Uh-Oh! Quoted From Wedding Chart For Party Cake...

Business By Swede-cakes Updated 11 Jun 2010 , 5:52pm by KHalstead

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Swede-cakes Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 12:53pm
post #1 of 29

I realized last night that I quoted 78 servings for a 14" party cake that's due this Saturday morning. Cut into party-sized slices, it should only provide approx. 63, not 78! They did already pay for 78 servings.

I'm thinking I should email or call the customer and tell her I'll be increasing the size of the cake to a 16" b/c of my error. Problem is that the 14" is already baked and in the freezer, and it's not a normally requested size so I don't see anytime in the near future that I'd use it for another order before I'd become concerned about the quality from being frozen.

The kicker is that this cake is for the Bridal Shower of a woman for whom I'm doing a wedding cake for later in the summer.

Does anyone out there have any thoughts as to how to handle this? Maybe it's real simple, and my initial thought is correct, I just feel muddled from my busy week. Thanks much!

28 replies
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minicuppie Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 12:58pm
post #2 of 29

No way around this one. Deliver what was ordered, otherwise she may start wondering about your skill and attention to detail.

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costumeczar Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 1:01pm
post #3 of 29

This is why I only use one serving chart. You shouldn't have anything to worry about, though. At a bridal shower all the women are trying to outdo each other with how little they eat, so they'll probably end up with cake left over!

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Cakechick123 Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 1:02pm
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that is the reason why I use one chart, no need to remember what chart to use when icon_smile.gif

give her the 14" as long as your cake is 4" high the portions should be big enough. your alternative is to add a small cake on top if the design can be changed of course!

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KASCARLETT Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 1:09pm
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I think you'll be fine, I wouldn't say anything to the customer. Most bridal showers have other foods available, so there will probably be cake left over, plus most of the time at showers, the slices aren't really that big anyway.

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3GCakes Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 1:09pm
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I agree there will probably be enough cake, but if you want, add a little cake, or a few cupcakes.

I wouldn't make another large cake.

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leily Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 1:28pm
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so do you charge the same per serving for "party" and "wedding" serving sizes? If you do then you're loosing money on the party servings. If not, then the 14" cake is going to cost the same either way and I would just provide some additional cake to make up the difference if you're worried about there not being enough cake.

But i always use the 1x2x4 serving size and it's enough at even birthdays

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minicuppie Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 1:51pm
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Of course she will get a credit of some kind. Right?

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tracycakes Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 2:27pm
post #9 of 29

I use the same chart. I tell them how big the servings are and they can order bigger if they want.

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Swede-cakes Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 4:36pm
post #10 of 29

Sorry, I rcvd no notice that any replies had been posted. Thanks for your thoughts and advice. I think at this point I'll go with the 14" that's already baked, and provide her with the cutting instructions.

So, if many of you are saying this 14" will yield about 77 slices if she cuts according to the chart, for what would I owe her a credit?

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7yyrt Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 4:45pm
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A standard serving size is 1x2x4 or 2x2x2 , in other words 8 cubic inches of cake.
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If you start a thread, you must click the 'Watch this topic for replies' to get notices.

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ksmith1012 Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 5:01pm
post #12 of 29

Yep- I use the wedding chart for all of my cakes, no matter what occasion. If you charge the same for the larger party size as you do a wedding size portion you are losing money. Cake is cake, I don't care if they're wearing a poofy white dress or not icon_wink.gif

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confectionsofahousewife Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 5:03pm
post #13 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by costumeczar

This is why I only use one serving chart. You shouldn't have anything to worry about, though. At a bridal shower all the women are trying to outdo each other with how little they eat, so they'll probably end up with cake left over!




What chart do you use (if you don't mind me asking)? icon_biggrin.gif

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mamawrobin Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 5:07pm
post #14 of 29

[quote="7yyrt"]A standard serving size is 1x2x4 or 2x2x2 , in other words 8 cubic inches of cake.

