First Wedding Cake Pricing
Decorating By sugarandbliss Updated 15 Jan 2015 , 10:39pm by sugarandbliss
AHello everyone.. I have been baking cakes and decorating for a few years now and just recently started a side business. However, i have mostly only done birthday cakes. I have a friend who wants to order her wedding cake from me... she is aware this would be my very first! The problem is... its a large wedding - over 350 guests. I am unsure as to how to go about it and am hoping you guys can help me!
For 300-350 guests - how many tiers would you suggest I with - and what sizes? Also, how much do you think I should charge her. She is a friend but I dont want to undercharge, since I am quite aware of how time consuming it will be. Thank you for your help!!
AOh, just wanted to add that I would rather do rounds - since I have never really done square cakes before and the 'client' is okay with that.
AMake sure the wedding venue will accept the cake from you 1st. Do you know the brides budget and flavor's and style she wants? 50 serving swing is a bit large, in my opinion. You need to decide what serving chart you want to work off of. Wilton's and Earlenes are 2 common ones and different from each other. And then make sure the one(s) who cut the cake are on the same page. Then you start deciding what sizes and tiers........and delivery logistics.... You need to know all of that before you can begin to tally up what you should charge/gift. As you already have a business going, figuring out what to charge shouldn't be any different than any other cake. You state you don't wish to undercharge, well then charge her your regular markup and buy her a gift as you would do if you did not do the cake. Best wishes
Edited for error.
A venue may want to see your liability insurance certificate and food service permit, so be prepared with those. The industry standard, and from my many years in the wedding biz, caterers will cut to the Wilton wedding chart, so use that. Also, look into SPS for your support system. That's a big heavy cake. My first wedding cake, was much smaller.
AThank you everyone for you replies!
My friend is also doing cupcakes and a sweet table (catered by somewhere else). So she's not too fussy about the number of servings - She wants the cake to serve upto 300 people. I was thinking of doing a 14inch, 12 inch, double stacked 10inch, and a 6 inch. Using the wilton serving guide, that will get me 222 servings. For the remaining ~80 servings, I was considering doing slabs for the kitchen. I have never done that before, do you guys recommend that?
Thank you so much for your help. While i have done several cakes before, the fact that is a WEDDING cake is making me a little nervous!!
ARfisher, my concern for pricing was because I wasn't sure if pricing should be any different since its a wedding cake! I had completely forgotten about the 'gift' aspect of this lol so thanks for reminding me about that haha! I have been so consumed about making this cake, that I forgot I will be attending the wedding as a guest as well! lol I think i woud like to keep it seperate - ie charge her the normal amount and then give her gift as i normally would. My questions, i guess then, is do you guys charge a different per serving amount for a wedding cake vs. bday/shower etc cakes.
Thank you so much once again!!!
... I wasn't sure if pricing should be any different since its a wedding cake! ... do you guys charge a different per serving amount for a wedding cake vs. bday/shower etc cakes.
There should be no pricing difference between a wedding cake or any other celebration cake. Prices are dependent upon size of cake, your costs, and your time. Charging more because someone orders a wedding cake (as opposed to a birthday, shower, etc cake) could be considered gouging.
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I was thinking of doing a 14inch, 12 inch, double stacked 10inch, and a 6 inch. Using the wilton serving guide, that will get me 222 servings. For the remaining ~80 servings, I was considering doing slabs for the kitchen. I have never done that before, do you guys recommend that?
i mean ultimately you decide of course but here's my two cents -- sometimes a bride wants a particular silhouette -- be it three square cakes or four round or five heart shaped or a hex a round an oval and square shape or whatever for her cake -- so getting the exact servings she needs is sometimes impossible to fit into that profile/silhouette -- so in that case you might need to do kitchen cakes -- there's good reason to do kitchen cakes sometimes -- but to me just because a cake is a lot of servings is not one of them --
i haven't gone & set up dummies to see what works best but you could put your setup as described on top of six 6-inch cakes and get your servings or if you did a 16" round underneath it all you're only 20 servings over so -- just a few things for you to consider -- but mostly why not display all your work when you can -- for as many guests as she's having a nice big fluffy cake will be a welcome and even more breathtaking sight -- go for it --
best to you
AThank you so much for your response k8memphis! I am hesitant to do a 5 tier cake..I have only done two tier cakes before
let me hasten to say a lot of our peers do kitchen cakes just to keep the main cake small/smaller but i mean if you can stack 4 tiers properly why not 5 or 6 but it's your decision -- you just let the venue know that cake is substantial -- no card tables --
...a five tier would look pretty in your portfolio ... 
i did a monster cake once and i had the hardware store cut one inch dowel for me for the bottom tier -- one inch dowel stand up all on their own there's no way to really screw it up -- or do leah's favorite sps -- just do 4 if you want chicken chicken chicken no pressure lol -- no srsly -- do it anyway you want --
just some food for thought -- maybe something to grow into
AHahaha k8memphis, love the encouragement!! Lol Definitely something to think about..I might just go for the plunge! Thanks again:) Another question! For the double stacked tier, it would be double the servings right? So when they cut it, they treat it as two separate tiers right? My q is , won't the bottom cake (ie the bottom 4" cake of the double stacked 8"high cake) have a messy top since the other cake was stacked on it ? I'm sorry if that's a really stupid question, just having a hard time visualizing what the served pieces would look like. Thank you!!!!
yes it would be a little less tidy on top from removing the board -- depending on your icing -- yes double servings -- so you are really doing a 5 tier anyhow -- the double 10" is actually two tiers -- *high five*
and the 6" might be dwarfed a little on top of the double ten -- might want to add a single layer 8 then the 6" or make it a taller 6" or go for a taller 7"
AGreat advise! Thank you so much for your help! Really appreciate it.its so nerve wrecking (yet super exciting) since it's my first ..having an expert like you answer my questions makes it a lot easier!!!
you're very welcome -- be super generous with the time you schedule -- and add in time for proper sleep and eating -- drink lots of water -- get some nuts to snack on for 'fast food' -- i know it will go very well for you -- best of the best to you ♥
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