I just found out that my niece is getting married at the end of this month and she wants me to make the wedding cake . This is so last minute. I haven't been able to practice making a wedding cake yet. That wasn't in my plans until the summer when things slow down some for me.

She is leaving it up to me, her colors are red and white. She does want butter cream frosting, vanilla cake with strawberry filling and roses on the cake. The type of roses it does not matter to her. She wants to get all the supplies needed to make the cake, plus I need to deliver it to the reception. So, my question is... would you charge a relative for the labor of making the wedding cake?

I really would appreciated any feed back on this. Thank you.

Depends. For my niece who is getting married, no I would not charge her. But my for another niece I know, I would give a discount. It just depends.

It's a personal thing and really it depends on how close you are with the particular family member.

I've made all 14 of my nieces and nephews wedding cakes for free as my gift to them. I'm very close to all of them though so it never would have crossed my mind to charge them.

But every family is different.

For me it would be dependant on my relationship with my niece. If we were close I would expect her to pay for the supplies but would not charge for my time but if we did not have much contact I would treat her like any other customer but may consider a 10% discount

I will be making my 2nd wedding cake in May. My first was for a niece and this one is for a nephew and his bride. I can't sell cakes. When they asked me to do their cake, I told them I would do it as their gift if they would like. They were thrilled. I hope they're still thrilled when they see it on their wedding day!

I don't charge for family members and close friends. It is their gift.

There is no rule for family discounts, do what makes you happy and satisfied. I would suggest since it is such short notice, that you put some limits on it.

For example that you do it in such a way that it uses only techniques you already know. Like if you aren't already comfortable with making roses that she use silk or real roses instead of BC. If you don't have a strawberry filling you love, that it is a BC filling.

If you don't want to tackle stacking try a stand something like Wilton Graceful Tiers stand or Cakes N More 3 tier party stand (with the bride buying it) or some other creative option by placing individual tiers on separate plates placed at different heights. Then it would just be a series of cakes that your are already comfortable with. Denette

I was going to do my 1st cousins cake for cost of ingredients. I am doing a cake for my hubby's 1st cousin in May and basically added up how much a regular person would pay. I cut that price in half. She is paying 1/2 the cake total (labor), $75 in supplies and buying the sugar flowers.

This is a 200 serving cake so I think its pretty fair. And I did actually turn another wedding order down for that same weekend because of her cake. Its definitely a personal choice on your part.

Ditto to all:

It depends on what family member, I have a niece in particular who I cant stand if she were to ask I would probably refuse.

Yet I have another one that I wouln't even think about it twice, and would be thrilled to make it.

Each person handles family requests different. I established a policy that I would offer the cake to nieces/nephews as my gift to them if they wanted it. If they didn't, that was fine, too, because it meant I got to be "just a guest" at the wedding for a change!

I draw the line at nephews/nieces, and it's if I offer it. Oh, and the BIG part of the deal: If I start getting a bridezilla attitude (from ANYONE, so keep your whining mom and bossy maid of honor outta my face!), then YOU get a full price invoice!

BUt I have a great family and have never had to invoke the "full invoice" part!

My niece is too scared of me to give me Bridezilla. And don't get me wrong, the only person she loves more then me is her Mom...who she is also more scared of.

Let's see...my formula for pricing cakes for family is: Regular Price x 2
lol! Actually I never charge family...but sometimes they can be so much more demanding than regular customers!

Good luck with your decision and let us know how your cake turned out!

i usually do the wedding cake as a gift, if they ask. I just have one rule though.. the BRIDE has final say. mothers and MIL's can't open their mouths. IT IS THE BRIDES DAY. and it is not costing the family a thing, so they cant complain.

can you tell I have traveled this path before?

I have one nephew (9 yo) and DH has one nephew (14 yo). If they want me to, I'll be glad to make their cakes, but I sincerely hope they wait a good 20-25 years before getting married.

Its always my gift to them. I have tons of relatives so it does get overwelming, just glad that they don't all get married at the same time.

I think it depends as well. Both of the wedding cakes I made were my wedding gift to the couple - Mind you the cakes were for my younger brother's wedding and my little sister's wedding (Both in the same year - it was a busy year for me in 2007). Thankfully my family is really easy going and I asked for some input as to what types of things they liked but overall the designs were completely up to me - They just asked for a few elements like colors or themes and I ran with it. It was wonderful and the most stressed I have ever been with cakes. On the other hand it put future cakes into perspective for me and I don't get nearly so worked up and emotional over cake annoyances now.

I would never have taken a dime from my siblings but that is because they respect me and I them so no tension about things or crazy demands and i was payed in full by their appreciation (especially since they saw how many hours went into it. LOL) My brother actually took a picture of the cake I made to someone local to where he lived to see what the cake would have cost (only because I refused to tell him as I don't like to put prices on gifts LOL.) and was even more appreciative to me when he heard the price. He phoned to tell me.

Sorry - it's late and I am afraid I started rambling. Basically, decide if you want this to be a gift to them or if you are more comfortable keeping things business like. It really is your call - my rule if cakes are gifts is you can tell me things like colors, theme, favorite hobbies, Cake flavors etc - the design is up to me.

Thank you everyone for your input. This helps a lot.

I would assume if she's offering to buy the ingredients she's either

A. assuming you'll donate your labor free of charge

B. assuming since she's buying all the flour, sugar, etc. (that's all cake is right?) then she can still expect a decent gift from you in addition to the cake

Depends on what type of person she is.......either way I think she's probably expecting the cake for free

If I was making a cake for family and they wanted to pay for the materials, I would go out and get the things I needed either with them there or price them and have them pay me the money before getting the materials. Only because I know what works and what doesn't. Also I would make sure they knew that was the present. No toaster, blender, or cash. I tell everyone I make a cake for, "This is my hobby. I can not guaranty the cake will be perfect. I will do my best! and make sure the cake does not fall apart. But if you want something that looks like its a Duff or other professional then I would go to them."

Now that said I work harder on family cakes because I have to see these people again! LOL

If you want to charge I would give a discount. But even family needs to know this is a lot of work! Its not just a cake mix and some icing! And it doesn't take 3 hours!!

But also know you do for one, be sure others will find out and you'll be the free family baker for the rest of your life!!!

Merry

Last June my sister got married. She did not want her wedding cake as her gift. So my mom paid for it. Plus I had to turn down a bunch of other cakes for her. I didn't charge my mom the delivery fee that I normally would but she did pay for the cake. Does that make me sound bad?

I agree also with it depending on how close you are to your neice. I would probably say cost or a nice discounted price.

For friends, I tell them that I will take $50 off the total price of the cake and that is their gift. When you give the "gift" a $ value, they dont' mind paying the rest. And in the scheme of things, $50 is probably what would be spent on a gift anyway and you don't have to go shopping!

I don't have nieces or nephews old enough to be dating so I haven't considered what I'd do for them but I will only do wedding cakes for material costs for my siblings because they're too much work. I have way too many cousins to do that for and the only one I'm close to is married already.

If you choose to do it for her as a gift, make sure she knows that the cake is her gift from you. Or she can pay you and you also buy her a gift, or a cash gift of...... exactly what she paid you for the cake.
You know already if she's the type who will appreciate you gifting her the cake and if you feel close enough to her to make that offer. If not it's easy enough to simply say you don't feel confident enough to do the job for her.