DITTO
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costumeczar Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 5:10pm
post #15 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by confectionsofahousewife

Quote:
Originally Posted by costumeczar

This is why I only use one serving chart. You shouldn't have anything to worry about, though. At a bridal shower all the women are trying to outdo each other with how little they eat, so they'll probably end up with cake left over!



What chart do you use (if you don't mind me asking)? icon_biggrin.gif




I actually do a range of servings, it's a split between Earlene's chart and the Wilton chart. I don't do a strict price-per-serving, but I assume that peope will cut the cake 1"x2"xheight of the cake regardless of whether it's a party or a wedding. If they're piggy and cut bigger pieces that's not my problem if I've told them to cut the 1". If they cut the pieces smaller than 1" they'll get more servings...Since I have no control over that, I use a range per cake rather than saying "This cake will serve this many." Here's my blog entry on it explaining it better (maybe!) http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-i-price-my-wedding-cakes.html

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Kitagrl Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 5:26pm
post #16 of 29

I use Earlene's chart for everything...the only exception is sometimes I use the Wilton Party Chart when I'm sculpting, that way I estimate maybe 10-15 servings over...and then by the time I'm done cutting cake away, I'm still sure I have at least as much cake as the customer needed.

I don't really think its good to use two charts for a per serving quote because then, like, if a wedding orders three tiers and a birthday orders three tiers, both to serve 100, the wedding customer will get less cake for the same money.

I charge for cake the same no matter where its going...the difference comes in price as far as how much detail is being put into the cake.

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jillmakescakes Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 5:58pm
post #17 of 29

if she paid for 78 servings, she should get the 78 servings she paid for. If you messed up, then you will probably have to eat a loss on that... sorry. I'd probably do the cake as planned and provide her with an extra 8 or 10 inch round to providde the addt servings

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confectionsofahousewife Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 6:39pm
post #18 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kitagrl

I use Earlene's chart for everything...the only exception is sometimes I use the Wilton Party Chart when I'm sculpting, that way I estimate maybe 10-15 servings over...and then by the time I'm done cutting cake away, I'm still sure I have at least as much cake as the customer needed.

I don't really think its good to use two charts for a per serving quote because then, like, if a wedding orders three tiers and a birthday orders three tiers, both to serve 100, the wedding customer will get less cake for the same money.

I charge for cake the same no matter where its going...the difference comes in price as far as how much detail is being put into the cake.




That's smart to use the wilton party chart for sculpted cakes. I always wondered the best way to estimate number of servings for an odd shaped cake. Genius!

Costumeczar- thanks for sharing your methods as well!

It still baffles me the difference between the wilton wedding chart and earlene's chart. And I still don't know which one I should use. For instance, the wedding cake i have coming up this weekend needs about 130 servings. According to wiltons chart a 6-8-10-12 will get it done. But earlene's chart indicates that only serves 98. That's a huge difference! OK now I'm worried that there is not going to be enough cake.

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CWR41 Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 9:44pm
post #19 of 29

And, get this... if you're using Wilton's old wedding cake chart, those sizes would serve 162.

Somewhere along the line they changed the chart, but the serving portions are the same. According to the old chart, your 14" serves 92.

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indydebi Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 9:54pm
post #20 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by leily

so do you charge the same per serving for "party" and "wedding" serving sizes? If you do then you're loosing money on the party servings. If not, then the 14" cake is going to cost the same either way and I would just provide some additional cake to make up the difference if you're worried about there not being enough cake.

But i always use the 1x2x4 serving size and it's enough at even birthdays



Another good reason why I just use one chart, one price. With 2 differnt serving charts, you need 2 different price-per-serving prices.

Example:

12" square, when cut in 1x2x4 wedding servings = 12 rows x 6 columns = 72 servings of 8 cubic inches x $3/serving = $216

12" square, when cut in 1.5x2x4 party servings = 8 rows x 6 columns = 48 servings of 12 cubic inches (50% more cake per serving) x $4.50/serving (50% more cake per serving, then you charge 50% more per serving) = $216

The price of the cake is the same. It's all semantics.

