingness (just made that word up), poking fun...don't get all worked up.
ok cool....hot off the mix thread so we're a little sensitive to the snob word.
I'm in a different business (wineries). I prefer a certain kind of wine but my customers want a different one. Now I could only make 2,000 cases of wine that one group (myself included) would buy or I can make 10,000 cases of wine and sell out of it every year. I'm lucky that I can do both but guess which one allows me a very nice lifestyle.
Early on I told my customers as long as you buy it, I will make whatever kind of wine you want. Take it home and cut it with Scotch, put sugar in it or ice cubes galore. Whatever makes you happy and for you to enjoy it more--Go for it!
If you don't want to do the cake then say simply say no, thank you. Pretty simple. You will be happy and I'm sure your customer will find another bakery happy to help them.
I not only turn those style of cakes down, I refer them directly to a very nice lady who does that kind of thing. I agree that it's about specialization, and I have no problems booking up every weekend without one of the fountain/staircase cakes darkening my door. They're not my style, so the customer who wants one isn't my customer, they belong to the very nice lady who is my competition. But she isn't really, since I don't do those cakes
Hell...I've never had a paying cake job...I'll "kick it old school" and walk those stairs! lol
LMAO
i guess im odd one out- because i do like that old school style. i even bought some of the BM/GM on clearance at a local cake decorating shop- knowing full well ill probably never get the chance to actually make it.
i keep saying one day when i have 'time' i want to make one just for fun.
i also really like the contempary style wedding cakes.
Lambeth...yeah...NOW you're talking! Plain cakes with a ribbon are sooooo boring to me (I dont' sell cakes but I look at them)...Plain is not "elegant" to me, it's ..........just plain...nothing.
doug hit the nail on the head!! there's enough room for everyone lambergini's and chevy's! and i'm here to say i LOVE making naughty cakes (clean but naughty) they make me laugh and my client and who doesn't need that? personally if i had someone wanting that style i would want a backup plan because i've never worked with those elements. i'm not sure i'd be comfortable with the construction side- if it was the bc look she wanted why not? more cake more happy people
Now that's a cake!
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1415367
No fountains or stairs, though.
I have done all of them from the fountains to the ribbons to very complicated one. Ugly and pretty.
I think that one issue that people seem to have is that they believe this type of
cake is more economical, since it's an old fashion style. But in reality this type
of cake with a lot of piping can be time consuming.
I dont mind making them, is a challenge. But I am not in love with the stairs
and the little people walking through them 
Edna
Very good point, Doug! The lamborghini/chevy comparison was right on.
Jamie - off subject, but your avatar is SO cute. Is that you as a little one??
Kind of funny,,those cakes kind of bring back memories of when I was a little kid,,,thought they were so fancy and elegant....
I had a request for one, but I quickly let the bride know that I did not keep the stairs, fountains, and such in stock because I never have requests for them. I told her I would gladly do it but she would have to purchase it all. She went somewhere else, and I'm ok with that
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