Last night I was asked to do a Bridal Show at a local bar. About 15 vendors were asked to come and promtote their goods to the brides. It was a great idea and a lot of fun. They had the limo and horse drawn carriage outside, then all of us set up on 2 floors.
Anyways, one of the vendor has a store on the main street in our city and she is sorta the first place brides go to learn about all the different vendors and where to order the photographer, limo, cake, food, reception hall etc.. So she asked me to bring in a fake cake for display and my business cards. I told her if she already had a cake person I did not want to step on their toes.
She answered that the brides don't like the cake person she has as she is really really expensive!! SSSOOO I am thinking ---- really really expensive--- $10.00 a slice or sooo ------ right????????
So I ask how much is this really really expensive cake person?????
I hope you are all sitting down ---- $2.00 a slice for buttercream and $3.00 a slice for fondant. Well, I tell her there is no sense in me coming to her store because my prices are the same and I think my prices are cheap!!!!!!! Are we counting the hours that go into these beautiful pieces of edible art we are creating????? I guess they just want them for free and we should offer FREE service.
Am I crazy or what??? Am I so far out of it that I don't know prices??? Have I fallen off the deep end and haven't noticed???? I realize I live in Michigan which is really depressed economically BUT still people get married and people need a cake!! Also I am not from a small town but a rather large city.
OK all you smart CC cake crazy people (luv ya) whats the scoop that I am missing???
Set me straight or I will just work for free,
Renkly
You are not missing anything hun! it's those poor deluded saps who think 'it's just cake, right?!'. Personally, my prices START at $3,50 for buttercream, $4,00 for fondant and $5,50 for sculpted/3D - and that's mid-range for around these parts. You ARE cheap (in a nice way, of course!) lol!
People just want something for nothing. No one wants to pay for good quality now a days. It could also be that they are so use to these cheep prices that they are begining to think that that is expensive and there may be cheeper out there. But man, the next price down is working for free! 
Ya know what? I don't think people actually know what goes into making a wedding cake. I think they think that is just a matter of a couple hours and you have a wedding cake. If they only knew the hours and hours put into, baking, leveling, coating, icing, making the icing, making the filling, getting your icing smooth, making gumpaste flowers, decorating the blasted cake and then delivering it. I think they would be amazed and would see why wedding cakes are as pricey as they are. We put alot of time and effort into our cakes.
I hate that I feel that I have to compete with Sams Club and Wal-Mart, news flash I CAN"T.................They all rave over home made cake and the frosting , but want it at discount prices. I refuse, I'm not expensive but I'm not giving it away either. I just wish we lived in an area where the money flowed like some places. 
I can't help you much about pricing because I just do the ingredients X3 formula. This is just a hobby for me right now and as long as I make a little extra to cover some supplies I'm happy.
What part of Michigan are you from? I'm about 2hrs north of Saginaw in a very small dying town.
I have gotten to the point where I have been asking what their budget is up front. Then I tell them what they can afford. I am so tired of people nickel and diming me!
I had a bride try and tell me that she found someone who would do her cake for $1.50 per slice. I told her I think she needed to book with her, because I was not even going to touch that. Even Wal Mart charges more than that.
To me, I think your prices are about right. I charge round about the same and I live in Vermont. Here you don't have much choice but to charge, because the distance you need to travel is rather wide ranged. Do not start working for free. YOU ARE WORTH IT, and your art speaks for itself!!!!!!! 
There are way too many people out there that still want something for nothing, and that just ticks me off to no end. 
So in short, you are doing right!!! 
The thing is, money might be tight, but what are these people paying for things like music, the reception hall, catering, alcohol, the dress, flowers, etc? I'm pretty certain they aren't paying bargain basement on the tux rental or on the brides maid dresses. There's no need for you to undercut yourself simply because you're a small business owner who has to have a more one-on-one relationship with the client.
