Well this is a new one for me, I am doing a wedding cake in May, and the bride contacted me saying the venue wants my license number.

They are being very vague, and I tried asking for the contact's #, but they want me to pass it on through the couple.

I'm a bit weirded out, I've never been told to provide proof of my legality, but oh well. Since I can't get a straight answer from them, do I just send in my business license #? Anybody know?

They usually want proof of insurance, permit from the health department and proof you're a registered business with the city.  I would make copies of all of those documents and give them to the couple to pass on, or tell the couple you could fax all the copies.

Thank you, I'll copy those and send them to her.

Is it common to be asked for proof? Even before I had built up a reputation in town, I was never asked.

AAgreed, there's no downside to providing your license number and proof of insurance.

When there are a lot of local unlicensed bakers, one tactic licensed bakers can use is talking with venues to explain the importance of working with vendors who are legal and insured, so that may be what happened here. Or they may just have had bad experiences with unlicensed vendors in the past.

Always protect yourself and by doing that you are protecting the venue and the client.  I would contact the venue to clarify the situation and then deal with it accordingly.  Post your license so that your customers can see them, this will put them at ease as well. 

Whenever I preview a new venue, I always take a copy of my permit, food handlers license and proof of insurance for them to keep.  This has surprised a few managers.  I also keep a laminated copy in my work notebook.  I think this helps to present myself as a professional.

They probably had an incident with an unlicensed baker recently so they're actually checking now. Some venues in town here do that and some don't.

In Washington state all you have to do is look up a business with the Department of Labor and Industries and it's public record if licenses/bond/insurance are all up to date. We actually get letters from L&I whenever there's an inquiry about our business. 

Generally you can google it, like say "ABC Cakes, Anytown AZ business license". Most newspapers publish new businesses in the business section at least once a month.

What makes me take pause is the fact that the bride is being vague about the vendor contact info. That doesn't sit well with me at all and I would not provide the info without them reciprocating.

WA state DOL 

For Consumers

Business look up

Search business and professional licenses

Ahttp://www.dol.wa.gov/business/checkstatus.html

Under the Search Business Licenses link. I was able to find OP's UBI number, business license status (for both businesses), the name of the owner, address, entity type, and associated DOR record, but no insurance status.

ASorry, I didn't mean that no insurance showing up was specific to your business...it looks like insurance info is not within the scope of the DOL or DOR searches at all. Which makes sense, as insurance is handled by private companies.

I don't know why the DOL doesn't have insurance information. I know the department of L&I does have that, but as you mentioned it's only for contractors. Maybe because contractors work in/on people's homes and most business are supposed to display insurance on business premises?

Either way, i think more places should ask for that information.

A

AI had this happen last year when my daughter got married. When she made it known to the venue that she would be supplying the cake rather than buying from them, they rather rudely told her that whoever supplied the cake would have to be licensed and insured. When she informed them that her mother ( me!) would be bringing the cake from TN to MI for the wedding, they still wouldn't budge. However, when she told them either she was having me make the cake or they would lose her business, they became very accommodating! They didn't care about anything legal they just wanted to sell her an exhorbidantly priced cake!