I don't know the bride personally, and I always do my cakes at very little or no profit for one reason or another, whether it's family/friend or to build up business but I'm starting to ge a lot more picky about what I do. I don't want someone who is a bridezilla for one, don't need the hassel, and to be honest I get more out of doing kids cakes then wedding cakes anymore. Kids are easier to please and more appreciative then the brides I come in contact with and I find the parents are more willing to pay for a custom cake for their kids then the brides are.....at least that's how it is in my circle. We live in a rather poor area so if they come to you for a custom birthday cake they can afford it whereas brides think custom bakers are cheaper or can be talked into something more for less.

Chrissy, I totally agree with leah above. For that cake request, you can't even open your oven door for $300. But here's a way to do it in the future to get a nicely raised damask design: Use the designerstencils.com damask to stencil SugarVeil onto a set sheet of SugarVeil (for dark brown, use powdered color mixed into dry SugarVeil before adding water).

For the stenciling, I like to use SugarVeil right after mixing to get the most loft in the designs. Stencil thickly, leave in place for 30 seconds or so, then "roll" the stencil back very slowly so the SugarVeil will pull back into itself. The designs will be clean, and look "carved", as the edges will be softly sculpted. Smooth the buttercream surface well, then apply the damasked SugarVeil.

This kind of 'fabric' works great to re-create a wedding dress train, too - and you can even drape it onto the cake at the venue. For long lengths, cast the damask multiple times using large silicone mats, match the pattern, and splice the edges together with a thin strip of SugarVeil on the backside. To do this cake, we rolled the long length of fabric around a large cardboard tube between sheets of parchment, placed it into one of those big Ziploc storage bags, then transported and unrolled it to decorate the cake on site. We've also done this using white SugarVeil with a dark chocolate ganache underneath, and the white layer is even opaque enough to surprise guests when cut to reveal the chocolate - Michele at SugarVeil

I have looked everywhere! What is rbct???

My question is this- why pass on this uneducated bride to another decorator to get hosed on the price? If you don't want to do the cake for $1.50 a serving, what makes you think someone else will, just because they MIGHT have the supplies. This bride needs to be educated or just turn down doing the cake and wish her the best of luck finding a bakery or other individual (on her own) to do the cake.

She's still trying to dictate your pricing. I'd just tell her "this is the # of servings I can give you for $300" if that isn't enough to feed your guests then you should increase your budget or plan for other deserts or decide which people you don't want to get cake. If you can't afford 200 people, you shouldn't have 200 people. geez.

erinalicia~ I passed her on to another baker because I am not sure of her pricing. Last I knew this baker charged around $1.25 per slice on buttercream for her cakes.....that's more her price range. She is also been doing it longer then I have and may have a better way to do a design she would like. We live in a rather poor area and cakes here don't go for what they do elsewhere. I have yet to meet a baker that charges more then $1.50 for buttercream cakes. I am an exception. I don't go to my local Walmart or craft store to get my supplies....I use brand name fondant and such, not Wilton. This bride is more concerned with the look then the taste and that's not the way I do things so I sent her to someone who may. I also emailed this baker prior to sending the information to the bride informing her of her budget and the date of the wedding because if she should happen to be booked or not interested there would be no point in speaking with her.

As a footnote, the bride emailed me again asking me to possibly reconsider because she has again changed her design. She no longer wants damask because when they went to order the invites they were out of stock of the damask. She now wants some sort of flat floral design on the sides of a square cake. She also added additional colors to the cake. She wants ivory with dark brown floral and salmon & lime green included on the cake, possibly as bottom ribbon borders.

Hi Chrissy,
I just did a very small 2 tier BC cake with black demask design on white BC. It didn't turn-out very well to my standards (I was replicating an exact design which was a bit too big/detailed for the size of cake), however I was thinking if I had been able to work with another design it may have been okay.
So, if you place the ivory final coat on & let it set very well in the refrigerator; and then paint the brown & other color designs on with a small brush, it can be done. Takes a LOT of time though, and I would charge my higher price for a cake like this. Mine start at $4.50 per serving, and this type would be $5.00-$6.00 per serving... it's a LOT of extra work! (& I'm at least $0.25/svg less than local Bakers)
Maybe you should give her 3 options to choose from, that you can do at the price you've discussed with her. If she wants more, it will cost more. Also advise she may want to obtain quotes from other Bakers in your area. "High Maintenance"! Good luck =)