Hello, 

 I just joined this community today! 

 I have a question... I have a wedding coming up on May the 12th. The bride, is requesting a 10,8,6 inch tiered cake. The thing is only the 6inch cake will be real and the other two, fake. How much should I charge, for the whole thing? 

Thanks! :)

Figure out how many servings one gets from the 10 & 8" sizes (if I remember right that would be about 57) and charge 80% of my usual per serving price.  Then add the per serving price for a 6"er (the full 100% amount).  57 times 8 = 456 and another 140 for the 6"er total is around $600.  That's if you usually charge $10 per serving.  

Thank you, for your reply. ^_^

Very little cost is "saved" by having foam "cake". The work and expense is the decorating, and that remains with fake layers. Point that out to the bride who may want to "gift" the real extra cake to visiting family and friends. There are often other gatherings after the wedding where they may enjoy the cake. 

But otherwise, kakeladi nailed it.

Thanks!

It's weird because, they have to pay me and also plan to feed the rest of the guest SAMs Club cake :/ idk, if that's really saving anything....

OH NO!!  Do not allow any other person/company/s cake when you provide the cake.  When what the guests are eatiing is not good Who is to tell them that what they are eating was not made by you?  And when you explain to the customer that they are not really saving anything they usually go with you providing it all.  It's your reputation as a baker on the line!

Kakeladi all the way. 

Also, they planned to serve Sam's Club cake because they think they're going to save a fortune by displaying a dummy cake.  

1. The person who put it out there that going with a dummy cake will save brides big $$ did everyone (the bakers/cake designers and the brides) a great disservice. You still are designing and decorating, whether it's  a sugar and butter cake or a foam fake cake. Trying to convince a potential client of this, with so many bridal magazines inculcating the fake cake as a real money saver  is a near impossibility.

2. If guests pick up your business cards that you leave by your cake, they'll think it's your cake they are eating, not the Sam's Club!  As a caker, I think you want people to like (or dislike) your cake on its' own merit.

Let the bride know immediately that she won't be getting the savings she imagined by going with a fake cake because the work put in is almost the same as with a real cake.  Ask yourself, NadiyahC, "Is the 20% savings going to cover the Sam's Club sheet cake for all the guests?"

20% might cover the cost of Costco sheet cakes, but yuck. Definitely charge at least 80% of the normal cake price for styrofoam tiers, the reasons why have already been said.

I personally wouldn't do a fake cake and let them get sheet cakes, I'd make them get the sheet cakes from me too. Which wouldn't save them a penny and would cost more in the long run.

One thing you might suggest if they're on a really tight budget is to buy a fondant-covered fake cake from you (no decorations on it, just the fondant) and let them decorate it with fresh flowers. If they're bringing in big box store sheet cakes I wouldn't do any baking or decorating at all for them, but if they want to pay you to cover a cake and they can do the decorating, why not.