What Would You Charge For This Cake?
Decorating By tysmom Updated 10 May 2006 , 11:46pm by jennianne
I met with a potential bride this evening and she wants the cake below - she is only serving 135 - so I told her to save money she could cut back on the # of side cakes.
What would you charge her - she wants 4 side cakes with the 3 tier and fountain and that display system (or something close to it).
I would appreciate any feedback you may have on this.
Thanks
Tammy
Sorry I cut off the top of the cake it is just a 2 layer 6".
Also instead of real roses she wants buttercream.
Dang that looks like a lot of work.....if you are just going by the number of servings (135) but I would pad the number a little bit and add about another 30 or so for those pesky people who didn't RSVP so that would be about 165 servings then take the top tier out of the servings but it could be like "12" serving tier....so technically you are up to about 200 "servings" for this cake including the top tier...starting at least at 3 dollars you've got yourself a 600 dollar cake....or because of all of the detail and extre free standing stands and such you could easily go up to 5 dollars a serving...which would make it 1000 dollar cake....and that is just for buttercream.....are you going to have fondant? Is the florist going to provide the flowers or are you? Are they real/fake/or do you have to make them out of gumpast??? This could be one big income of a cake for you!!!!! 
I'm curious to know what other people think.....but I would at least say no less than 500 for the cake.....it looks like a lot of work!!!!
Oh and don't forget to include the fountain costs and deposit for it all.....
In San Diego for a decent cake: $5 per serving for BC frosting and BCfilling. Add more for good filling, gumpaste, supplies, delivery, set-up. Check with your local bakeries to see what they would charge. Add a rental rate for a fountain (get a deposit for anything you want back!).
Boy I thought my next wedding cake was big. But this is the biggest one so far. I agree I would charge at least $500.00 plus extra for the fountain and if you have to make your flowers then I would charge somewhere around $2.00 per flower.
Good luck. Can't wait for the finish product.
mrsjah
HI All!
as for sizes, if your bottom is a 16, the next one should be a 12" and then an 8". Try to keep your graduation by 4' whenever possible. It looks a lot nicer in my opinion. I find that when you do the graduation by 2" the cake takes on a stovepipe look. Sometimes the brides want this, however, then you do it
As for pricing, I charge a min of $2.25 here (from my home). I don't charge for pipe work, I know I need to though. Don't forget to get a hefty deposit on those stands too. Another thought. If she really wants that whole look, you could offer to do dummies for the extra, a lot cheaper but she still gets the look.
Good luck
bestest
Dawn
I totally agree with lsawyer. My instructor told us to charge a minimum of $5.00. I thought it was alot so I asked to make sure. He said if your cake is from scratch and using your own stuff (like lsawyer mentioned) it's a good price. He also mentioned that sometimes the brides don't get your tiers, etc. back to you so that's included in your price.
540.00 dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just thowing that number out there at 4.00 a serving ..............
Well .... In Los Angeles and in San Diego you would have to shell out a lot of $$ for a cake like this. $ 5 a serving minimum. Then extra if you are going to set it up. And I don't bake for money often. When I do though I add on another $ 25 or whatever you feel is reasnoble. Also, I give the bride a list of everything that is to be returned. That's it.
For brides that want the dramatic and impressive look, I always suggest doing dummies. The cake you have pictured would be way more then your bride needs. I always have a dummy available to show them that no one would know the difference. Some people charge the same amount as cake, however I charge half the price of cake. This cake is a simple design.
Where the cost comes in is the extras ie.. stands, fountains, candles etc. If you do not have these things you will have to rent or buy them.If you have to rent them, pass this on to the customer, plus your fee and trouble for picking them up and returning them. If you have to buy, then charge enough to rent them to her with a separate check for a refundable deposit, of course all returned in good shape. I also make a list for the bride so she will not forget anything. Don't forget to take an extra extension cord, just in case the table is not close to an outlet.This cake also has alot of greenery, you may have to get some sort of ivy to wind around the large part of the stand, you will then have to try and match the green with BC leaves. As for the cost of this cake, knowing your area and what prices people will pay will depend on what you should charge. Certainly large metro cities will get more for this cake then perhaps a rural area. In my area, simple BC gets 1.75 per serving. I add the cost of the top by size and serving even though they may save it. According to Wilton the 16 will serve 100 and the 12, 56, even if they cut it larger they should have enough. I would make the 4 sides 8" dummies. I also tell my brides that for some reason they need more cake, cut the topper, and I will make another one for their anniversary, that seems to relieve them knowing that they do have a little more cake. So in this area, Iwould charge 469.00, and that would include the rental and delivery within 20 miles.I hope this helps a little.
Wow! That is similar to my wedding cake! I had so much cake left over it wasn't funny. I was passing out whole cakes to guest to take home. My husband's aunt made our cake and she charged us $600!!
Thank you all so much for all your help!!!! 
