I am making my first wedding cake this weekend. It is a complimentary cake that I volunteered to do for a couple getting married on a tight budget. I was thinking about boosting business when I said that I would do it. Originally, the cake was planned for about 50 people, so a 2 tier would have worked.
The bride informed me a few days ago that the cake would need to serve 150 people. I have already purchased the supplies, plus a little extra, for the original cake. Instead of a 2 tier, she wants a 4 tier. The best thing she did was decide on simple polka dots and a shell border (easy enough). Originally, they were supposed to be double layers (I am guessing this correct for wedding cakes anyway).
The problem is, I have a job and am pressed for time to bake a cake this size. I plan on baking and freezing and decorating all day on Saturday for Sunday delivery.
Well, with the last minute changes, would it be okay for me to do a 4 tier round cake (wilton pan sizes 6, 8, 10, 12) and torte the layers instead of baking double layers?
REMEMBER, this is a free cake.

In my opinion it will look squatty...plus a double layer cake of this quantity only serves 100 counting the top tier...is she planning on keeping this?

How can someone go from 50 people to 150 if they sent out invitations to only 50 or so. Ask her if that's a real headcount. I know you work, but perhaps in the evening you could bake 2 tiers tomorrow and 2 tiers Tuesday. Freeze them. Then on Thursday crumb coat and ice your first 2 tiers and Friday crumb coat and ice your final two tiers. Keep the frosted cakes in the fridge. Then Saturday stack and decorate.

I freeze my cakes all the time and keep them in the refrigerator after frosting and decorated up until time for delivery. Better to deliver something you're proud of.

She sounds like she took advantage of your kindness.
You might ask for some kind of payment since a free cake for 50 suddenly tripled in size. I find that rude, very rude.

I don't see why not since you had told them you'd make them a cake for 50 then they changed it to 150. This way you aren't out as near as much money as you originally planned. If you are okay with each tier being only 2" instead of 4" I say go for it!

Indefinitely sugget you to go for only that tier which can satisfy all the guest while at proper budget both are important as it is the most memerable event of your as well as her life. Just go for it.

Yeah. She said that when the RSVP's starting coming in, everybody that has responded so far has said they were bringing 2-3 people with them. I want the cake to look good, as I am trying to drum up business. But that's a huge change in the numbers, and they are planning on keeping the top layer for the first anniversary. Also, she sent a text requesting sugar free flavorings (hazelnut, french vanilla, and caramel), since the bc frosting can't be sf. Luckily I have those flavorings at the house.
Then she wanted to use splenda instead of sugar.....NOT....told her that already.
I also told her that there could absolutely be no more changes on her side. I have done a few 2" tiers (for my own kids). I think the 4" look better, but working 10-17 hour days doesn't give me much time. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

This may not be a very popular idea but considering the circumstances....what about having the 2 tier cake decorated nicely that was initially asked for and then "kitchen cakes" for the rest?

This is totally crazy ... You should ask her to pay you for the extra 100 people ... don't kill yourself this will NOT give you any business ... Believe me I did it and It didn't work ...

You should make a cake for just 50 people! That's what you agreed ...

Chonte is right something doesn't sound right. NOBODY tells a bride "I'm bringing 3 extra people! sorry but that's a big lie ...

Good luck!

I am sorry, but if you are trying to drum up business then making a 2" wedding cake layer is not the way to do it. If I went to a wedding and saw that, I would NOT order a wedding cake from you. I would think you made ugly cakes just cause of the height alone.

And as far as 50 going to 150, why would you still kick in the difference? And then she asks for expensive splenda?! This is someone taking advantage of you. You need to tell her you agreed to a cake for 50. She needs to kick in for the difference. Like someone else said, if she can all of a sudden pay for food for 100 more when she said 50, she can pay the difference on the cake.

As far as invites go, if I invite you and those in your hosuehld, I know how many I'm inviting. I invite the husband, I know he has a wife and 3 teenagers, I know I just invited a total of 5 people. I think with a wedding, someone is very aware of that. At my wedding my husband decided to only invite his uncles and aunts, cause that's what we could afford. We sent an invite to his uncle who RSVP'ed with ALL his adult married children with grandkids who DO NOT live with him. My husband called him and told him that invite was for him and his' wife, no one else.

