I am so excited! My nephew is getting married this summer (end of June) and I will be making their cake as a gift to them. As I have very little experience (none for wedding cakes) I will be making 1-2 cakes per week between now and then to practice my techniques.

I have made a list of questions to send them.  Are there other questions I should be asking so that I don't have any surprises?

1. How many people will attend reception?

2. Will the cake be the only dessert?

3. Will they be saving the top layer for 1st yr anniversary? (1-3 used to determine number of servings)

4. Do they want a traditional cake, cup cakes, cake centerpieces or some combination?

5. What cake flavor(s)?

6. Will they want BC or fondant?

7. Will they want particular fillings?

8. Are there food allergies I need to be concerned with?

9. Will there be a cake topper (and if so I will need to know dimensions and weight)?

10. What colors are they using in their wedding?

11. What flowers will the be using?

12. I've asked for a picture of the wedding dress once it's picked out and a close up of the pattern.

13. How much time will there be between the ceremony and the reception (since I'll be at both)?

14. Do they want a special knife for cutting the first piece?

Additional questions regarding the venue:

15. Will they allow a cake made by hobbyist or does it need to be from a licensed company?

16. Will the cake have a 360 degree view or on a table against a wall?

17. Is the venue on the first floor or are there stairs/elevator?

18. What is the earliest the cake can be delivered?

20. Where is the cake stored until the reception (such as in a cooler)?

21. Will the venue take care of cutting the cake?

22. Does the venue supply dessert plates and utensils?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide me!

You have  certainly put a lot of thought into this.  Good for you.  One suggestion is to focus in on some details first....number of servings needed and cake design.  Then you can focus your practice on just those designs.  When I did a grad cake and a couple of wedding cakes I practiced just the design techniques for those cakes.  Truthfully, it only took one or two practice ones (smaller of course) that I used for other things.  One practice was used for a wedding shower, the others brought to friends houses.  I even did a couple of single layers when I wanted to practice an intricate design for the top of one of the cakes.  The big thing is to put some limits on it.  If you only have experience in fondant and don't want to get into fondant, don't give them that as an option as an example.  If you hate smoothing buttercream and love using fondant, don't give them the choice of BC.  Unless you want to learn new techniques as part of this process.  Same for cake and filling flavors.  Since this is all new to you put some limits on it.  If they want a 4 tier 200 serving with each tier a different flavor and different fillings it will be very overwhelming and expensive research and practice time.  Another way to look at is this... if you were giving them a normal gift or a check, how much would it cost you?  $100?  Give some thought to what this will cost you if you will be doing a cake a week for the next 4 months plus the actual event cake and all the related supplies.  It will cost WAY more than $100.  So yes, this will be a labor of love but think about the cost in your time and pocket book as well so you don't end up resenting it.  Because they will most likely have NO IDEA how much time and expense it will really cost you.  Good luck and based on your planning ahead it will  probably go fine.

Thank you Denetteb, this will help.  The design will certainly be the hardest for so I have been saving off pictures of things I want to try.  Then I'll see if I'm good at any of them and build the design from there.  I've mostly been looking for elegant cakes with aspects that I've done before or think I can do.  I have provided them with a list of the cake flavors that I have made with success and let them know if they want a particular flavor that isn't on my list they will need to let me know soon so that I can find and perfect the recipe.

I'm also thinking of what will be my back-up plan should this turn into a disaster!  Either way, I'm really excited and looking forward to all the trial and error. Thanks again.
 

maybe i'm different--i am definitely old and crabby/curmudgeon in training but your list would overwhelm me

Wow...this is a lot of great information!  I think I better print these off and go through them very carefully.  I can see where it would be overwhelming for them let along me.  No, I don't want to worry about food allergies and I guess I don't want to offer making cake center pieces for all the tables (what was I thinking ).  This is why this forum is so useful.  Thanks everyone!
 

AK8 & Irene are right. That list is overwhelming. You do need all those answers, just not all at once.

Also, they probably won't know how many servings they need. This is where you get to shine. You get to ask some of these ?s during the consult & guide them through it all.

To start, ask them the date, how many guests they expect, & the ceremony & reception location.

Ask them to bring photos of cakes they like & anything hat can be used for inspiration (dress photos, invites, etc.)

Thanks DelicousDesserts.  I do have the date, place and approximate number of people.  I'm not sure when I will be able to meet with them in person (for a tasting) as they are in NY and I'm in Chicago.  I will start by having them start looking for cakes they like and back off on all of the other questions for now!  Take it slow so they aren't overwhelmed.
 

so what are the logistics on this

y'know don't make it easy on yourself for your first wedding cake

oh is the wedding in chicago please say yes

Yes, the wedding is here in Chicago.  It is not too far from my place and I know the bride and have met her mother a couple of times.  They know I just started doing this so their expectations aren't too high but I would like to wow them if I can.  So lots and lots of practice.
 

i traveled from tennessee to do my neice's cake in california

so it's quite a production within quite a production to pull off a long distance cake

just hoping you don't have to go through that

('cause i'm dying for yah here  ;)

oh wow awesome

really good

you know them already--perfect!!!

K8, I actually did a long distance cake last year (one of my first). I traveled from Chicago to DC for my granddaughter's 1st birthday.  Brought all the fixin's to make her cake with me.  It was indeed a pain, not something I would care to attempt for a wedding though. Certainly not with my limited experience at least!
 

wow--that's a big deal--long distance cakin' is not easy--not for the timid~~

awesome--this sounds like a really nice plan for you

glad you only have to deliver locally this time!!!

Can I also suggest that you keep it simple? Sometimes the wow comes from a great execution, and I think the simple, but perfectly stacked and frosted, cake makes the most impact. One of my favorite cake decorators is glass slipper cakes in san fran. her cakes are so tasteful and just immaculately frosted. I take my inspiration there. 

One side note: i baked, decorated and delivered a 5 tier cake for my sister's wedding last July. In order to keep my personal freak out at a low, I took 1/2 a Xanax. Really. It took the edge off my nerves and I was able to sail through the assembly, despite the fact that I waited an hour to get into the "cake room". 

Jen

Edited to add: only my sister's wedding would make me have this level of nervousness.

What is the approximate number of people?  If it was me and I was going this as a gift I wouldn't offer a tasting.  They have already agreed to have you do the cake so they trust you already.  Give them your tried and true flavors and have them just pick from the list.  Also if you need or want to work on BC skills like piping you don't need to practice on a cake.  I did a lot of practicing on the bottom and sides of an upside down cake pan.  I took part of a batch of my BC, piped, scraped it off and re-used it over and over and over again.  When I was working on a scroll design I tried to do a little for 15-20 minutes every day.  It was pretty easy since the icing was just sitting there on the counter waiting for me. 

I like the idea of the xanax Ellavanilla .  I went through the glass slipper website and I see what you mean about her cakes, absolutely gorgeous.

Right now they are planning around 150 people.  In an effort to not make it more difficult on myself I may just go with more manageable sizes (manageable for me that is) in 3 to 4 tiers and then have a sheet cake in the kitchen to add more servings if I need it.  I love the idea of using the cake tins for practicing pipping.  I have been using a  practice board (well it's a cutting board in it's real life) but it's flat so doesn't give that real feel.

Thanks all!

When you practice on the pan, just put in on a piece of non-skid so it doesn't slide around on the turntable.