Well maybe your sister keeps mentioning the cake because it's what you do for a living. As for inviting 300 guests I'm talking about even if it's only 100 guests there is nothing wrong with wanting to save money on the cake. If your are not into cake making then you dont understand all the differences that you proffesionals talk about it's that simple as many of you have found out us laymen only think of the price. As I also said I do understand the reason for all the clauses that you put in your contract I dont have a problem with that I just dont see why you are all shocked that a bride would also have cheaper cakes. To them it's just cake anyone can whip up a sheet cake cant they lol is the attitude of many people as you have also found out.
I got an email from a girl last month wanting a baby shower cake. I was set to do her wedding cake (at quite a discount) until her aunt offered to do it for free or almost free or something. She is still upset about her cake. She said that she has cut her cake out of every wedding picture and she is so sad that I didn't make her cake. The reception was great and the guests all had a nice time, but she is still upset and sad (years later) because she saved $200 and got a horrible cake.
Well maybe your sister keeps mentioning the cake because it's what you do for a living.
could be ... but I took about a 10 year sabbatical and it was still a topic. And it's not just me and her who talk about it. Other people mention it to her when I'm not around. (Like when she's at a wedding, eating cake, and someone comments on how good it tastes, and another person will look at sis and say, "Yeah ... nothing like that crap you had!" 
You make some good points about how 'regular' (non-cake people) think about cakes. No matter what your profession, you tend to forget that not everyone thinks of it in as much detail as you do. I worked in insurance for 15 years and would always be amazed at people who didn't know what their collision deductible was .... until I realized that I worked in that every single day. Everyone else never thought about their insurance until they needed to file a claim!
But it's also the reason we need to educate them on why we take this stance. We are not condemning the bride for trying to save money. But we need to educate them on why we can't do this. It's the same reason you can't bring your own food ..... cooked or ready to be prepared .... into a restaurant. Remove the fact that they sell food for a living, but there is a health and liabilty concern.
Sometimes brides just don't think it thru ... again, just part of the education process. I sell my cakes a la carte and in a package, the pkg includes the plates, forks, punch, cups, and more. One bride wanted to order the package for 100 and then "just cake" for the add'l 50. I said, "Sure .... you just let me know which guests get their cake on a plate with punch in a cup, and which guests get their cake handed to them on their hand and get to drink from the water fountain." She lowered her eyes and said, "Oh. Well. I guess that won't work."
But if all they are thinking of is price, then we'd all be out of business because they'd all go to walmart and get the cheap cakes. But that's not all they are thinking of ... as shown by the bride who selected my $3/person cake instead of the other cake maker who was $1.50/person.
I never said I was shocked that a bride would have cheaper cake.
I AM shocked that someone would specifically come to me because of how GOOD my cake tastes, then want to have half the cake they are serving be from somewhere mediocre.
well, this thread has interesting timing, I coworker son is getting married this summer. I only do cakes as a hobby at this time. Co worker has had many of my samples at work and loves my chocolate cookies and cream filling cake. Her son was complainng about the cake testings they had been on and how he couldn't stand fondant. So she mentioned my cake, for possibly the grooms cake. I was making cake for someone else, so I made a 6 in single layer with filling and sent it home with her. Now I did hear that he loved it, and have talked about doing it as a sheet cake with strawberries. Nothing final or even real details or nothing. But this sure makes me think, if she is serious about it. She better make sure not to upset the wedding cake person. Not sure how things will work, because this future dtr in law is having different parts of the wedding paid for "sponsored" by family members. Kinda weird, but would not want to offend anyone.
I have vowed not to do wedding cakes!! HA HA! Pun intended!!! But I have found this thread a very interesting read!!
Frankly I think you cake professionals need to add a blurb to your "no competition" clauses that says something to the effect of....
"Cakes by other bakers will not be permitted unless bride is offering an open bar and can guarantee the guests will be drunk off their a$$es when consuming cakes, therefore rendering flavor or quality indistinguishable."
HAHAHAHHAAAA!!! Thought we needed a little humor...besides, that's pretty much how my wedding was (I think I was the only sober one!...and my cake was really good, but I only got two bites of it so I don't really remember! I had more cake at the tasting than I did at my own wedding!! HA HA HA!) 
I'm just a hobby baker, friends-and-family kind of thing, and when my little brother got married, they wanted me to do the cake. I offered my labor for free as their gift if they would pay for supplies. They couldn't afford even the supplies. There was no hard feelings about it, I just couldn't do it and neither could they. I did do the groom's cake, though.
A grocery store decorator offered to do the cake on the side for $100 for 100 people, no delivery. The groomsman picked it up and it crashed on the way to the wedding, so of course, I ended up fixing it in my bridesmaid dress (good thing hubby made me bring my emergency cake kit!) 