CWR41 is correct. The tiers only add up to 118 servings (2 layers) and 130 if they decided to cut up the 6" tier instead of saving it. I did a wedding in June that served 280. We did a 12, 10, 8, 6 and then 3 - doubled 9x13 sheet cakes to match. We gave them a 4" personal cake separately for the anniversary. What if you did the tiered cake and she ordered sheet cakes of the sugar free nature somewhere else (at her expense) Or have you make them if she buys the ingredients? They would not be as time consuming unless you decorated them to match. I too, work 10 hours a day and have spent many nights baking into the wee hours of the morning. Not fun! Best of luck getting through this.

I would tell her she could have anything she wants (and that you were comfortable making) and give her the cost for those extra things....

everything over the original agreement...+100 (106-112 if you don't normally give away an anniversary tier), the added cost of special fillings (if you normally charge extra for them)

Tell her she needs to let you know before 6p.m. today how she'd like to proceed. If she opts for the changes, let her know when she should/could pay for those changes.

If you accept the changes without charging, I would definitely recommend full sized tiers as opposed to the single tiers.

Our guest list was like that when we were married too. My husband is from such a large family that we would send one invitation but would get a rsvp for 8 because of the kids or an older niece or nephew wanted to bring his/her date. However, we are all pretty close so we took that into consideration when we were planning. Even now, when someone sends us an invite, we have to rsvp for 6. So, I can see how it happens. However, that is a HUGE jump in expenses when it is a freebie.

family is one thing, i come from a large family too but you know how many family members you have and therefore you would include them in your wedding count. if you know uncle bob has 9 kids then you include 10 in you count... not 1 and you send the invite to "The Bob Family". it's ridiculous for someone to get an invite to a wedding and think "cool i'll bring 4 people with me" unless their invite is addressed to those 4 people. i guess everyone has different rules of etiquette
and regardless, like i said if she can find the cash to pay for all these extra dinners then she can find the cash to pay for extra cake.

I reckon I missed the part about what will be served at the reception. I assumed it was a cake only (and hopefully something to drink) type reception.

She is taking advantage of you. Something doesn't make sense in her story, but even if it's true you never agreed to make a free cake for 150, so don't.

I don't think you should do 2" tiers. It will not look nice and reflect badly on your business/skills, defeating the purpose of your generosity. It will only save you in material cost anyway, your labor will be virtually the same.

I agree with everyone that you should charge for the extra but since time is your concern, I would simply tell her that you can not accommodate her request to triple the cake size, that you will make the cake as originally arranged and designed, with no unreasonable design/flavour changes, 50 servings 4" deep. If she wants additional cake, she needs to make alternative arrangements for sheet cakes either with you or somewhere else. If you can, I would make them and charge her. If she gets them from somewhere where the cake is not as tasty as yours, that will also reflect badly on you, as she may not admit that what people are actually ordering is from (for example) Walmart.

If you can pull it off and decide to make the larger cake, I would do 12" square, 10" round, 8" round. Charge her whatever your going rate is, for the additional servings. If she still wants an additional tier for her anniversary, then she pays for that too. You are not a charity, you were doing her a favor to promote business.

Good Luck.

Okay, so where has the OP gone?

Amazing!

She IS taking advantage of you, but it's probably because she's OK with being taken adavantage of..............That's what her "guests" are doing by responding to an invitation addressed to "Mr. & Mrs. Joe Smith" WITH THE NUMBER 5...............She doesn't have the guts to tell them that the correct response is ZERO, ONE, OR TWO-----------not FIVE!!!!!!!!

As for the cake, she'd get a 2 tier for 50 for free and the rest would be on her head--er, wallet. Undecorated kitchen cakes may be a good solution. Just remember, that many bakers don't allow cake from another source because they don't want guests to confuse the "WalMart" cake with their product

I really doubt that you'll ever get any business (that you'd want) from a crowd that has the nerve to triple a head count............because they "can"....DUH! Just don't make your loss any larger than it already is.

JMHO
Rae

Well, I decided that since she sent me 3 different texts with various prices from different stores, that she can just get her cake from there. She made sure to let me know that a full sheet cake from a local GROCERY store, would be $46.69, and that it would serve 100 people....which is what she ordered. What pissed me off was that she sent me that particular text 2 times. So, instead of paying me extra, she got a plain cake. I sent her a message back letting her know, that since that was her choice, she could get the additional sheet cake to serve all of her guests. When first doing cake selections for the bigger cake, she was totally AGAINST sheet cakes, or even square cakes.

Oooooooh I am just so proud of you! So proud! You teach people how to treat you.

WooHoo! You go girl !

She clearly doesn't appreciate your kindness.

Hope she and her guests enjoy her previously frozen, bucket iced, dime-a-dozen grocery store cake

Rae