I have been asked to make this cake for a wedding. The bride wants 5 tiers, 6 inches tall in the following sizes: 18", 16", 14", 12", and 8". She wants to serve 200, although I'm pretty sure this will feed more like 300. What would you charge?

If the tiers were the usual 4" tall it would serve close to 400. But with 6" tall tiers, I'd say that would feed about 600.

So I would charge for 600 servings of cake times my per serving price. Doesn't matter how many people she will feed. I charge by how many standard servings of cake she gets.

So, unless she wants to pay my per serving price times 600, she needs to reduce the size of the cake by two thirds.

*edited to correct math

That's 404 servings - not counting the 6" tiers rather than 4".
For 200 guests???

I think I'd quote that out at a flat price using the cost of 606 servings: 404 servings at 4" and half again that amount - another 202 servings - for the additional 2" on each tier.
Figuring $5/serving - that's a $3000 cake easy.

It will serve approx 384 w/4"tiers, so w/6" tiers you will get over 500 unless you use a dummy cake. You would probably charge at least $2.00 per serving for buttercream and more for fondant. I would guess aroung a thousand to $1500 at least for buttercream and more for fondant. What do you normally charge per serving?

I do not charge more for cakes that are 6" rather than 4". I torte my cakes and they usualy end up closer to 6" anyways.

If you use the Wilton guide for servings this is a direct quote from their chart

"Serving amounts are based on wedding-sized portions of approximately 1 x 2 in. Cakes from 3 to 6 in. high, baked in the same size pan, would yield the same number of servings because they follow the same pattern of cutting."

So a 6" should be calculated the same as a 4"

I know it is just giving away cake but IF you are using the Wilton chart that is what it says.
The sizes you listed equal 404 servings... 18"=146 16"=100 14"=78 12"=56 8"=24 total 404

If she is conserned about all the extra servings I would change the sizes to 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 for 296 servings.


So by my pricing for your original sizes I would charge $3.50/serv for BC wfond accents =$1414 or $4.50/serv for all fondant =$1818

Good Luck with your bride and the cake

I start wedding cake pricing at $5 per serving.

What would you estimate the cost for supplies to be on this cake? I came up with a figure of over $400 just for supplies. Does that sound close?

$3,000.00 would be a good price.

Jamie, I torte all of my cakes too, but she wants me to use the 3" deep pans to make the tiers tall.
I didn't even take into consideration the amount of servings that would be added with the extra height on all of the tiers. Yikes!

I did forget to add one tiny bit of vital information. This cake will be for my cousin. She asked what I would charge for the cake in the pic. I told her I would do it for no charge because she was family, etc. Well, the cake kept growing. lol I wrote her and told her that I agreed to make the cake in the picture and that it'd be great if they could cover the additional cost for the now larger cake. I came up with a detailed budget, down to the number of eggs, and sent it to her this a.m. I haven't received a response yet. I'm not sure how this is all going to pan out, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't way out of line in asking her to help with supplies. There is no way that I can foot $500 for this cake.

And for the record, YES! I have learned my lesson.

I definitely charge more for 6" tiers than I do for 4" tiers. Wilton's guide is a cutting guide, not a pricing guide. Doesn't matter to me if they cut it the same as they would for 4" tiers, or if they lop it up into 3 giant pieces; They're still getting 50% more cake. that's an awful lot of cake to give away for free.

Now for the customer's perspective, if they want 6" tiers, I tell them that my standard per serving price is based on 4" tiers, so we can do 6" for a proportional increase in per serving cost. Or they can look at it as a proportional increase in the number of people a cake will serve. Either way, the price goes up by 50%.

Andysprite, of course it is a relative or a "close" friend. It happens to all of us. Some situations worse than others. I made all my niece and nephews cakes and they covered the cost and I furnished the labor etc as a gift. That way if they wanted a big cake they could do it at their cost, but still come out ahead. They were all of course quite large, but that was ok. Good Luck it is a beautiful cake.

You charge per serving according to what's common in your area. (It's usually higher in big cities.) Those size tiers (4" high) would serve 374, including the top. An 18" cake alone will serve 127! But a 6" on top of a 12" would look ridiculous! It looks better to put it on a 8" or 10". Makes more sense to make 6", 8", 10", 12", 14", serving 211. Of course most people save the top but it will still serve close to 200. Not everyone will eat cake. If she doesn't mind some leftover cake you could make it 6", 8", 10", 14", 16", serving 255, not using the top would serve 241. (But don't forget to charge for the top!) Just show her the difference in price and she'll most likely change her tune.

I noticed that the sizes are not smoothly gradiated: there is a 4" jump from the 8 to the 12 and then just a 2" jump for the rest of the layers. That is going to look odd. You might want to discuss that with her. She is definitely going to have more cake than she needs, so maybe you could talk her into sizing the tiers down? Maybe 4-6-8-10-12-14?

