Has anyone every had or been to a cupcake or cake tasting party before? If so share your ideas on what they did or what you did! I'm planning on having on in April but I'm clueless on what i should do like how many flavors to do, decorations,surveys, time, etc... All help would be greatly appreciated.[/b]

Hmmm, I had it suggested to me to do a tasting night also. I haven't even started brain storming yet.

I would love to know as well. I saw a thread about this a few months back and they were talking about charging $2 or so.

I am torn on that. I would love to charge $5-10, and guarantee like 3-5 minis and wine or something. To at least cover some of my expenses and then I could try out new flavors. But I doubt my friends would want to pay (maybe they would) and I wouldn't want to do it with the public.

I think wine with friends would be fine, but check with ABC if you chargeor open it to strangers.

Just a suggestion, do a practice on your friends. Don't worry about it. Just do it. Or just go all out and invite clients. It will turn out fine.

You have to weigh the variables of paid vs. free. Will you get more without? Or just eaters? You can write this off as advertising/PR expense.

I had a cupcake tasting party last year with 10 women, all of whom I knew. I charged $5 and gave them a $5 coupon for a future order. They were able to try 8 different flavors. I made standard sized cupcakes and cut them in half and served them on plates. It was a fun evening and I was able to get good feedback on my flavors.

I think I'm gonna just open my tasting party to the public and take donations. I'ma let them know what the donation money will go to.

I was thinking about having a tasting party, but turning it into a bunco party to entertain the guests. I was going to charge a nominal entry fee, ($2-5) and have about 5 different flavors for each guest. I was also going to have a raffle at the end (charging $1/ticket) and raffling off a scentsy warmer or something to that effect. If i didn't cover my expenses with the entry fees, I'd definitely cover them with the raffle

I do a tasting where I invite everyone who has contacted me with with cake inquiries. It's a free event, but it's only for interested people. We don't advertise it, you have to contact us for information to hear about it. We do it 3-4 times a year, and I provide every type of cake I have. This involves 12 different cakes as well as a build it yourself station with basic flavors, frostings and fillings, so that the customer can mix and match and build their perfect cake combination. It took a few times to get it how we want it, but we have a system down now. My last tasting had about 130 ppl at it... It seems to work well and now I don't have to do individual tastings unless they're from out of town, or a last minute order.

I had a tasting party a couple of weeks ago. I invited past clients as well as co workers; neighbors and a few friends of friends. I had five cake flavors and two cupcake flavors. I did not charge. I just didn't think it was appropriate. I also had other vendors participate, Mary Kay, Park Lane, a salon and a cookie artist. I got 3 orders that day, and a fourth one a week later. I served wine, coffee, the cakes and cupcakes. I was open for three hours and it went very well. I'm planning on doing another one, but on a bigger scale. It was a great way to try out new flavors and get feedback without an order being a disappointment or a do over.