I am a younger woman in my early 30's and have had my legal home based cakery for almost 3 years. I have noticed over the years that I click more with the younger bride. It's almost immediate that they pull that check book out and pay the deposit at their tasting. The 40's and up crowd I don't book so much. I started thinking about my tastings the other day and noticed the trend. Last week I met with a younger bride and she wrote her check at the tasting. The older bride which I met a couple days later seemed like she was still looking around. Even though she loved my cake and ideas (which she stated several times) has not called back. I can do any style from traditional to funky. Maybe the older brides just think I'm too young and are looking for someone they "think" has more experience. Now if a MOB comes along it can go either way. I've had the bride very interested but then when it comes down to it the MOB is the one paying and has the final say so. Things that make you go hummmm....

It very well could be an age thing. It also, could be that an older bride is not a free with her money so truly maybe looking for a less expensive option.

I haven't noticed it as much as an age thing as who is paying for it. Usually, if mom (or dad) is along, I get the deposit immediately. If they are paying themselves, regardless of age, they sometimes wait a week or two. I think it's harder to part with your own money.

True Peg818! I'm sure an older bride is definitely shopping around. I actually had a young bride tell me that money was not too important since her Dad was paying the bill. Honestly, if it were me I would TRY to find a less expensive option for my parents.

I with you tarheelgirl, my MIL paid for my DH and I for our wedding cake and because I knew she was paying I looked through the book (which had prices listed by each cake) and found the CHEAPEST cake they had and convinced her that I "adored it!" I don't remember what it looked like and we have only ONE photo of it but my DH and I are sitting in front of it and it's blurred in the background LOL (it was only 7 yrs. ago but I wasn't a caker then!)

I can't contibute to the buiness end of this conversation but I can say that as a woman in my 40s I am more careful and contemplative about making a large purchase. I am far more likely to gather info and make a decision based on that info than I am to make an impulse purchase. When I was in my twenties, I was much more impulsive. Not that impulsive is bad...I've made some very good decisions impulsively .

I think I click more with the brides who know what they want. If they are indecisive or looking for a bargain, they will cancel appointments or waste my time.

If they know they want either a certain look, a certain design, or they want homestyle flavors, and they aren't super strict about their budget (I'm not super high priced but I compete price-wise with the other high-end cakeries) then we click great, and they like the individualized attention they get and the personalized tastings and the extra communication they get from me that they might not get from a larger establishment. (Home baker here too)

They also have to be a little "outside the box" because usually people who want to be like "everyone else" want your regular typical bakery to do their cake.

So maybe it does have something do with age but also with a bride who is actually ready to make that commitment. I've never had an older bride cancel a tasting. Versus your younger bride who may not think its AS important to waste your time. Not that ALL young people are this way. It's that the older bride is much more aware of their budget and how much they are willing to spend for a cake.

I get several people who will set up a tasting appt and then cancel saying they found another vendor...I assume a cheaper one.

My cakes are more "You get exactly what you want but then you pay for it." The other bakeries are cheaper but then you might sacrifice some of the details you'd get if you went with me.

Its okay, I don't want to be swamped all the time...June was VERY busy and I'm ready for a bit of a break. haha.

I am somewhere in the middle as far as price and stay busy! I'm actually taking a full week vacation this year!!! Can you tell I'm excited??!

When I was in business, I found the brides who were mid-late twenties to thirties generally easiest to work with. These were the ones who were out of school, on their own, and working. They seemed to have a better idea of what they wanted and though might be more careful with their money, were usually able to make decisions much quicker.

The wishy-washy, indecisive brides were the ones who drove me nuts! Didn't know what they liked, couldn't make a decision, worried too much about pleasing everyone else, more likely to shop around endlessly to get as many free samples as possible (not that I discourage shopping around, but if you've done your homework, you shouldn't need appts with more than 2 or 3 cake people).

I also found that having the groom along hampered the process most of the time. Either they had no opinion at all and the bride would waste time trying to get one out of them or worrying that they didn't like her choice when really they didn't care and were ready to leave, or less often, they would be overly opiniated and overbearing, usually with bizarre or tacky ideas.

I had one couple that was an exception to both rules. I had an older bride who was THE most indecisive bride I have ever dealt with. She could NOT make a decision about the cake design, and got herself so worked up that she had a full-blown panic attack and wanted to leave and think about it and get back to me later. Mind you, the wedding was only 2 or 3 weeks away at this point!! I was definitely going to be unavailable if that happened. Fortunately, her fiance was much more reasonable and realized they had to make a decision and pay in full that day, and took her outside to calm her down and when they came back in they had a decision.

I met with a bride and groom probably in their early 40's. They were all gushy and sweet towards one another. The 1st part of our consult was going great. Then we started discussing flavors and what their dislikes/likes were. AND oh my gosh... they started having a heated discussion right in front of me about flavors. It was getting heated and he said.. I think I deserve strawberry seeing how I spend $2,000 on your engagement ring. That was the point I got up and let them fight it out. When they had finished their "discussion" I sat back down. She apologized several times. I never heard from them again. Almost wonder if they had even made it to the alter!

If it would have been a tiered cake they could have both had their way! They were getting 200 cupcakes and this groom INSISTED on strawberry all the way. He really did act like a spoiled brat!

I think it has a lot to do with communication/presentation. I am in my uber low 30's (LOL I have a complex) and I tend to "connect" with brides that are in my age group...a little less with older women, and way way less than younger brides. I have focused on "knowing my audience". If they are young, hip and fancy free, I try to be. If they are more mature, secure and confident...I make it more of a business presentation. Pay attention to the non-verbals...knowing your audience & adjusting your styles to match will result in better interactions/$$

I've been very blessed with great brides and grooms. Whether the groom comes along or not, they've all been great. My only problem was an auntzilla. She was going to make the wedding cake but started a new business and didn't have time. Called me 3 weeks before the wedding, but business was really new and I wanted customers so I took it. She claimed that the bride was more difficult that her but I found that very hard to believe. She changed the design 3 times. Yeah, I let her, my fault. Doesn't happen now. She went from a 6,8,10,12 to an 8,10,12,14 with gumpaste roses and rose petals and was surprised that they price went up about $300. She had to pick up the wedding cake and drive it to the venue an hour away. I was surprised that I only heard from her twice in that hour. I only hope it went well because I never heard from her again.