Been doing wedding cakes but I'm doing my first bridal expo soon and was told that a huge national grocery store chain would be there with wedding cakes.............Really??????? REALLY???????? Is this unusual??? I have to admit I'm irritated. Everything I make is from scratch and I use nothing but IMBC. I wouldn't dream of scooping bulk Crisco/conf sugar icing from a bucket and slopping it on a previously frozen box mix cake. And these groc store chains......have you seen some of their designs? And executing of those designs???? And they are a huge part of the reason we struggle with people not wanting to pay for the quality they are getting. I feel like they shouldn't be there with my competitors and myself. I worked sooooo hard as a nurse for soooo long to build my commercial kitchen n put countless hours and free cakes and tons and tons of research into opening my business. I'm sure my competitors did the same.  And (I cannot name them) are a corporation......they do not belong there in my opinion. Have you ever heard of this? 

Try not to get too upset.  Brides have all kinds of needs, tastes and budgets when it comes to their cakes.    An expo is just that, an opportunity for everyone who wishes to show what they have to offer, grocery store chains included.  Brides who want custom cakes will bypass the grocery chain and find the baker they wish to have.  Corporations are not evil, they too have hard working employees, even if some consider their cakes to be horrible.

Yeah, there's a grocery store here that does the expos and doesn't even bother to give out samples. There are also some larger bakeries who show up and their quality and pricing is equal to the grocery stores, so there's not much difference there.

That's interesting. Ok thank you both and thanks for your time you took to respond! 

and yes, it does stink to have the lowballers there, by the way.

Low balling yes, esp in an area that tends to be that way anyway. Thank you. :) 

Honestly, that wouldn't bother me.  If my work is superior to others and when brides look at, and taste sample of, my cakes versus their cakes, and yet choose the store cake, then they would never have paid my price or appreciated my quality.  I'd rather do a few well executed higher end cakes and a dozen average ones.

I totally agree. Everyone that is a wedding  vendor has equal right to be there. Different budgets for different brides. If your product is superior, the brides looking for a superior product will see that. If your product is too costly for some brides, then there's another option! Look at it this way, you wont have to deal with brides looking for cheap cake!

Seems that every grocery store has a wedding cake on display and Sam's club too. Really, that IS an option for some brides who can not/ will not budget for custom cake.

A car show has Fiats and Lexus. 

Like Jeff posted above, let your superior cake shine. GL!

True. It will weed out some. Thank you.

I have a feeling the majority of brides might want the personal touch of an independent cake baker vs grocery store.  I know I would!    

I agree DogLoverWK!! 

EXCUSE ME!!!! I am so offended by your snobbish comments. How dare you say that my work is less artistic than your is just because it cost less to produce and purchase. What the heck!! Go look at some of my designs and tell me that what I do with buttercream isn't art. I have worked with both fondant and gum paste but I find that painting with buttercream is a much more challenging medium than using cookie cutters to cut out shapes with gum paste.  Furthermore,  I can't tell you the joy it brings me to be able to produce a beautiful wedding cake or party cake for those who just don't have the money to fork out hundreds of dollars for your hoity toityness. Give me a break!!! SHEESH, THE NERVE!!!

Easy there...The fact is that there's often a qualitative difference between grocery store cakes and custom cakes (I say often because a lot of custom cakes aren't all that.) The OP made the point that she bakes from scratch, doesn't use crisco icings, etc, and that's a qualitative difference that's going to cost more than a grocery store cake. I do custom cakes and 98% of mine are buttercream and don't use cut out gumpaste shapes, so categorizing custom cakes that way is just as insulting if I chose to be insulted, which I don't because I don't really care. There's a market for all price points, which is what most of the responses said. 

@  Costumeczar... No, the commenter (OP?) was saying that grocery store bakeries shouldn't be at a bridal show. ! In my opinion this commenter  is the very definition of a snob. She made  broad statement by inferring that grocery store designers are not as passionate about their art as she is. I am talking about this comment "Have you seen some of their designs? And the executing (sp) of those designs????" People should not generalize like that unless they are trying to offend others. You expected that I shouldn't be offended by the commenters statements however; you said,  "I do custom cakes and 98% of mine are buttercream and don't use cut out gumpaste shapes, so categorizing custom cakes that way is just as insulting" isn't that what you said? Yet you expect me not to be insulted by her remarks. basically you are insulted because I am not insulted by what you are insulted by??? I get so annoyed at people who have an exaggerated view of their work and think that their taste is superior to others they deem to be less passionate!. They should get off their high horse and not take their self so seriously!

@Kellig Take a chill pill. Passion has nothing to do with taste buds.  You can be the best decorator in the world and your cake can taste like poop. I actually thought your first post might have just been sarcastic, but then I see your reply to someone who questioned it. Just take a break from the internet for a while cause it's full of things that you don't agree with.

i agree with you, kellig --

this has been going on for a long time -- the fact that some people like you rightly get offended/annoyed/dissed by some posters who write that they in general are better than other cakers -- all of us know the drill -- the last poor chick got made fun of on top of everything else -- her spelling was corrected -- so jr high -- this whole post is about how the poster doesn't think grocery stores should be at bridal shows -- there's another thread about what to do with sheetcakers --

then other cakers come up and and say things like 'oh there's no offense here' 'that didn't happen' like nobody said, "I wouldn't dream of scooping bulk Crisco/conf sugar icing from a bucket and slopping it on a previously frozen box mix cake...they are a huge part of the reason we struggle..." and that's not offensive? seriously? 

what if we owned it and apologized and moved on sowing seeds of respect and dignity along the way -- 

btw-- "using cookie cutters to cut out shapes with gum paste" most all custom cakers make gum paste flowers with cutters -- 

but all that to say i think we have seriously improved on this board regarding these issues -- used to be much worse down and dirty -- we really have improved -- but if one person has this response (like kellig's) let's try to listen and realize where we can improve some more -- 

Thank you K8memphis, and you are right, I should have waited a bit before responding to the posts. I probably could have made my point without being quite so blunt. I am sorry to anyone that I have offended.