I have a cake that I am making for this Saturday. It's a wedding cake that I offered to do as a gift many months ago for very close friends. I'm happy to do it and I've enjoyed the process. Since I left school this is my first wedding cake.

I called the venue to confirm delivery time and ask where the cake table was, what size and if they had a preferred time I could set up before the wedding started as I was also a guest and I did not want to get in the way of other vendors setting up/decorating.

The manager was down right rude! When I told her how tall the cake was she snorted, "That's not all real cake is it?! There will be tons of leftovers!" so I explained that yes, it is a lot of cake but it is what the bride wanted and I'm happy to do so for her.

The rest of the gems from our conversation included...

"Why would you build a catholic mausoleum size cake?!"
"I'll just move the table to the side of the head table since you've made it too big" (Well I have emailed and asked the bride and I didn't know until now that it was in front of the head table or I would have scaled it down)

"No one eats cakes at weddings anymore, you better bring a lot of boxes to haul all that away at the end of the night."

When asked if she had a preferred time I could set up and which entrance should I come in, "I don't care" was her reply.

This is supposed to be a fairly popular venue and I was really appalled by this managers attitude. I could barely get a word in edgewise to ask the appropriate questions about delivery and set up in between all of her insults.

The cake is 6 tiers, two of those are dummy layers and I made the appropriate amount of cake for servings and even asked the bride if she minded having leftovers because I felt it was too much.

I just cannot get over how rude she was. I tried to remain polite and just not say anything snippy back to her, but I feel like this woman is in charge of important events in peoples lives and this is how she behaves? /vent

Sounds like this venue manager is due for a career change, since it's apparent that he or she does not thrive in dealing with others. This hasn't happened to me, yet (knock on wood). Don't let it rattle you. You made the cake how the bride wanted it--after all, it is her cake! Good luck & be sure to post your pics!

Yes, don't let it get to you. people with attitude like that are usually very unhappy people, trying to hide it with attitude. Feel sorry for her bitter, unhappy little life and go on about enjoying yours.

Or maybe she was just having a really bad day.

Even if she was having a 'bad day' or was an 'unhappy person', that is no excuse to behave in the way that she did and I for one would call her on it. Whether you choose to wait before the wedding or after is up to you, but at some point I would get in front of this person and tell her you thought her behavior was extremely unprofessional and her attitude rained on what you'd hoped to be a good relationship between the venue and you, the vendor.

Her comment about how 'no one eats cake anymore' could be answered with 'well, if that's the case, I guess an entire multi-million dollar industry that has spawned countless magazines, websites and TV shows is in for a shock! Perhaps she should tell Martha Stewart it's over!'

I would inquire as to why she was so concerned about left-over cake...or size...or anything to do at all with the cake, since the bride was the one that was purchasing it? Most venue's personnel that deal with weddings try to work with vendors and planners in making the process easier for everyone. If there were restrictions, then they could be addressed politely with an attitude of 'let's make this work' instead of 'why are you doing this'?

If this person refuses to speak with you or apologize, I would go to the owner. Having someone like that on staff does not bode well for a venue that relies on good word of mouth.

I was once called out by a customer who had come in to pick up her cake that through a miscommunication was not ready. I told her we would have it for her that afternoon instead and she left. She called me while she was driving down the road because something was bugging her and she said that while she appreciated the fact that at least she would be getting the cake on that day, neither I nor the baker, who also spoke with her , apologized for screwing up. And she was right! I don't know why I didn't...I usually do...but for some reason I just let it pass thinking everything was OK...but she left feeling like her business was not that important to us. Well, of course I bent over backwards apologizing and then I thanked her for reminding me not to take any customer for granted. And I WAS grateful that she came to me instead of mouthing off to others about bad customer service. I always tried to be careful about providing good service, I became acutely more aware of it every time after that.
You could do this person (and other vendors) a service by voicing your concerns. At the very least you will know what venues to recommend..or not!

I'd be willing to bet that the venue offers cakes as part of their package, and the bride didn't want to pay them for it. I've run into similar situations where they were really nasty about having outside vendors bring cakes in, but they were just mad at losing the sale.

One chef at a VERY upscale and snooty venue here used to tell people that he had made the cake even if he hadn't. I found out that he had told a staff member that he'd made a cake that I delivered. Total jerk move.

I'd tell the bride that the person was extremely rude to you, and let her complain. It carries more weight when it's coming from a paying customer who has the potential to tell all her friends about how nasty the venue coordinator is

costumeczar hit it on the nail That's exactly what I thought.

Sorry you are havng to deal with this! I didn't read every reply, but maybe she'd like to take a piece home along with the one that I would have loved to smash in her face!) Just kidding.

Good luck!

Melissa)

I would call her out, as mentioned above, but I would also contact her supervisor and/or the owner. If I had an employee act like that towards a customer, or a representative of my customer, I would absolutely want to know if my employee was treating people with disrespect. Not cool.

are you doing this as a career? If so, I may be in the minority, but you may want to refrain from the confrontation. What does it really matter? You're not the paying customer, and if she's rude to brides, she won't have a job long. Its been my experience that the cake is often (though not always) an afterthought for most of these people, OR its a pain in the butt because they are always worried something is going to happen to it on their dime.
Again, she had no reason to be rude, but in the grand scheme of things, attract the flies with honey, knock this lady's socks off, and you may get some referrals.
(not that you want them from HER...)
If you're not in this for a business, then I MAY confront someone in the situation, simply because she WAS rude. But don't burn bridges over it if you may have to work in this industry in your area.
Just my two cents, not worth much!