Anyway, it's been 3 years, and people are STILL talking about how AWFUL the cake was! The groom's cake was completely gone, but we threw out over half the wedding cake! My sister-in-law told me she learned a lesson about getting what you pay for. 
Brides do come to me because of the taste. I have had several brides who had a friend or sister that went with cheaper decorators and were not happy at all, and yes, they still talk about those cakes during the consultation.
I have also expererienced the same response from brides when we go over that clause, probably 90% of them couldn't believe that someone would actually sneak in a grocery store cake.
I'm like alot of others, if a bride wants to save money, let her save her money and get all of her cakes at the grocery store, no sweat off my back! I have plenty of brides who are willing to pay my prices for all their cakes.
I love this thread. I recently went to a wedding that had multiple cakes. One cake was a multi tiered Almond-Amaretto creation that smelled like heaven, and the others were Wal-Mart sheet cakes. The servers handed out the cake and as soon as I put a piece in my mouth I knew I had gotten the âwrongâ cake. I politely threw the slice away and went and stood in line for a piece of the good stuff. 
Reading this, I thought what would you do if at a wedding, as a guest. Your table mates were served the prime rib, and you got hamburgers. Isn't that what this thread is about. Can you imagine looking over, and seeing a nice raspberry torted cake. Then you get to stick your fork in a two layer yellow mass of congealed oil. Oh yeah I'll remember that wedding.
Mike
I had someone call and after trying to figure out why she wanted cake for 75 people for a 150 person wedding for about 20 minutes, she finally admitted, I'm just getting a sheet cake from Costco, who is going to know the freaking difference? Lucky for me, she told me ahead of time. So I had the chance of telling her NO WAY. If I was in your shoes, and just kind of found out, I don't know what I'd do. I'd freak! But I think the best thing is putting it in the contract before it happens!
When I got married back in 1991, I must admit that I got my cake from a small local bakery, it was a 3 tier cheese cake with with fresh strawberries on it. My mother in law made the grooms cake. It is tradition in her family for the mother of the groom to make a traditional German chocolate cake with the gooey coconut pecan frosting on it. I am glad that my bakery did not have a problem with it. No one at the wedding had any problems or complaints with it either, as both cakes were completely gone.
I have to laugh I mean people get a grip here. Okay I truly understand all the problems with being sued and reputations and all but not all of us are rich yes rich enough to afford most of your prices. yes you get what you pay for and all that but have you ever heard someone say "oh the wedding was terrible." why? Was there something wrong with the bride? " oh no she looked fantastic" No dancing? oh no there was a great dj everyone was dancing and having a blast" no booze? " oh no it was open bar" oh the food was no good? " heck no we ate like pigs" Well what made the wedding so terrible that your complaining? "well some of us had really moist delicious cake and some of us had dry cake" lol Years later they will still say how great the wedding was and the pics will look fantastic and no one will think about the cake. Most of the world has been brought up on store bought cakes or box mixes their mom made so please yes put a clause if it's better for your business but dont be shocked by this I think it's perfectly normal for non cake people to act this way if they are on a tight budget. And personally I happen to like the greasy icing on store bought cakes and most of my 10 sisters and brothers do as well since my mom only made super sweet icing when we were growing up.
1. Of the last 3 weddings I've been to, the cake was highly talked about months later (whether positively or negatively). Everything else was forgotten but not the cakes.
2. If you can't afford to pay the price for all the cake to be the same, get your wedding cake from the grocery store. Back home, you can easily get one for $100-$150. Who can't afford that? And if you can't, you shouldn't be inviting that many people.
Well, after reading thru this whole thread, I see both sides of it. I do understand but I also am looking at the bride on a budget. But I see the legal aspects.
As for the one who did a dummy cake, I am confused. If you only delivered a dummy cake, what did you think they were going to serve to their guests? I thought the whole idea of a dummy cake is to have cheap-O sheet cakes in the back?
And lastly, the part I don't agree with is the grooms cake....aren't grooms cakes notoriously 3-D and funky? I mean, not all the time but most of the time, these can be wild. What if you don't do 3-D cakes and they are dead set on having a cake in the shape of a Nintendo Wii as the grooms cake. You cannot provide it and since you won't allow other cakes, you lose the whole sale (providing they find someone else who can). Am I missing something or is this seriously what the stance is?
No snarkiness intended - I just wanted to make sure I understood. Because I feel that confusing sheet cakes from the back and a wedding cake could happen but the grooms cakes are usually different colors and flavors so confusing the two would be less likely, albeit possible. ( And inconsequential, should a lawsuit arise.)
Could I just throw something out there that may need some thought when wording your contract? Some people specializr in weddings only (IN Kansas City we have alot of those) and do not do Grooms cakes, that is the big thing now. I love doing really wonky cakes and get alot of orders for my DELICIOUS grooms cakes, also people like Duff because of the funky factor get alot of grooms cakes. How do you word that? I am not trying to get flamed here, I can take it for sure, but that is not my intent I am just wondering, if the bride wants another liscensed baker to do her grooms cake, will your contracts accomodate that?
