What Would You Charge For This Wedding Cake?
Decorating By andysprite Updated 5 Jul 2010 , 4:22am by dguerrant
Maybe its a quite expensive but its doesn't mean necessarily be expensive unlike a 5 feet tall cake that has a bunch of special designs.
The cake is just lovely.
I'd like to ask a question and I hope it is not out of line:
I would really like to see the line item budget that you gave to her. I am very new at this and was shocked by the cost of supplies.
Is there a way you could post that? (If it's not too personal)
No problem. This budget was before she downsized to the cake in the pic. Here's my email to her:
Sarah,
Here is a copy of the cake budget. All prices are not including tax or shipping. I used my most recent receipts to determine the supply costs. I tried to be as specific as possible so that you could see where it was all going. Please let me know if you have any questions. Like I said yesterday, I am willing to put $150 toward the cost since that is what I had anticipated spending on the cake based on the original picture you had sent.
Wedding Cake Budget
Cake ingredients: Cake mix -- 30 @ $1.18 = $35.40
Sour cream -- 5 @ $1.97 = $9.85
Pudding -- 15 @ .56 = $4.70
Shortening -- 2 @ 8.62 = $17.24
Veg. oil -- 1 gallon @ 8.97 = $8.97
Eggs -- 8 dozen @ 1.67 = $13.36
Powdered Sugar -- 20 @ 2.04 = 40.80
Butter -- 10 lbs. @ 2.18 = $21.80
SUBTOTAL $152.12
Fondant: $120 (40 lbs. of pure white fondant that will have to be ordered online)
Cake board, supports, etc.: $40 +/-
Cake pans: 18 x 3 -- $26.99 plus shipping
16 x 3 -- $22.99 plus shipping
Misc. such as jewels, piping gel, luster dust, etc: $25
SUBTOTAL $387.10
S/H CHARGES FOR FONDANT/PANS $47.87
TOTAL SUPPLY COST = $434.97 (estimated including shipping and handling, minus taxes)
Regarding the cake pans: These sizes I use very little which is why I havent already purchased them. I dont have a problem at all paying for these in addition to the $150.
Every bride should see this, just so I can watch their eyes pop when they see that it cost $40 just for the powdered sugar. Sometimes I think they believe it only costs us $40 to make the whole dang thing. I know it shocked the heck outta me when I started making cakes and watched as the money kept rolling and rolling out.
Reminds me of the giant cake we had for our wedding of about 75 people. The darn thing must have served 600 - 700 people, it was huge! (Thinking back, we got one heck of a deal on that cake.)
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It was exactly what we wanted, so the guests could take large slabs of cake home.
Fondant: $120 (40 lbs. of pure white fondant that will have to be ordered online)
Thank you for posting the budget.
The fondant is only $3.00/lb? (I have only seen SI)
*ETA: Nevermind. I see that Satin Ice is $3.00/lb (facepalm)*
Stupid question #1: Is it the size that makes it so expensive?
Stupid question #2: Why is this cake so much more expensive than the luau cake in the other thread. (I am not calling anyone to task...I just really don't know)
I purchase Satin Ice fondant through CakesBySam.com for around $60/20 lb. bucket.
For the record, I didn't use all of the fondant that was listed in the budget. And remember that the budget was for a cake even larger than what was in the picture. And I was charging her for pans that I didn't have (18" and 16" pans). If you take off some of the fondant cost and the pans it would reduce the cost by about $100ish.
Most of the expense came from the size of the cake. Each layer was baked in my 3" pans and they took a ton more batter! Each 14" x 3" pan took 4 cake mixes alone.
p.s. The cake in the pic ended up costing about $250 for supplies and stand rental ($45). :{
I hope you get a really really nice thank you note and maybe a nice gift certificate enclosed 
Great job on the cake!!!
p.s. The cake in the pic ended up costing about $250 for supplies and stand rental ($45). :{
Sorry if this was posted, but I didn't see in the last few pages of posts the cake layer sizes that you ended up making -6, 10, 12, 14 inch? and were all the tiers 8" thick? I wonder how many servings that would actually be with such a thick cake -actually double thickness? I know it's not 148 that is listed in Earlene's cake serving chart! Maybe double that!!
p.s. The cake in the pic ended up costing about $250 for supplies and stand rental ($45). :{
Sorry if this was posted, but I didn't see in the last few pages of posts the cake layer sizes that you ended up making -6, 10, 12, 14 inch? and were all the tiers 8" thick? I wonder how many servings that would actually be with such a thick cake -actually double thickness? I know it's not 148 that is listed in Earlene's cake serving chart! Maybe double that!!
Yes...the cakes were 6", 10", 12", and 14" and each stood 7" to 8" tall. They had about 100 guests at the wedding and we only served the 10" tier. There were easily 300 to 350 servings of cake.
p.s. The cake in the pic ended up costing about $250 for supplies and stand rental ($45). :{
Sorry if this was posted, but I didn't see in the last few pages of posts the cake layer sizes that you ended up making -6, 10, 12, 14 inch? and were all the tiers 8" thick? I wonder how many servings that would actually be with such a thick cake -actually double thickness? I know it's not 148 that is listed in Earlene's cake serving chart! Maybe double that!!
Yes...the cakes were 6", 10", 12", and 14" and each stood 7" to 8" tall. They had about 100 guests at the wedding and we only served the 10" tier. There were easily 300 to 350 servings of cake.
Thanks so much for your info!! I guess it makes sense that if the layer height is doubled, then the number of servings is doubled too
So sorry you went through this! Would love to see a pic of the final product!
I would have added to that supply list
gas, electric, water, dish soap, paper towels, gas (for car) to get ingredients, and then estimated total TIME spent doing all of this.........and least list it and say..........the following things will be my gift to you!
Thanks 7yyrt 
. The cake came out beautiful! Funny, not only was it taller than her flowers, but it looked taller then HER!
You did a fabulous job copying her inspiration picture! And she definitely got her super tall cake. I agree the cake looks taller than the bride!'
Wow. I sure hope they ate/gave away/froze some cake because that would break my heart to think it went into the trash, uneaten or too old to eat after a few days of trying!
Thank you.
I ended up charging her $250. And yes, the cake was taller than the bride.
While I was cutting and serving, my cousin came up to get her a piece and stood there staring for a minute before she finally said "Wow. That is a lot of cake." Ya' think? lol
I had a long time friend of my mothers (I did her daughter's wedding cake, my 2nd one ever nearly 10 years ago) to stop by and ask for my portfolio for her nieceto lookat, she is getting married in September. She picked out a huge elaborate cake and then when I quoted a price, she had sticker shock. She actually thought she was going to get the 'my mom's friend 10 years ago' price for her nieces upcoming wedding cake. What do people actually think? Obviously they don't!!!! I did her daughter's cake to get the experience and make a little money on the side, now I have the experience and very little time to make cakes and honestly I have no reason to cut her niece a deal, I don't even know her.
Give me your budget and I'll show you what you can get for that!!!!!!
Gotta love the 5 tier alternating shaped cake that feed 250 people, but only needit to feed 75, and iI only have $100 bucks!!!! :S good grief
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