I am doing my first ever paid Wedding Cake...She gave me pictures with just a simple 4 tier white BC frosting Cake, with silk sunflowers flowing around and down... That's the good part. The part I'm having difficulty with is how to decorate the Three 1/2 Sheet Cakes she wants to serve also! Do I make them single layer? Or do I fill them? She said no filling necessary. But how do I decorate them? I'm not confident enought to make sunflowers and decorte all 3 cakes the same.... is there a simple solution to this? I thought about marking out the servings and put a little sunflower candy on each serving square, but not sure where to find such a thing, or if I can even do it with the frosting myself...anyone have any ideas for me? TIA!

Also any clue as what to charge would be wonderful! I'm assuming these cakes will feed approximately 200 people total ???? With the top tier kept for 1st anniversary...

Ritakk

Sheet cakes for weddings are basically the same cake with the same filling as the actual wedding cake. This way no one knows who got pieces from the stacked cake and who got them from the sheet cakes. If the stacked cake is buttercream covered then just make the sheet cakes the same. If the stacked cake has a ruffled trim then make the sheet cake have a ruffled trim. I wouldn't worry about any extras for the sheet cake service unless you are going to do the same for the stacked cake service.

As for charges...charge whatever your minimum buttercream price is for cake. Doesn't matter if it's a wedding cake or sheet cake...if it has little to no ornamentation to it then it should be at your starting price. To figure that out you need to figure out what it costs for you to make the cake...ingrediants, utilities, rental kitchen fees, your insurance fees, plus any cost you will incure for delivery...then tack on a per hour labor charge. After you do all of that then check with your local bakeries on what they would charge per slice and that will give you an idea of your local going rate. What I charge, living in a city, will be more than what someone who lives in a small town will be able to charge. My rates start at $3 a slice for buttercream and $4 a slice for fondant and go up from there. You may not be able to charge these rates or may need to charge higher rates. Whatever you do, you have to work your contract with the client like any cake. Let her know the charges, your deposit payment, your final payment and timing for those so that you are fully paid before you deliver the cake. Once you figure all of this out she may or may not decide that this is within her budget. Just don't make a thing till you know that it is within her budget and you have a signed contract. With mine I require 50% up front and the rest 1 month before the event. Others work theirs differently but mostly it's all paid up front before the event.

hope this helped!
Cat

Thank you Cat! Yes this helps me tremondously, so you don't think I should have to decorate the sheet cakes? Just plain ole BC with a simple border that matches the wedding cake right? That makes it alot easier for me. I guess I need to write up a contract and let the party know that payment is expected before the Wedding date... They will be picking up the cakes, so I do not need to deliver. This is what she/they requested... so... This is a small town wedding, so I'll probably charge $200.00 for the total of all the cakes, since not much decorating is involved.

That's the same rule of thumb I follow.......the idea of the "kitchen cakes" is that you have extra servings but as far as everyone knows they're eating from the main cake.

Since your main cake will have the flowers removed before eating, all I would do is ice the sheet cakes (2 layers high w/ bc in between) with white icing and do a border that matches the border on the main cake, if there is one.

Here is a couple examples of some wedding/kitchen cake combos I've done. Cakes where the decorations are removed, don't have them on the kitchen cakes.

No extra decoration is needed BUT if they are picking up a stacked cake make SURE your contract says that you are NOT responsible once they leave your shop with the cake for ANYTHING that happens to the cake while in their possession! Stress it in writing and stress it in person as often as you can. When they come to pick up the cakes again say point blank to them "Well, I'm so happy you like them...take care of them because now they are yours and anything that happens to them from here on out is all you. I don't cover ANY damage that happens from this point on". Say it with a smile but SAY IT. Because I know from experience that if they try to travel with the cake and it topples over they WILL blame YOU! And they will want the money back. The only cakes I allow pick up for are sheet cakes and cup cakes and with both I stress the clause in my contract AND I say it in person as my last thing before they leave me with the cake.

Cat

ps. the photos above are a GREAT example of what to do with your sheet cakes vs your stacked cake!

Thank you so much Cat and KH! Thanks for the visual! I really needed it! I'll let everyone know how they came out!