I do cakes and food, so I get it from 2 directions. People think they are paying just for the cake or the food ... they are not factoring in the labor cost, the travel to pick up supplies, delivery, etc. If I had a dime for every bride who claimed "..... gramma can do the cooking and it will be lots cheaper!" well SURE! You're not going to pay gramma for the hours and hours she will spend baking and cooking .... you're not going to pay gramma for the equipment she'll have already invested in or will have to rent (how much are those silver plateaus?) .... you're not going to factor in how gramma's going to get food for 150 in her Ford Escort as opposed to my van .... you're not going to pay gramma an hourly rate for her and 2 of her friends to work your reception, to keep the buffet filled and to cut your wedding cake correctly so you have enough cake for everyone.
You're not paying for the food/cake .... you're paying for the time, labor and EXPERTISE to make sure your wedding cake is as elegant as you've dreamed it would be.
Thanks my CC friends. That was what I thought.
That is why I told her I would not bring in a cake to her store because I guess I am just really really expensive -- even though I thought I was OK on my pricing. You guys pulled me up - thanks so much!!!!
I have been asked a million times for sheet cakes and I answer "I don't do sheet cakes as Wal Mart and Costco do a really good job!" They will want my sheet cake at Costco prices and I am not even going down that road.
Thanks for answering - you guys are the best!!!!!
I do cakes and food, so I get it from 2 directions. People think they are paying just for the cake or the food ... they are not factoring in the labor cost, the travel to pick up supplies, delivery, etc. If I had a dime for every bride who claimed "..... gramma can do the cooking and it will be lots cheaper!" well SURE! You're not going to pay gramma for the hours and hours she will spend baking and cooking .... you're not going to pay gramma for the equipment she'll have already invested in or will have to rent (how much are those silver plateaus?) .... you're not going to factor in how gramma's going to get food for 150 in her Ford Escort as opposed to my van .... you're not going to pay gramma an hourly rate for her and 2 of her friends to work your reception, to keep the buffet filled and to cut your wedding cake correctly so you have enough cake for everyone.
You're not paying for the food/cake .... you're paying for the time, labor and EXPERTISE to make sure your wedding cake is as elegant as you've dreamed it would be.
AMEN-AMEN and who's going to clean up all that mess that your guests and wedding party leave??? 
Boy, I get so tired of hearing how little brides can get stuff for...one day I'm going to SNAP, and say something I'll regret... 
I actually had a bride ask me one day how much my food cost would be for the food on her reception menu!?!
..... I actually had a bride ask me one day how much my food cost would be for the food on her reception menu!?!
When any reception site or hotel kitchen or even KFC tells a bride what their cost is, then MAYBE I'll share that information.... until then, they remain in the 'you've got to be kidding me!" column for even asking that!
Okay, MI is econimically depressed? I live in KY!! Where they think $1.00/serving for buttercream is high! I actually had a lady ask me could I do BETTER than $1.00/serving for a cake to serve 100 people covered in basketweave and flowers! Oh yes, and when they go to WalMart they find that they are paying more!!!
Indydebi: I'm with you girl. I quoted $5.00/person to a friend who is pres. of the local cattleman's asso. for a Christmas Dinner. They were going to grill ribeye sandwiches themselves and asked what I could do. The $5.00/person was for 3 different types of coleslaw; potatoes fixed as they chose and a variety of desserts (cheesecake, red velvet cake and cobbler most likely). They said they could do it cheaper. So, the wives provided the desserts and my friend's wife cooked baked beans and coleslaw and they BOUGHT baked potatoes from a local steakhouse for $1.00 each! But, HEY their decision and we are still friends. But, I betnext time....they'll rethink their position! LOL
Beth in KY
My wedding cake was $4.50 a serving. Why oh why do people think a good cake is going to come at a Wal-Mart discount rate?!
I had my first piece of Costco sheet cake today. All I can say is you get what you pay for!!!!!!!!!!!!
You want to pay a small price, then you can eat cardboard. So now I guess I will offer sheet cakes BUT at my price. Then the choice is theirs between yummy or cardboard.
