Yay!! but at the same time OOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!! I AM SO NERVOUS!!!! I am just getting ready to open, so I haven't even had the time to think about exactly how I am going to have this tasting set up!! I need tips PLEASE!!!!!! How should I set this up? Should I set her up with cupcakes of the flavors she wants to try, should I go ahead and make like 4in cakes....I have several different cakes, fillings and icings to choose from. I am sure during the consultation/tasting her mother will be there so I really I think I am trying to impress her lol (this is a long-time friend from school) She's booking her consultation and is full aware that construction on the bakery isn't complete, so is fine with just doing an informal consultation here at my house. Any tips for making it as "formal" as I can out of my home? I am just nervous, please no shoot me downs, try to be as positive as possible with responses lol! I am already freaking out enough! It is next weekend...ANY GOOD IDEAS for making this experience for her as great as possible, and it will make a good "practice run" for when the bakery is open!!!(again, shes fully aware and fine with doing this in my house!)

Congratulations on your bridal tasting and future shop! Everything will be fine. Just be yourself, and enjoy showing off your cakes.

Debbie B.

i dont know if its positive to tell you to calm down and take a breath! presumably you have some time to get organised, so you can do your planning. there are many ways to organise a tasting - and many posts from the pros on how they do it, and almost all differently.

preparing 4 inch cakes is more work than you really need to do, and a heck of a lot more cake than she can ever eat in one day. same for cupcakes - even if you make a small batch and can divide it up to flavour, it will still be more cupcakes than she needs to taste your work. and unless you charge for this, it can get pricey - especially if she suddenly cancels, are you happy to freeze the specially prepared samples? some people do go to the extra cake level, but it (and the cost of doing so - do you charge, put the fee towards the cake...?) is worth thinking about. and will you box up her left overs from the sample, if you do go the mini cakes route?

many people have a selection of cakes in the freezer, just vanilla, chocolate, maybe another - or any left over batter gets baked and frozen. then you can pull out a slice (or two) of vanilla, chocolate and X. if you are baking a different flavour, is it possible to take a scoop of batter for a cupcake?

do you want to let her have a free choice? if so, if that means baking especially, are you going to charge? again, gets back to providing mini cakes.

as for fillings and icings, many people make a plate with uniced cake, and little bowls of icing to mix and match (there are some pretty pictures of how this looks kicking about). of course it can be nice to present a proper looking slice of cake too, so it depends. again, are you limiting flavours? its not so bad to just put different flavours in bc, but if its fillings, you maybe need to look at freezing, or using a bit from what ever you happen to be making that week.

you say your sure mum will be there too, but you do need to be sure - you dont want bride, mum, dad, groom and grooms family piling into your house expecting cake! some business welcome lots of people, some limit numbers, some charge for extra samples, some dont let kids in, some have a kids play area...

some people offer juice or coffee etc, some stick to water. my thinking is water is free, and wont interact with how the cakes taste!

theres no wrong way to do a tasting, as long as you arent loosing money. theres plenty of people that do it one way for a while, realise it doesnt work, and then switch it up. have a look at your area too - if everyone charges for tastings, you can easily do it too, if they dont, what makes you unique/ special that you can charge?

have all your info ready. delivery charges, price per serving - what costs extra, how to pay, stand hire/ deposits. some people like to whip out the contract then and there, some like to go away and do the math to make sure its right, and maybe send the contract/ information form within 24 hours. theres some contracts/ info forms on here - handy to have so you can get all the info you need (no of servings, colours, is she sending you colour samples etc), and remember to tell her everything she needs (cancellation policy, how to pay etc). with regards to how to pay, since she is a friend, is she expecting a discount - have you already discussed this? best to be prepared just incase!

do you also have a cancellation policy for tastings? many people dont, and then get caught out. so whether or not you charge for the first one, if thats cancelled at short notice, most people seem to charge for the second!
xx

I don't own my own business, but it would seem to me if you set up a nice table (as if you were having an afternoon tea party) with her wedding colors mingled in some way (if you know them). I personally would do cupcakes, because you can always freeze the leftovers for other tastings or a snack. I would do as brincess_b suggested and do the icing and fillings in bowls, so they can mix and match. I would give her a listing of your flavors and maybe let her pick out 4. Even just making 4 is a lot of frozen cupcakes. Also, if more people show up this gives you extra servings. I wouldn't want to eat 4 cupcakes though, so maybe a way to take home what she doesn't eat. If you didn't want to be stuck with a bunch of cupcakes, since she is a friend, maybe make up a box of 4 mixed flavored cupcakes for her to take home to fiance if he doesn't come (I would be impressed by this). Be organized! Sit down and make yourself a to-do list so you don't forget anything...colors, pricing, contract, delivery, etc. HTH

My idea was cupcakes, let her choose maybe 4 flavors of cake, 4 fillings, and maybe have two of them decorated with fondant just so they can get a taste and feel of the fondant, if they choose to go with a fondant cake (or maybe I will just decorate a mini white fondant cake with some of the left over batter. I was planning to either freeze extra batter, or just go ahead and make extras for friends and family to enjoy! Yes, I am charging her and her mother $25 for the tasting, and it will go to the final price of the cake later. I decided to use my Mother in law holiday house on the water, she has it very nicely decorated and would be much easier than a last minute clean up of kids toys and messes at my house (her house is like 5 mins from mine) TAKING A DEEP BREATH, TELLING MYSELF I WILL BE FINE. lol!! Having flillings in little bowls sounds nice...I have nice little platters and bowls to set things up in....THANK GOODNESS this is a slow week for me so I can have time to organize and pull myself together lol!!

Does anyone have or know of any links to other threads similar to this one, or links to pictures of how the "pros" might set up their tastings?? I was just reading on another thread to look through the topics, but OMG that might take DAYS of searching one by one....!!!

its easier to use google to search here, i find. so 'tastings, cake central' (or consultations) brings up lots of results.
xx