I just don't want to spend my day explaining why the same size cake is $3/serving compared to $4.50/serving. Because the customer won't figure out it's all the same price. they will just complain because "HER cake was cheaper .... she only paid $3/slice!"

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leily Posted 9 Jun 2010 , 10:03pm
post #21 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swede-cakes

So, if many of you are saying this 14" will yield about 77 slices if she cuts according to the chart, for what would I owe her a credit?




If she paid for 78 servings and you're providing a cake that serves 76 (when 4" tall) then you'd owe her a refund for the 2 servings she's not getting.

Am i missing something?

I'm still curious though, do you charge differntly for party servings vs wedding servings?

edited to fix my math

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Ursula40 Posted 10 Jun 2010 , 12:26am
post #22 of 29

What I would do is to "upgrade" her, no need to tell her, you made a mistake, just add another small cake as a "gift" from you to her. That way you make her feel special, a sort of VIP, very nice to make sure, that you would like to keep her business. I did that for a few of my customers and they go overboard in recommending me, without telling other people, that they were upgraded, because that is our secret. Works every time

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Swede-cakes Posted 10 Jun 2010 , 1:29pm
post #23 of 29

Thanks for all these replies. And thanks 7yyrt for the tip...I do have this topic as being watched, but still not getting any notifications in email. Oh well...

I started off using Earlene's chart for everything, but the larger wedding orders I was getting were just way larger in "Earlene size" than what Wilton's chart called for. So I decided to go to the Wilton wedding size/party size School of Thought.

One chart is easier for sure, and I've now been using only Wilton wedding for the past couple of weeks, including this cake. Here's the kicker; I had to run out and buy a new 14" pan, so I grabbed a Wilton off the shelf. When I peeled off that giant label, I noticed that it stated "63 slices" That's what freaked me out.

I'm feeling like a dim bulb about this...doesn't help that I went to the Dr. yesterday because I've felt like dog doo the past couple of days. I appreciate your help CC'ers!

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Swede-cakes Posted 10 Jun 2010 , 1:32pm
post #24 of 29

Ursula40, that's a nice idea. I happen to have a spare 6" and I'll pull that together for her. Thank you!

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Ursula40 Posted 10 Jun 2010 , 9:56pm
post #25 of 29

You're wellcome, be sure to post pics icon_smile.gif and tell us of your customer's reaction to the "upgrade"

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tesso Posted 10 Jun 2010 , 10:02pm
post #26 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by jillmakescakes

if she paid for 78 servings, she should get the 78 servings she paid for. If you messed up, then you will probably have to eat a loss on that... sorry. I'd probably do the cake as planned and provide her with an extra 8 or 10 inch round to providde the addt servings




I totally agree. If they pay for 78 they deserve 78. I would also provide a reason why. something simple like.. I miscalculated the serving size and wanted to make sure you had enough cake for your party.

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KHalstead Posted 11 Jun 2010 , 3:26pm
post #27 of 29

Include the 6" round and make her feel special..............otherwise give her a copy of these charts with the cakes, (it shows a 14" serving 82 and HOW to get those slices) and just let her know you rounded it down to 78 lol

Here is a diagram I made based on Indydebi's cutting method, but more printer friendly to go out with my cakes.

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Swede-cakes Posted 11 Jun 2010 , 4:21pm
post #28 of 29

KHalstead, that's an amazing chart! Would you be willing to email it to me? I can't figure out how to save it from the thread onto my Mac.

Thanks to you and everyone else for your advice!

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KHalstead Posted 11 Jun 2010 , 5:52pm
post #29 of 29

just pm me with your email and I'll be happy to send it.

here is the how to cut chart

http://www.freewebs.com/khalstead/cakeservingsguide.htm



here is the other chart (just put them on my website so the pdf's are available online)

HTH

http://www.freewebs.com/khalstead/Emailed/round%20and%20square%20cutting%20guide.pdf

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