Hi All!

So I am starting to get into wedding cakes and am having an issue with servings. I am only doing smaller tiered cakes but brides are saying they need X number of servings - and I am torn on how to handle this

This is what I have been doing - I use Earlenes chart for party servings and my cakes seem to feed what she says (3 cake layers 2 filling layers). My price per piece is the market value in my area $3 per piece for BC and $4 for Fondant to start (that is just the cake baked, and iced, or covered in fondant).

BUT now that brides are coming to me, the servings are obviously smaller for weddings, but that is decreasing my per slice price. So where I can go 70 pieces x $4 for fondant cake for party cakes - that is really too big of a slice for wedding cake pieces and I am closer to $2 per fondant slice for a wedding cake.

Does this matter? Should I have a party pricing list and a wedding pricing list? Both reflect my per price base? Or do brides just get a discount in a sense since their pieces are half the size of my party pieces?

HELP!

Your wedding cakes should actually cost MORE.  More slices, more money.  So your regular 70 slices x $4 would be $280, smaller slices means more servings, so say 100 slices in the same cake, times $4, would be $400.00.  $280 for party cake, $400 for wedding cake.  Weddings come with more pressure, higher standards, and extreme stress - you need to get paid more.  You don't need two different price lists, just two different serving charts - one for parties and one for weddings.

You just need one serving chart and prices for buttercream and fondant. Wilton's is the standard. If they choose to cut their pieces big they need to order more cake. I find that typically the Wilton chart is accurate. Not everyone wants cake and there are always those "just a sliver for me" women. A 1" x 2" x 4" piece of cake is actually quite large! When I actually measured it out and looked at it it was a substantial piece. Do not charge less per slice for weddings, that is insanity!

Thanks for the response - so for an 8" party cake say that is 4 inches high - you would say that serves 28 like wilton? Because I have people like my husband who cuts it like a pie and not the grid who says 15 slices - so how do you mitigate against that? Do you tape a cutting chart to each box?

I trust a caterer to cut it right I do not trust the average person too.

@kcampeau  -  640Cake is correct, you just got turned around in your thinking (happens to me all the time, lol).     Here is a superb visual aid for both bakers and costumers to show exactly what a "serving" of cake should look like:

"Cake Serving Size Examples made of paper or cardstock"

http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/689515/cake-serving-size-examples-made-of-paper-or-cardstock  

Earlene's chart has larger servings than the Wilton chart.   In my part of the county (CALIFORNIA),  when people talk about "party servings", they are talking about a 2"x2" piece of cake cut from a sheet cake which is 2" high; NOT a 4" high cake with two layers. 

I just made, cut, and plated (served), a wedding cake yesterday for about 80 guests at a cousin's wedding.  I intentionally made far more cake than needed because I knew the couple had a lot of family visiting and could send home cake with lots of different people after the wedding.  The cake was served after a restaurant lunch, and the 1" wide by 2" deep by 4" tall slices (a standard USA Wilton Wedding serving) was more than enough dessert for most.  About 1/3 of the plates were left with some cake on them by the time everyone left the venue.  If I had cut according to Earlene's charts, there would have been a LOT of leftover cake on the plates because the servings would have been too large after eating lunch. 

If you are selling wedding cakes, YOU MUST know how to get the recommended number of servings per cake BEFORE selling it to a customer.  YOU will have to practice cutting and plating so you can then speak knowledgeably to your customer about how they can get that number of servings.    If a trained staff member at a venue is told to cut a cake into wedding slices, they will cut the appropriate, smaller servings.  If a friend/relative/mother/aunt/grandma at the wedding cuts the cake, it's anybody's guess.     I strongly recommend that you provide each customer with a cutting chart (many available online) and provide that with the cake.

Thank you I realize that now - okay so for my party cakes which I do more of right now - all these non caterers are cutting them so do I go more by Earlenes chart? Or do I go with Wilton and provide a cutting chart diagram to show the slices are possible

And BTW I have taken cake circles and Wiltons is possible less a few slices just in case for party servings - the issue is I know how to cut a cake but others do not.

I use the Wilton wedding servings for all cakes (except 3d or odd shaped).  I've NEVER had anyone say that they did not have enough cake. On the contrary, they cannot believe how big the cakes are because they are not used to seeing 4" tall tiers.  Pick the servings that you want and use it for both party and wedding, whether it be Wilton's party/ wedding, Earlene's or your own.  It will make it much easier on you and you won't have clients questioning why wedding cakes serve more and why are they are paying for more servings than if you call it a birthday cake, kwim?  

Just make sure your clients know what standards you are using so they can decide whether they need more cake.  Others are correct in that not everyone eats cake, only has a tiny piece or not all the invited guests arrive, etc.  

I don't provide a chart, but I do have one on my website for clients to reference.  But, sure, you could provide a chart if you like.  That's the beauty of having your own business.  Do what works for you :)

As others have said, the *industry standard* for a wedding serving is 1"x2"x4".   If you cut that in 1/2 and lay the pieces on top of each other  you have a 2x2x2 sq - the same as a party size!!    Make yourself  pieces of styrofoam or wood in those sizes to show brides.  Let them see what the serving looks like.  They will have a much better understanding.  You cheat yourself out of many $$ if you use different charts than the *industry standard*!  

I remember Several times having people order like a 12" R to serve only say 15 people because they wanted *huge* servings.  Fine, let them order more - it means more $$ in your pocket.

Once I had a mother/ adult daughter come in.  After some time the daughter finally settled on a style & size and they left.  About an hour later mother comes back and orders a 16" R to be added into the design "because it wasn't opulent/big enough for mom! I found out after the wedding that that tier was left over - never served or given out.    

You are selling yourself short if you quote ANYTHING other than "industry standard". People are trying to compare "apples to apples". If you provide "Jethro" slices you may not be selling at a fair, competitive price. ....fair to YOU that is!

I would include or reference a cutting chart on ALL cakes.  If I was sold 100 servings, I need to know how to get 100 servings. Then it is the customer's own problem how they decide to slice it. Personal cakes in my own house with my own family is sized in "lumps". The kid's refer to the standard shell border on a round cake, yup a 4" high round, cut in wedges. They want "one lump", "two lumps", etc....now in their twenties, that is still how they ask for a slice of cake at home. (In their teenage growth spurts it could be 5 lumps at a single sitting!). So if I was buying cake, I would adjust extra to cover my voracious teenagers and cake. I would not expect a cake provider to "cover" their super portions as "standard" servings. And I think MOST customers understand that.

As simply as kakeladi explained it above, a "party" serving is twice as big as a "wedding" serving as it is assumed wedding cake is serving AFTER a meal. If it was the old "cake and punch" weddings of the 70's, maybe you would want to order a large quantity of cake to serve more to guests.

Let the customer decide, under your direction...give them the chart, and there will be plenty of cake to go around! (And you won't be undercutting yourself on price.)

Here's a post I wrote about how to cut a wedding cake that will provide a link to Indydebi's fabulous "how to cut a wedding cake" information which she allows to be copies and freely shared with others (bless her heart!)

http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/824092/how-to-cut-a-wedding-cake