To me it is beacuse of it's a special occasion and you have to make sure every little detail is perfect. That's not to say it shouldn't be that way for every cake, but a wedding is a sacred event, and the cake is so much a tradition that people want to ooh and ahh at it. It requires a level of perfectionism, and puts added stress on the decorator. Also, wedding cakes are usually larger jobs which incurrs higher pricing.
Just my take, any other opinions?
I think it's because for a wedding people expect to pay more. Way back when people didn't used to make cakes like they do now for a party. No one would have dreamed of paying the cost of a wedding cake for a kids party.
Now many of the party cakes do cost the same as the wedding cakes.
Also, most wedding cakes serve way more people then a party cake does so if one charges per slice cost it would cost a lot more.
To me it is beacuse of it's a special occasion and you have to make sure every little detail is perfect. That's not to say it shouldn't be that way for every cake, but a wedding is a sacred event, and the cake is so much a tradition that people want to ooh and ahh at it. It requires a level of perfectionism, and puts added stress on the decorator. Also, wedding cakes are usually larger jobs which incurrs higher pricing.
Just my take, any other opinions?
Yeah, I've been struggling to "accept" the differences myself. I know a lot of people wouldn't pay for birthday cakes and still want like 2 tier and on the other hand budget conscious couples wonder why are 2 tier birthday cakes prices so much less!!!!
My husband just looks at my stress level when i am doing wedding cakes and says that there's "no room for error" and that's why i stress ....haha...but it's true. The couples' expectation and our (decorator's) own expectations are much higher when doing wedding cakes. So i told myself from now own when a bridal couple asks me that, i'll say that the decoration of a wedding cake is more precise, every little detail is looked into, a lot of time is spent with the couple/bride to ensure all the details are done how they/she wants it. for example, for normal cakes...i don't go into detail on the shade of the colour!! i just say navy or sky blue..but for a wedding cake you have to be precise to match their flowers/theme etc. and i'd finish off my boards nicely whereas with novelty cakes sometimes i cover the board, sometimes i don't, depending on the design & budget of the customer.
"No room for error" .... EXACTLY!
Plus, as I saw mentioned in another thread on this subject, there is the consultation time, the sampling expense, the fact that you're gonna BIT** and complain if the icing color doesn't match the exact shade of the inside seam thread of your bridesmaids dresses. In my case, it includes me delivering it, setting it up, staying and cutting it, and clean up, none of which I do for a birthday cake.
If you tell me that it's ok to just "slap together" your wedding cake, then I'm sure I can make you a heck of a deal!
The typical party cake doesn't involve tiers (or at least, it used to not). When working with tiers, you just have more details to attend to. Plus, like everyone has mentioned, the wedding is an "event" and the clients expectations are higher than for party cakes.
I charge by serving and degree of difficulty no matter what the occasion. If they want a 3 tier birthday cake it is the same price as a 3 tier wedding cake of the same difficulty.
I feel that wedding cakes take up much more planning time. Do I have the right pans, bases, pillars, stand and table set-up? Add to it delivery & set-up and that's sure to make the price higher than a traditional birthday cake.
Ok, so I started a thread similar to this in the business forum before I saw this one. Thanks for sharing some input. I feel a little better about my pricing now. I figure I'll still charge a per serving price for a tiered party cake, but less than with a wedding cake. One serving price for 2-tiers, a little higher for 3-tiers, etc.
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