I am new at all this...do it as a hobby but to also make a little extra money. I have someone wanting a wedding cake in June, she wants to order with me as I already gave her prices for what she wants. I have never taken an order this far out and don't really know how to handle it. Any advice? She wants to know when she should pay me. Do I tell her we should wait till closer to the date? Do I take some of her money now and just put it aside? I just don't know. I am a little worried about it being so far away. I mean, its over 6 months away. Its for June 18th.

Once you have the total price that she's going to pay have her sign your contract (a must) get a deposit ( most times this is not refundable) then she can pay on the cake till one month before the wedding.

what part of it being "so far out" worries you? It's normal to order wedding cakes sometimes a year or more in advance. If you know what part of it bothers you, perhaps we can help address that fear with you.

Just the fact that it is so far away. I know for bakeries and pros they take orders so far out, but I am just a hobbyist. I am afraid I will not want to do this as a hobby anymore, or for some reason I will forget. The not wanting to do it is starting to not bother me as much...because even if 4 months from now, I decide to stop...I can still do 1 cake in June...

I guess just fear of the unknown. This is a first for me. I don't have a contract...does anyone have an example? The idea of deposit and monthly payment sounds awesome...and if I were the bride this would sound good to me too...not all at once.

The cake isn't too difficult...white with small amount of scroll work painted on...so that doesnt concern me at all. It is 4 tiers though...never done anything over 2 directly stacked.

A ten tier cake is just like a 2-tier cake ..... except you stack a few more cakes on top. The process and the skill is the same. so don't let that worry you too much.

If you're going to venture into wedding cakes, you need to decide now how you feel about taking orders like this, because most brides don't order their wedding cake just 2 or 3 weeks before their wedding (in spite of the horror stories we hear from time to time! ). Contracts are a must. A contract merely details out what the bride is responsible for and what you are responsible for. Most bakers take a deposit (10% to 50%) with the balance due 2 to 4 weeks prior to the wedding date.

Thank you so much Indy...I am going to sleep on this one and get back to her tomorrow. I have to come up with a contract. I have wanted to do a 4 tier because they are SOOOO beautiful.

I don't remember where I got this, but here's a sample contract that might help you.

Darn. The attachment didn't work. I'll see if I can find a link.

Here it is. It's from the Cake Boss website.
http://www.cakeboss.com/contract.aspx