I certainly don't look down on anyone buying a cake at walmart....the thing that bugs me about businesses like walmart is how they want it all....they put business after business out of business like stationary, card stores, meat markets, clothing, groceries, bakeries, gas stati0ns, tire garages, .......well you get the idea...........I mean they put everyone out of business....no more mom and pop stores or stations....just food for thought

I agree too, gidgetdoescakes, these days there is like a supermarket mentality, a lot of people don't realise or forget that when you pay less it doesn't mean you're always getting the same quality. And just to add onto my previous post, I don't think its just that people are too tight to buy a custom cake, I think its more that a) a lot of people don't know the difference between a proper cake and a wal mart cake, or they might like the taste of the wal mart one because its what they've always had. And b) to some people 'the cake' at any event might be everything, and well worth $500, but to others its probably not a big thing, just a requirement.

Yes thats true.....we are all cake snobs in here hahaha.....someone asked me why I was making my own birthday cake, and I said because I make it best lol

I'll be honest: my niece asked me to make 200+ cupcakes for her wedding. I offered to pay for materials. By the time I buy everything (supplies, especially packaging), I will be spending way over $150. I am half tempted to offer to buy her a WalMart cake instead just to save myself the headache.

Its not even about being a cake snob. I would run to walmart for a co-workers b-day cake if I had to
(Why would i living in NYC with a million bakeries.... but anyway...)

I would never go there for a wedding cake. Not for taste. I love super sweet or homemade...
Thats not what bothers me... have you seen the designs? I'm a young girl. Not a 60 year old getting married. Those step cakes were out ages ago. And the cakes in there books aren't much better.

I don't see why you have to insult 60 year olds................maybe they are getting married.......and maybe the 20 or 30 something likes their designs............to each there own.....

my point is, they are hogs and want every dime they can get, regardless of putting many family owned business out of business..........oh and add to those eye glasses, craft stores, the list goes on and on.....and they undercut them all, including bakeries..........personally I don't care for fly sh@t on my baked goods

Ick. You mean dog poop and fly puke, they have traces of poo or rotten flesh on their feet, and when they land on something they puke stomach acid onto it so they can suck it back up with the broken down bit of food in... just to put you all off your cake....

@ gidget I don't think she meant to insult 60 year olds. I do find that my older brides go for older style designs, probably because that's classic and what cake is "supposed" to be for them because those were the designs that were "in" when they were young. I do have some 20something brides order "fountain and stairs" (or whatever) cakes too - but far fewer.

I noticed a wedding cake display at my local Walmart.

I used to eat Walmart and other grocery store cake all the time; never really had a custom cake that I can really think of (mainly as I never knew the difference). I've only been to one wedding since really getting into the cake stuff.

Anyway, while it might not be everyone's first option, I think it's good to have another option.

With weddings, some want top-notch everything, some want lowest budget possible, or some have certain priorities. Growing up, I always saw that limos were a given in every wedding; after moving, the two weddings I had gone to, no limos.

I still have the mindset that a limo seems the tradition (just from where I grew up), but I know that if I get married, a limo is not on my priority list. I'd rather put that money into something else that is more important to me. And some people might feel that way about cake; Cake might not be on their priority list, so finding a cheaper priced cake might be ideal for them (taste aside).

Some people might not understand the difference in taste or quality of Walmart cake vs custom, but some people might not care as long as there is cake.

I personally won't buy a (wedding) cake there - If I'm going to have cake, I'm going to make my own or get something custom as I appreciate these things more now that I've gotten into this, but if I get married, I'd probably ask my coworker to do it as she's really good, and I know I'd be able to get a nice cake for a good price.

Anyway, just a thought. A Walmart (wedding) cake isn't for everyone, but it's just another option.

How interesting is that!

"Hmm", Tiptop57 says with a bit of sarcasm, "Perhaps they could do flowers also since they sell fresh a ones. Perhaps wedding dresses and tux's too because they have clothing! Oh forgot about the wedding rings.........would they have a professional wedding planner onsite - perhaps they can show the bride how to do lovely little center pieces as they have a craft department......."

I do not shop at my Walmart - I really hate finding a parking spot, I hate walking from one end of the football field for aspirin to the other end for doggie food. And you can't just run in and run out again! Finally, nobody seems to smile.

Then there is this website: http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

GIdgetdoescakes: I agree with you on a lot of stuff girl, Walmart is not the store or the company people think it is. I have had friends and family who have worked for them and I have a friend who told me how they do it to put the mom and pop shops out of business. Now, me myself, I can't afford to boy cott walmart because I don't like the way they do business, but I do not like most bakery cakes anyway and walmart is not the only one in that catagory if you know what I mean.

I have a circle of girlfriends who I get together with 2 x's a month and the first time is to celebrate any birthdays in that month(if any) and I always make the birthday cakes. They have a choice of colors and what kind of cake unless I know that won't work, but so far that has not been the case. They love being my guinea pigs( I am a good cook and do a fair job of decorating, but, what I mean by being my guinea pigs is that I choose the design according to what I know about them and the situation and what I am wanting to try. So I get to try out my new techniques on them. The other girls pitch in and buy the birthday girl's meal and I provide the cake. When it came time for my birthday, I told them that I did not want to sound like a snob, but if they really wanted to know what I wanted was to make my own ecake because it would be what I wanted, I had never had the opportunity to make my own cake since being into decorating cakes. So I said I will make my own cake, and everyone can come to our house for a picnic. We weill do outdoor games and invite the guy to be a part of it. We all had a blast. I did a cake very similiar to one I saw on here. I t turned out really cute. I also used a recipe that I found on cake central. It was good!! They love that they get a special cake for them and that it is decorated and is better than the sore ones and I love making my friends happy. It also gives me reg. practice.

when I did the above message it did not have that many typos in there. I don't know what happened, but I got a message after I sent it that said it didn't go. So somehow the typos happened in that other mess. So please over look the typos. Thank you.

