Hi everyone

I'm attempting to come up with some numbers for a possible business plan. I work very slowly, but am wondering how many cakes an experienced decorator working alone can handle per week. How many cakes are ordered to consider yourself "booked up" for a particular week?

Thanks for any input on this subject!

It all depends on the size of the cakes. I've done 3 cakes with 150 servings and other times 2 with 400 servings. I kinda gauge it more by the size and detail of the cake.

I'm comfortable with 6-8, can do 10 if the receptions fall just right as far as time lines. I did 13 once in one weekend - never again. Most Saturday evening weddings are turn-over weddings, so if you have to wait for the first wedding to leave before you can set up, that limits that time period and the number of cakes you can deliver. Friday evening and Sunday weddings usually don't have another event booked before them, so you have a lot of time for delivery and Saturday morning weddings let you have basically all morning to deliver. Outside weddings add another interesting factor, if it's hot out the delivery has to be done as close to the reception start time as possible.

The longer you are in business, the quicker you will become and the more cake orders you can take. At first you will have a hard time saying the word NO to an order, but once you learn your limits, that magic little word will become easier to say.

Good Luck in your cake venture!

I'm only part time, but depending on the size or how far in advance the order is scheduled, I have done up to 6 in a week.

are you talking wedding? Or celebrations too.
Some people go by how much money they will take in that week- for example, $2000/wk would be the max workload. Then you'll know when you hit your max.
I have done 4 weddings- really crazy ones last year. This year I have one weekend with 5, and about 6 weekends with 4. Most of the weddings I do are fairly high-detail, at least for this summer they will be.
Last weekend I had 12 celebration cakes, one of them a 3D, and some other specialty cakes. But no weddings until April, so once that hits, I'll back off on celebration cakes- I won't have the room!
I'm amazed anyone could do 13 weddings in one weekend! It takes me an hour to get anywhere around here, so I would have to beam them over!

I mainly do celebration/party cakes ranging from a 8 inch round with buttercream to some that are three tiered and feed 100. Rarely do wedding cakes. I usually take between 6-10 per weekend.

I don't do more than 4 cakes- no matter what! Cakes orders must be at least $150 for me to bother taking it. I always say that I rather take less and do more impressive work, than taking a bunch and not do my best work. It also has to do that I am also very slow too!!

Depends on the kinds of cake.
Weddings - 2 -5 per weekend, depending on the size.
Single tier party cakes - up to 12
Or a combination of wedding and party.

It really depends on how much detail is going into the cakes and if I also have cookie orders (although those I can usually do earlier in the week)

I once had an order for a 3 tier wedding cake, 2 tier groom's cake and 21!! centerpiece cakes (each 4" and 6") for one wedding. That was the only order I took for that weekend.

I'm a one person op, and I measure in servings. No matter how many actual cakes, I can knock out 1000 servings in a weekend. Then I look at delivery times. My delivery radius is pretty small.

I'm a one person show too! I try to limit 2 weddings per weekend. It does depend on the serving amount. If they are smaller I can go up to 3 weddings which I did a couple months ago and it was super crazy! I have made up to 10-12 party cakes in one week. Recently went up on pricing and minimum order amounts so it cuts the smaller stuff out and leaves openings for larger all occasion and wedding cakes. I'm pretty fast and well organized. It really depends on how many you feel comfortable doing and fast you can whip them out!

"I don't do more than 4 cakes- no matter what! Cakes orders must be at least $150 for me to bother taking it. I always say that I rather take less and do more impressive work, than taking a bunch and not do my best work."

i agree in that i would rather do fewer bette, more detailed cakes that more simple, celebration cakes. i am a teacher, mom of three, and dyslexia therapist and have to limit my work. I don't have a set amount, i all depends on the difficulty and size. i would rather do 2 or three wedding cakes than 10 b-day or anniversary ones, they are faster and easier for me. again, just depends on my other oblgations as well.

my '57 chevy cake was the primary cake the week i did it, because of the time (12-14 hours), i did do a few simpler cakes earllier in the week though.

I only count wedding cakes, I take in party cakes to fill a weekend if openings permit. The weekend with 13 weddings was delivered over a 3 day period, Fri-Sat-Sun, but I will never do that again. When I got back on Sunday after the last one was delivered, I made a drink, went out to the back deck and told the family not to speak to me until this glass is empty. I then promised them & myself that I would never ever take that many orders ever again.

I do 5-6 a weekend depemding on the style and size..sometimes more...sometimes less.

I'm a one woman operation w/ 3 kids to boot and I've learned that my limit right now is about 500 servings of cake! Generally that's anywhere from 5-15 separate cakes, but I hate baking and that's about all of it I can handle right now lol

Graduation season or "full sheet cake season" as I like to call it (worst time of year), I will go up to 1,000 servings in a weekend. Since that is only about 10 full sheets (the trouble with that is finding room to store them all, not to mention making trip after trip to deliver in my mini van)

I dunno about cakes since I don't do a lot of them, but for the part-time home baker, I discovered this week that I top out at 22 dozen cookies. I'm exhausted.

And I have my first ever wedding cake due this weekend. EEEEEEK!!!!

Hello, when I am booking cakes for a particular week, I take into consideration the size, amount of detail, etc. Also, depending on how quickly you work, has to be considered as well. I always say do as many cakes as you are comfortable to do.

In my peak (before our move) I did 14 a weekend.. that included 2 weddings per weekend, cupcakes, cookies.. etc.. My consideration is mostly what are my teenagers up to & what do they need me for?? Time & delivery location is a big factor on the weddings due to traffic issues.
You have to know yourself, your ability to deal w/stress, & your work in order to determine what you can handle.. Being organized & having prep work done helps greatly.
Also I am a big fan of taking the smallest of orders as you never know where those orders will take your business.. mine lead me to the White House (for staffers), the Pentagon, and Capital Hill... :0)

& currently my teenagers are learning to drive so pretty soon I'll be up all night worrying anyway.. so might as well work right!! :0)