Just a thought, but do Bakery/Florist/Wedding Supply shops RENT dummy cakes? If a bride is pressed for money, she could rent a dummy cake for a few bucks and buy Sanâs sheet cakes to actually serve the guest. Hummm⦠new business venture?
I've been reading this feeling bad,because no one wants the extra cake to come from somewhere else. My son is getting married next spring and I would love to make his grooms cake. I made his older brothers so it would then be sort of a tradition. ( Im not sure if the bakery he got it at was upset. Its the frog cake in my gallery)
My skills are better now, I probolly could make a wedding cake also, but it will be three hours away and I will be very busy, so I decided to stick to the grooms cake. Hopefully there will be no problem with the baker they hired. I don't like to upset people. 
I totally understand the need for a clause in your contract, but if you don't make groom's cakes (or whatever) perhaps you could put a special exception in on those specific contracts stating "Only a groom's cake will be allowed". I know it still isn't ideal for those of us who don't want our work mistaken for someone else's potentially bad cake, though.
Luckily, groom's cakes aren't popular here. I've never been to a wedding that's had one, nor did we ever have requests when I worked at the bakery in town.
I could put a sign ,grooms cake lovinly made by grooms mother.
I here brides say how much they are spending on the dj and photographer
and food and then say they need to cut cost on cake and want a dummy cake so the can buy sheet cakes from walmart then I tell them to have walmart make the dummy cake. If they cant afford it don't invite everyone you know. I think of a wedding like this come celebrate with us
and have a nice meal and desert I think that's what people remember
good food good cake or bad food or bad cake
LOL! It is tradition from the south that the grooms family makes the cakes... then it got lost in translation and people do whatever they want/crazy designs now. You make your sons cake, maybe even call the baker yourself and tell her your plan? I never get offended when bride/grooms family makes the grooms cake. NOw if they brought Sam's sheet cakes then get offended, but for god's sakes people you know if your standing in line for the grooms cake or the bridal cake, OR if you are being served whichever, they ask your request.
I just wanted to add a comment......I did a HUGE cake a couple of years ago - it fed 350 - and I knew a lot of the people who attended the wedding. I cannot tell you all how many comments I got from people about how nice it was to be served a piece of the ACTUAL wedding cake on the display table. It meant a lot to them to not feel like "2nd class citizens" (for lack of a better word) - I think it means more to folks than most think to NOT be served a sheet cake from the kitchen.
I will have to get a little gold frame and make my sign add it to the monster bill. ( I hope no one thinks I have a super ego trying to identify my cake).Aww Ill do anything for my 6"5 little boy
On the topic of doing the groom's cakes, I posted earlier in this thread about the groom's cake that I did at the wedding where I didn't do the wedding cake. I won't do groom's cakes for weddings anymore if I didn't do the wedding cake also. If the groom's cake is for the rehearsal dinner, I'll do it, but not at the reception. I also deliver the groom's cakes to the rehearsal dinner venue so that people won't get the smart idea to pick it up the day before and keep it until the wedding! 
I'd pass up the business in a minute if they told me that the groom's cake was for the wedding but they don't wnt me to do the wedding cake. It isn't worth having people think that I did the wedding cake if it turns out to be a disaster. I wouldn't know if anything bad happened, and it's too hard to repair a reputation that you've worked to build.
I haven't read all the posts yet, but I hate to tell you all this, but most bridal magazines SUGGEST this practice to save money so the bride and groom can get the look they want but at the budget price. I know many many people who have done this. I guess since no wedding I have been to has anyone asked about who made the cake, anyway, I can't really see a problem. I mean, if someone asks they can say, the big cake was by XXXX and the sheet cakes were Sams. I think if I had been the bride (this before I started decorating) and my baker had that clause I would be offended myselt and walk away. Brides are very tempremental and I don't know if I would have liked that. That's just my opinion, please don't flame me for it. I do see all of your sides and I can see why you wouldn't want to be thought of as sams class bakeries. But if I bride is on a budget, do you risk losing their business over it?
Just a thought, but do Bakery/Florist/Wedding Supply shops RENT dummy cakes? If a bride is pressed for money, she could rent a dummy cake for a few bucks and buy Sanâs sheet cakes to actually serve the guest. Hummm⦠new business venture?
This has been the hot new thing in the last year. The only problem with it is the dummy really doesn't save the bride that much $$. The decorator still charges for time, decorations (which is where the time usually is), the dummies, and the frosting ingredients. The only thing they save on is the cake but then they buy sheet cakes.
Sometimes, they actually put more $$ in by doing this than just buying an entirely decorated tiered cake.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%