Hi Everyone,

I just got my first Wedding cake order!!!!! Yay!!!!! I was just talking with the mother of the bride (whom I work with) and she just gave me the ideas that the bride has. Any help anyone out here would give me would be greatly appreciated.........

The instructions are as follows:

"I would like white fondant to cover the entire cake, possibley both sections done separately so I can keep the top portion (For our first anniversary). Cake will be triple chocolate with lattice impressions in the fondant with silver ball accents (look like bebe's/silver nonperils). Flowers in (Indigo) blue frosting (Roses). I would also like a blue fondant rope running along the bottom of each layer. (This is a two layer round or square cake, no preference). The bottom layer will be served to the wedding party (12 people). I would like slab cake to serve to guests, Half chocolate, half vanilla. There will be 250 guests." There were no specific instructions for decorations on the slab cakes.

I have some ideas on what do do and how to do it, but I would love some more ideas that could possibly make it better and bring some things to mind that maybe I haven't thought of yet. I'm working on some sketches now to give to the mother to take back to the bride, so hopefully that will give me some more feedback from her that way too.

Also, I'm really stuck as to know how much to charge for soemthing like this, and how large the slab cake(s) should be to be able to feed 250 people.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!

Have a great day, and Happy Decorating
Melissa

Congratulations!! Sounds like the design is set. I would do 6-10in cakes for the wedding cake. According to wilton serving guides a 12x18 will serve 98. I would do a buttercream with a bottom border for the sheet cakes. No real need to get fancy-no one will see them! Do you have a price that you currently use for sheet cakes?

grab the pricing matrix in order to figure out what sizes you will need to feed everyone

Just an addendum to dodi's suggestions there. when they say that a 12x18 (half-sheet) feeds 98 they mean a double layered cake. the single only feeds 40-48. On your sheet cakes don't go any less than 30, (walmart charges 22.00) so definitely don't undercharge yourself on those even if they are plain. Especially if they are double layered. I would then charge 1.00 or 1.25 per serving on the sheet cakes and 2.00 per serving on the wedding cake. I would do 2 layered halves and one layered quarter for the back room cakes.

Anyone have any design ideas though, I'm coming up a little dry there.

Thanks again
Melissa

When she said 'lattice' pattern, does this mean the quilted look?
There are a few nice designs on this site, including the pic in this link:
http://hometown.aol.com/szcakes2/page170.html

Having both tiers quilted might be a bit much, but I think the quilted and striped effect is very pretty. Of course, instead of the carousel you could have the roses.

wow, that's a great cake..i wonder if it's fondant or bc???

Here is the link to the other cakes by the same decorator, including the descriptions of how each one is iced.
http://hometown.aol.com/szcakes2/page53.html

As you can see, there are a few cakes with the lattice theme and some in buttercream, some in fondant. [/url]

Usually when doing sheet cakes for a wedding, these are not displayed, but cut back in the kitchen and served to guests (usually a bride w/ a small budget will do this to keep the cost of her cake down). These do not need to be decorated, as no one will see them. Blue roses?!?! hmmmm...

I agree with allison-don't make yourself crazy over the sheet cakes that no one will see. I would do a border to match the blue and leave it at that. I can just see you spending all this time making beautiful roses and they get hacked into and no one even gets to see them!

Thanks again everyone for your help and suggestions, it's greatly appreciated.

I gave the bride some sketches and suggestions a week or so ago, but I haven't heard anything back from her yet, so I don't know what to think.....I know the wedding isn't for a while, but I would like to keep communication with her you know what I mean.....

Thanks again, and happy decorating,
Melissa

Well everyone, just thought I'd give you the latest update.

Just spoke with the mother of the bride, and the bride wants the sheet cakes displayed along side the wedding cake.

Now I have to come up with some kind of decorating ideas for the sheet cakes.......*starting to pull my hair out now*.

Thanks again everyone, and happy decorating.
Melissa

Ummm...
How do you say to your guest, "No, those cake slices are for the wedding party only; here's yours."!???

Edited to add: Oh, wait, I'm not referring to your decorating or anything. It's just that if the sheet cakes are going to be out with the wedding cake, how do you say one person gets this slice & another gets that slice?

As far as the wedding parties slices. I would suggest to the bride that she inform her party to get their cake after all of the guests have gotten theirs. Have whoever is cutting the cake not even cut into the layered cake at first, just start in on the sheet cakes. That way no one will think anything about it. I doubt anyone will care where the cake comes from just as long as they get some. I'm not sure why its important to her that the wedding party gets the layered cake...but why try to wonder what someone else is thinking?

I think that using the lattice design on the sheet cakes would tie them together with the wedding cake itself and look pretty displayed with it. Possibly keep the center of each plain and in an oval shape with lattice work around, nice borders and some blue roses on a corner, you might even put initials in the center of the ovals???

What about the border of the sheet cakes decorated like the wedding cake (of course), & a cluster or bouquet of the blue roses in the center and maybe trailing rosebuds? OR, if that's too much in the center, you could do small matching blue rosebuds all over the sheet cakes (1 rosebud per slice?). Actually, small rosebuds may make the blue look daintier?

Well, maybe then it won't seem as though some people are worth less to the the wedding couple than others, IMHO.

(I'm sorry, but I keep remembering a DR. PHIL show where the bride had 2 receptions! One was peanuts & punch for the guests and then the "real" reception was a sit-down meal & wedding cake for the people she really cared about. Dr. Phil said he wondered which one he'd have been invited to. Judging by her look, I'd hope he liked peanuts! )

Could the lattice design work with rosebuds? Or is the whole rosebud thing too Costco? (Don't get me wrong, I love their cake with whipped icing!)