Maybe I'm the only one that thinks cake is just cake. I haven't tasted one yet I didn't like no matter where it comes from. ;^) I'm definetely not a cake snob. The reality is, some couples just cannot afford a custom cake, that's all. One of my goals as a cake hobbyist is to become good enough to gift each an every one of my nieces and nephews (all 23 of them!) with a beautiful wedding cake. It will take a huge burden off of their wedding budget and hopefully add to their beautiful day.

Although I don't sell my cakes as yet (still getting legal), I know that when I DO this will be my biggest bugbear- we have several supermarkets in my area, including ASDA (UK, owned by Walmart) where you can get cheap cakes.

I just know that time after time I'm going to get "HOW MUCH???? I can get it for a quarter of that price at Asda!!". Which is fair enough, but when you then explain WHY yours is so much cheaper, I guarantee at least 50% of the people i speak to will still go for the cheaper cake, just because they're cheap- not because they genuinely can't afford what I'll be offering, or because they really do prefer the supermarket cake.

[Maybe I'm the only one that thinks cake is just cake. I haven't tasted one yet I didn't like no matter where it comes from. ]

Cake is not just cake when you put 14 hours of work into it, you will feel very different after spending hours on a wedding cake, most people have no idea the cost of acutally making one, I had one lady who wanted 10 doz cupcakes so she could resell them at $1.00 each tell me after after finding out it would be $2.50 per cupcake (with filling and special flavors) "It's just cake mix and frosting REALLY??? Come on, how much does that really cost?!" Also, Here's the cake snob in me, Wal-mart and most other grocery stores do not make special flavors like pineapple orange mango and caramel macchiato so I can say that they definatley do not taste better than mine, nor are they at all comparable to mine -like I said before I dont have a problem with people who buy from them because they cant afford better but those who have never tasted the difference, and expect the same type of prices[/quote]

for those who want Walmart cakes... then they should go for it. People can buy whatever cakes they can afford. I'm sure these people will get what they paid for.

@lemmers, that's what I think. Around here custom cake businesses are popping up by the minute, so I guess there are people willing to pay The price, but I haven't met any lol. Except for my uncle who got one for his 40th, and then complained it wasn't as good as expected for the price they paid. And by the time I feel ready to go into business, there'll be no room in it! I quoted someone a price for a cake being picked up today and it was only for my ingredients as it is a friend of a friend and I don't charge people extra it was for 70 people and I worked out my cost at 70 pounds, and I got 'what? How about 50? We don't want massive slices...' so for 50 I charged 55. But since this I've decided to add something onto what I'm charging now, not a lot but if people don't want to pay the price its tough, seeing as they are already getting their cake at pretty much cost anyway! Even enough Asda cake for 70 people would cost them a fair bit so from what people have said about my cake they are getting a bargain!

Why do we always concentrate on the money factor in the CC threads and that people can't afford our custom prices?

The true rub in my eyes is many people really can afford it and chose to be cheap in this area. If a person wants a cake with the super WOW factor and provide enjoyment for the guests they will get a custom cake. If they pay more attention to their guests, then catering and food would be more important factor for a wedding. There is an art to provide a gracious wedding and consideration of the guests should be at the forefront of all wedding related decisions. And unfortunately this old world idea is not the trend.............

olleharr said.......
One of my goals as a cake hobbyist is to become good enough to gift each an every one of my nieces and nephews (all 23 of them!) with a beautiful wedding cake...........


You are already there!

what is the big deal about this topic ? TO EACH IT'S OWN !!!

if people want to be cheap, then let them be cheap. People will buy what they want. It's their money, they should be allowed to choose.

A lot of younger people enter married life without a clue. They have no money, but yet they want the most expensive dress, cake and everything else.. it's the older ones that are more wise. The older ones are the ones who have money in the bank and less chance of getting bankrupt nor delinquent.. Most forclosed homes are owned by young couples.

There is also something else that I have run into here and there. I know that cake is OUR lives, we see cake when we look in a magazine about scrapbooking. We see cake when we look at fabric, we even see cake when we close our eyes!! We don't plan dinner, we plan dessert and then dinner.

But, there are other people, people who don't think about cake, or cookies, or cupcakes with fillings and toppings and decorations. These are the people who see cake as, well, just another thing you get for a party, nothing special, just something to slice up and hand to people. It all tastes the same, right? It's, um, just cake.

Yes, I have had people say to me, "what's the big deal about if it shoots fireworks or is shaped like the titanic? It's JUST cake and in the end you just slice it and eat it."

Of course, these people should be rounded up like cattle, and paraded through the streets and we can line up and throw REALLY GOOD cake at them. We can force them to eat REALLY GOOD cake and maybe wake them up and bring them to our side, make them SEE that there is really good cake out there. They need to care.

Tami

.....some people get cheap cakes, not because they can't afford it, some people just don't care.............................

I agree with what everyone is saying. I here is my opinon. Walmart only has cake that was made days before not fresh and limited flavors, they have limited designs they can do believe me I looked. I did my first wedding cake about 1 1/2 ago and they were not able to get that kind of cake at walmart, have it delivered and set up for them by walmart. So if they want a walmart cake let them. If they want true quality cake and from the heart because I know all of us put our heart into every cake we do, Then they will come to you.