I am going to check my local craft store as they sell the candle tiers - as for the fountain she said a regular fountain would work (did not have to be oil) - instead of 8 side cakes she is going with 4 (two per side). I wil be buying all this stuff plus making the ribbon bows and roses that go on front of the votives as well as the lights. I will have to check and see what I can do for the individual stands. I know I can buy them but they are pricey.
Thanks again for all your help - I will keep you posted on how this goes. 
I would charge at least $500.....that is a lot of work!
Good Luck! and let us see how it turns out!
im in ny. the when i did a large cake with many side cakes i charged 2400.00 but again thats ny. here is a partial pic of mine. i agree with doing some cakes as dummies, dont forget the stands and fountains cost.
tysmom - there is no way you can charge her just over $200 for that cake (at the going rate in your area)! You have to charge her at least $500, I'd be more comfortable with $600-$700, that is a huge amount of work (those roses alone will take you hours!!!!) - don't you dare let her talk you into working your butt off for a pittance!!! Hope it all works out for you! Oh, and make sure you get a decent deposit (at least 40%), when she agrees to booking you for the cake!
i just wanted to add... the fountain cost 24.99 and the stand with the candle holder stands is arount 300.00 so if you have to buy it make sure you add that in, also check ebay they have cheaper versons ofthe stand and candle homders.. just make sure you cover your costs and get paid for your work as well.
and looking closer at the fountain that is the revolving fountian cost about 99.99
bonjovibabe - I told her the cake would be at least $500 - but I had to work on the cost of ribbon and everyting else in the picture that she wanted. Also advised her that if she does go with me that I require 50% deposit to secure the date and the rest 3 weeks prior to the event. Do you think that is o.k.?
She is willing to go with a regular "water fountain" they have those at Crafts 2000 for about $60.
What kind of deposit do you think I should get for the fountain and the rest of the stuff, I know I can get the glass candle tiers at the same store, will see what I can get in the way of separator plates. I figure I can get the biggest part of the stuff for $100-$200 and make most of it myself.
Thanks again for your help!!!
Definitely charge for the number of servings that cake actually serves, not just the number of servings she needs. That would be getting a lot of cake for free. Use your base price per serving, add the extra charges for flavors, fillings, decorations (if you do that), then add for the display materials (cost/rental charge), then add flowers/etc.
I'm sure you already knew that, but I don't want you to forget anything and get underpaid!!!!
I think 50% up front and the balance 3 weeks beforehand is just fine. Are you purchasing the stands, fountain, candle holders etc with a view to keep them for future use? If so, I would charge her a nominal hire fee for it all (say $25 - $50), but secure a deposit that will cover the replacement costs of everything she hires (including any postage costs there may be). This deposit will be fully refunded if everything comes back to you and in the same condition you left it - if anything is broken/missing, then you replace it with money from the deposit, and refund the remainder. Hope that makes sense and good luck!
Edited to say: if there are things you won't be getting back/ don't want back, then she should be charged in full for it and it should be paid for when she gives you the deposit.
I definitely agree that it depends on where you are. I live in Denver and the instructor said $5.00 is average. He worked at the Ritz in Aspen or Vail (I'm not sure where it is since I've never been) but they charged $14.00. I also believe he said they charge you to cut it too. But I'm sure here in the city they charge more than $5.00 too.....there seems to be alot to take into consideration when pricing cakes.
I would say this girl is exactly like me. I was determined to have the wedding of my dreams and that meant this huge, fancy cake. And nobody could talk me out of it. All I could see was the glamour of it. I wasn't practical at all. I loved the cake but now I wished I wasn't so bull headed! The amount of cake leftover was rediculous. Indiana and Ohio are very comparable. My husbands aunt charged $500-600 and at that time I thought it was over priced and how could she charge that being family. But now that I decorate cakes I see how much work and time is actually put into these cakes. And with a cake of that magnitude the bride should have no problem paying that.
Since you're in ohio.....I don't think you're gonna get away with charging her a huge amount like 600 or 700..I'm in KY; and people try to get you to lower your prices...........anyway....I didn't see this anywhere............will you be buying a new fountain?!?!?! Or do you have one already?
O.K. I talked to the bride today and she wants me to do the cake - (the scaled down version) - I told her it would be $540.00 and I needed 1/2 up front to secure the date.
I checked on e-bay and at my local craft store and can get everything for about $415.00. I will get a refundable rental deposit of $100.
Does this sound o.k. to you all?
sounds like your only getting 125.00 for your time.....i thinks thats crazy cheap....but you will reuse the stuff and thats an initaial investment so maybe not that bad..... try to work deals out so that you dont pay to much out of pocket.... micheals had a 40% off coupon in the paper this week...they carry the fountain.....maybe that could save you 25 dollras there..... hobby lobby has been having bridal blowout sells .....maybe you could get ribbon and flowers for cheap.....
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