My base price for buttercream iced cakes is 25 cents per cubic inch for cake. I charge 50% more for fondant. These are base prices and do not include upcharges for more expensive cake/filling/icing flavors or decorative details that I upcharge for.

Base prices for 6" tall cakes:
4"...$18.84 (BC)...$28.26 (F)
6"...$42.39 (BC)...$63.59 (F)
8"...$75.36 (BC)...$113.04 (F)
10"...$118.13 (BC)...$177.19 (F)
12"...$169.56 (BC)...$254.34 (F)
14"...$230.79 (BC)...$346.19 (F)
16"...$301.44 (BC)...$452.16 (F)
18"...$381.51 (BC)...$572.27 (F)

(BC) = buttercream
(F) = fondant

If she's really wanting the drama of the height, you might get her to agree to do some of the layers in dummies instead of real cake. Charge the same or 75% for the dummies, because they themselves are not cheap to purchase and you still have to ice and decorate them. That will help you out though, in the long run, because you won't have to bake those layers and you can do them ahead of time.

I would chrge more if she wants the cakes made in the 3" pans but then your tiers will be taller than 6" once torted and iced.......

Like I said after torting and icing, my cakes come out to approx 6" standard . there really is no more actual Cake just more filling.

By the time you torte and ice 2- 3" cakes and stack they will be more like 8".

I have a feeling she will change her mind once she sees the cost in the cake . If she only needs 200 servings she needs to scale down the cake to

14"=72 12"=56 10"=38 8"=22 6"=14 total 202 servings.

The same look can be achieved in these sizes and there is no sence in making all that extra cake. The supply cost will also be drasticly reduced to around $220.

I don't think the cake in that picture is as large as the original sizes. sometimes cakes look much larger in pictures. If you put it in perspective to the flower you can see on the side I beleive that cake is more like a 14" to 6".

I would also only do standard sized cake baked in 2" pans torted and iced. I tink she doesnt realy understand the actual mathmatics in baking and that 2-3" pans does ot mean 6" tall tiers.

Thanks for the input ladies. The bride and I have hashed this out in great detail. I agree that the jump from 12" to 8" is going to look odd but she is certain that is what she wants.

She wants the cake to stand taller than her flower arrangements which will be approx. 36". I tried to encourage her to use a cake plateau to gain some height, but she wants the cake flat on the table. *sigh*

Am I mistaken to think that 8" for a top tier is going to look strange? It seems big to me, but I've always assumed the top should be 6".

Another thing....this wedding is in 3 weeks. Do there happen to be any decorators in the Winnsboro/Pittsburgh Texas area that want to take over this lovely project?

Actually, when I first starting making cakes, using an 8" cake for the top tier WAS the norm. As long as the topper is sized proportionately, it will be fine.

And I agree 1000% with artscallion's post!

And WTH is this bride's problem!!!!??? She needs a real reality check.

"I want a cake taller than my flowers but I want the cake sitting flat on the table."

"I want a 6 tier cake but I only want it to serve 200 people."

Bite my a$$, babycakes! I want to weigh 118 lbs but I want to be able to eat 4 Big Macs every day for lunch.

Somethings just are NOT going to happen!

Oh Debi! What would we do without your humor?

I am sure she wants the extremely Oversized monstrosity she has created in her mind because she is thinking it will be FREE!

Now that this thing has grown into Princess Dianna's cake and you are asking for the cost of supplies which will be close to $500 I think her vision will change...

I hate to say it but I have a feeling this is going to get ugly for you. She is probably expecting that since you said free cake that meant ANY size. She probably has no idea what it would take to do that cake , and that if she had to purchase it from a bakery it would be a couple THOUSAND dollars!

$8.25 per serving

I didn't read every single posted reply, so if this has been covered, kindly disregard my post.

Just wanted to say, make certain that your oven is big enough for an 18 inch pan, and if you do take on this project, for goodness sakes USE SPS for stacking/transporting - and you better have some muscle lined up for carrying .

Good luck, and be sure to post pics!

You agreed to make her THAT cake. Not 6 inch tiers, not 5 or 6 tiers, not higher than her flowers, etc. If she doesn't want THAT cake, you are not obligated to make it. If you don't want to make the giant cake she now wants, just say no and remind her that you agreed to make THAT cake. She is getting greedy and taking advantage of you. If you do want to make her giant cake, then make sure she pays you well for the extra servings over what you agreed to. You don't need to justify every egg, just give her a serving price over and above the cake you agreed to. And you better let her know ASAP so she can make other plans if need be. Don't feel guilty or whatever, it was her choice to change the cake. Just stick to what you are comfortable with, especially since you have a drive, etc to deal with. Can you even transport that many layers?

Can't believe someone on here is from Winnsboro!! I'm a Wboro native -- relocated to Arlington TX... I still do cakes for family friends in East Texas when I get the chance! Wish I could say I could be your saving grace -- but unfortunately I'll be out of town that week!

Good luck!!!!