KY - I think you must work for free!!! Seriously, have you added it up, are you earning anything???? Or are you just crazy in love with the art of this???
I have never priced a wedding cake at Wal-Mart. Do they charge by the serving? how much?
I am just beginning to do wedding cakes and had considered starting at $1.50 per serving, but after doing a tiered cake this weekend I decided there's no way it would be worth the time and effort at that price!
Stand your ground! You're worth what you're asking.
2-3 dollars a serving is pretty standard for a very well made wedding cake here in Pittsburgh. Buttercream is 2, fondant starts at 3, filling is a flat rate of 50 dollars regardless of serving size. So really, we can get anywhere between 2-5 per person around here without looking twice. I'd like to live where people would pay for 4 dollars for buttercream as stated above!!! I just paid for my wedding cake, and it came out to be about 3.50 per head for a pretty ornate 3 tiered wedding cake in fondant and buttercream.
PS I HATE walmart. Its killing all small/local revenue! No wonder people want a full sheet cake for 24 bucks?!?!
When you guys price out your cakes by the slice - what chart do you use???
Wilton has a wedding cake chart for how many servings per cake but it seems like pretty small slices. Wilton also has a chart for party cakes-- which gives a larger piece of cake.
Then there is also Colette Peters book and her chart. It does make a BIG difference what chart you use to price the cake or the number of servings. I have seen where a 6" cake can serve 8 or 12, big difference.
So what chart do you guys use?????
90% of my business is weddings, so I would use the Wilton chart as an estimate. If the chart says it will yield 48 servings, I tell people 40-50. If by some weird circumstance I'm not the person cutting it, I know they won't cut it according to chart so I tend to round down.
That said, I'm one of those irritating people who doesn't really use charts ... I've been doing this for so long that I just know what size cakes I need for a wedding for 100 or for 150 or for 200. I don't charge a bride for 95 servings or 115 servings because that's what the chart says ..... I charge her for 100.
I will say that these threads have made me much more aware of "how many servings" from each cake, so I have been flipping to the cake chart to confirm my thoughts on the issue. I've added this to the many things I've learned from CC!
Like when I make icing .... I know the crisco amount is approx 1-1/3 cups, but in reality it's "two big glops from a wooden spoon".
In no way, shape or form am I agreeing with your customer regarding pricing or anything else. I'm merely pointing out a possible reason for the misconception people have about cake decorating. I think it's just like anything else; if you haven't done it yourself, you have absolutely NO idea what is involved. Before I decided to do this, I baked cakes all the time, I slapped some frosting on it and called it a day-I think that's the general impression eveyone has. It wasn't until I did it myself did I realize what all is involved, and how much TIME it takes. And I'm just starting-the cost itself knocked my socks off.
I don't know what it would take to make your customers understand why the pricing is what it is-maybe demostrate some different flowers so they can pick what they want-and mention a wedding cake would take 600 or so of those particular flowers....let them see just how much skill is required and what all goes into making a labor of love.
Another thought, maybe you could buy some Sam's or Walmart cakes for tastings. Let them taste/compare both and they will realize you do get what you pay for. Not only will they feel good about the pricing and not second guess themselves, but they will pass the word about seeing flowers being made, how much time it took, and especially mention the price is definetly worth the cake.
I agree that your prices are NOT too high. My nephew's wedding cake (BC) recently was priced at $5/person and that is in a small rural town in VA.
With that said, perhaps you shouldn't have been reluctant to showcase your work at this lady's business. I wouldn't worry about stepping on somebody else's toes. If this it THE place that brides go then it sounds like a prime place for you to have an in. Successful business people do not just give business to another person because they don't want to step on toes. The customer should be allowed to make their own decision and if they don't know about you they can't choose you.
Of course, I think you were hesitant because of the pricing factor more than the toes factor. In that case, by advertising at the SAME price as this other baker you are educating the vendor and future brides that this is a reasonable price. They are more likely to accept the price if they see that two seperate bakers price their cakes the same way.
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