I've just be asked to make my first PAID wedding cake and I'm not sure how to charge.  There are only 65 people who will be at the wedding but they want 3 different filled and flavored cakes placed on different stands with a coordinating design...shabby chic and mostly buttercream with some fondant and fresh flower embellishments.  Charging $3 a person seems like too little when it ends up being 265 for 3 cakes that are each decorated. How do I come up with a reasonable price?    

I don't sell cakes - I would need about 10 years more practice first  but it seems to me you would charge per serve of cake not per person attending the wedding, so work out your serving amounts  for the size cake you are making then multiply that by $3 to give you a final cost if that is what you are charging per slice. If they don't want to spend that much they will have to have the appropriate sized cake for their budget.

Three separate one tier cakes on stands?  You should be able to get very close to the 65 servings needed.  Three 8" rounds would do it.  Each round serves 24.  24 X your per serving price = total (+ delivery)

I don't understand how you come up w/265 servings.  As was said, you only need to make 3 8" rounds or at most 9 or 10" rounds.  Maybe even make one 6, 8 and 10" round each on seperate stands would look really nice. It would look like this:   http://cakecentral.com/g/i/2158946/a/2159946/

ACheck out the pricing formula linked in my signature below. If the design is simple $3/serving is probably in the ballpark in most areas, for three 8" rounds that serve 24 each you are talking about $216 plus the cost of the stands and delivery.