I am doing my first wedding in April. The bride wants a top cake of three layers decorated with fondant. She wants 10 dozen cupcakes to match also. Since this is my first paying customer I don't really know how to charge them. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

The top cake you would charge as if it were any other wedding cake. On the cupcakes, I have charged anywhere from $1.50 - 2.00 depending on the detail. I have quoted up to 2.50 for alot of detail. Hope this helps some. Just remember also, cupcakes are time consuming and take up alot of room.

do you have prices set for your cakes? A per serving price for the tiered cake and then prices for your cupcakes. If she wants special decorations like flowers or something on the cupcakes, make sure you charge extra for those. Is the bride providing the cupcake stand/tower, do you have one? If you are providing that, you'll need to figure a rental fee.

It's a simple matter of setting your prices and adding. No one here can tell you specifically what to charge. Compare prices of other bakers in your area and set your prices.

I don't get the whole cupcakes are time consuming thing... for me, cupcakes are a breeze. Yes, they take up some room, but putting a swirl of icing on them is NOT time consuming, at least for me.

I thought the same as you erinalicia, about the time consuming thing until I did 200 cupcakes + other orders two weekends ago. The cupcakes were all filled, swirled and topped with a royal icing decor. I have to pipe 200+ decorations, airbrush them and let them dry. Thankful my mom filled all the cupcakes.

Oh, cupcake are also time consuming in the baking process. Depending on your oven/bakeware, you can bake anywhere from 24-48 on one cyle.

It is all very easy, but can definitely be time consuming.

I don't have prices set for cakes as this is my first one to actually charge for. I have done several other cakes but they were just for family and I didn't charge them anything. I have just kind of fallen into this and I am completely clueless as to how to charge.
I will be making gumpaste flowers to top the cupcakes and go on the cake itself.
The bride is not providing the stand. I am going to have to try and figure out what to do about that.

first and foremost- set your price per serving for your cake. In my area prices start around $2 per serving for buttercream and $3 per serving for fondant. You will need to price your gumpaste flowers separately based on the amount of time it takes you to make them and your ingredients, so that you aren't giving those away.
As for a cupcake stand/tower, check out ebay or do a google search for them. There are a lot of ideas out there and if you know someone who is handy they could build a stand for you, but make sure you have the bride pay a rental fee that will cover the cost of replacing the stand if it is damaged.

This site has a wealth of information regarding pricing and legally selling cakes, there is also a thread by antonia74 that shows her cupcake stand you may want to check out. Just do a search for any of these topics and a ton of stuff will come up.

Pricing questions have been causing a huge stink lately- it's best to do some research based on your location as pricing is different for everyone based on where you live. What may be reasonable for one city and state might not work for you.

Industry standard is to charge per serving for the cake.... what the cake will actually serve, not the # of guests. Wilton's wedding cake serving chart is the one that I use, as do many others here.

I am not licensed to sell from my home, so I only bake for family and friends. Not every state allows you to legally sell baked goods from home, so you might want to check into that as well. Just a head's up.

Best wishes.

I charge 2.75 per cupcake, but includes the wrapper, and they love that. Those wrappers can get expensive as much as $1 each.
I make mine from dollies, and for $2 I get 18.
And check at Michaels and look at how much they are selling the prepacked fondant flowers, they come out like at .90cts per rose, so do your math before you quote, pretend you are buying the flowers and then you can set your price.

You need to find out if her venue will even allow you to bring in the cake and cupcakes before you agree to do it and figure out a price. Many venues will not allow desserts to be brought in from an unlicensed baker/bakery.