So, here is the cake that I am refunding. I was so dissappointed with this cake. It was lopsided and everything. I feel so sorry for the bride, but I didn't know what else to do.

I delivered it today. I didn't have time to redo it or anything, so this is what the poor bride received. I am so dissapointed in myself. I never wanted to be part of a brides nightmare. Dang it!!!

How would you all deal with this.... The wedding was today, so I have not heard from the bride on how horrible my cake was, but I want some words of wisdom on someway to make the bride feel okay. Is there even a way???? Or did I truly ruin this brides wedding?

Anyway, here is the cake:

First let me say that we are always our own worst critics. Our eyes look at cake in a way that is different than everyone else. You are the only one who can say "it's not my best".
That being said, if you are truly unhappy with the cake, then the right thing is for you to make contct with the bride before she calls you ( if she intends to). Only the two of you know what was envisioned. If the final product doesn't match it, an acknowledgement is step one in making it right.
I truly doubt that it 'ruined' her wedding, but since there is no do-over, it might have been disappointing to her. A refund doesn't take it away, but paired with an apology, it is a huge reflection on your integrity.
The best thing to do is to tell her that you don't feel it was your best work, you would like to offer her a refund and ask her if there is anything you can do to make up for it. She may say it was fine, no refund necessary.
We're going to have to suck it up at least once in our careers. Someone said my cakes look great but don't taste good. I know that's not true and everyone has their own personal taste, but believe me, it cut to the bone.
Hey, if we were all perfect, pencils wouldn't have erasers. Don't be discouraged!
Hope that helps!
Sharon

I agree with sugarplum-I highly doubt that you ruined her day. Afterall, this is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. Far more to be excited about than dissappointed. Also, let me say that I have seen TONS of cakes at weddings that looked ALOT worse than what yours does and there were no complaints whatsoever.
I'm sure you are dissappointed if this wasn't a display of your best possible work, but everyone has bad days. As long as the bride hasn't called to complain, I don't think you need to offer a refund. If you really feel your service was inadequate and want to offer her something, perhaps you can offer her a free anniversary cake top next year made fresh? If its still eating at you, call the bride and ask about her satisfaction with the cake. You just might be pleasantly surprised!

Don't be so hard on yourself!! I do not think that there is anything wrong with this! It may not be 100% smooth, but I find it VERY hard to completly smooth buttercream. I always stress myself out about cakes. My Advice: take a long bath and relax!!!

I does look a litttle rough but still very pretty. Personally I would take a few tools along to the set up to smoothe/fix things as needed before adding the flower topper. It looks like a fondant smoother and a viva towel might have fixed the icing some. Sorry you're so disappointed. I can understand your thoughts of refunding though. Is this what the bride specified and you just don't feel like you delivered what she wanted or is it purely that you don't fell you did your best? I'd call her if it continues to bother you. i think it couldn't hurt, and I'm sure she'll appreciate it whether she was satified or not. And I agree, it does say a lot about your integrity.

Hugs,
Carol

I pro-actively made a refund once. As I was showing the bride and groom how to cut their first piece of cake (I always help them with this), she commented, "which tier is chocolate?" This look of horror came across my face as I told her, "Oh no! I made them all white!" She said that was ok, but I felt SO BAD! I emailed her the next day and told her that while she said it was ok, I felt bad that her special day was not perfect because I didn't make the cake part chocolate as she requested, so I offered a $75 refund since it wasn't exactly what she ordered.

She contacted me when they got back from their honeymoon, saying they had rec'd the email while on their trip, and they were very impressed that I would do that for them especially since she had not specifically requested it. But I saw that look of disappointment on her face.

That $75 was the best PR money I ever spent.

Deb, Good for you!! That's called going the extra mile.

Deb, Good for you!! That's called going the extra mile. People remember that.

My major concern isn't that the icing isn't smooth, it is a home made whipped cream icing (very difficult icing to smooth) My major concern is that it is lopsided. Thank you everyone for your kind words and words of wisdom. It is good to know that she will only be dissapointed, that I didn't ruin her day.

I am still dissapointed with myself, but I have to move on.

Thanks you guys!

Do you mean that it's off center? Sorry but I just can't see that it's lopsided.

Wow, I expected a disaster, only to find a very pretty cake! You are being WAY to hard on yourself, TPDC!

As mentioned earlier, if this bothers you as much as it appears to be, I would reach out to the bride first with a "fix".....BUT, looking at the picture, I'm having a difficult time seeing any lop-sidedness.....so it's possible you're being very hard on yourself unnecessarily....or the picture isn't telling the whole story! I think the cake is beautiful and I would not expect any kind of refund if I were the bride!

Cheer up....it happens to us all!

So, this is what I emailed the bride.

"Thank you for allowing The Perfect Day Cakes to make your wedding cake. Due to the fact that the cake did not meet my standards I would like to know how I can make this up to you? Please let me know at your earliest convenience. If you are on your honeymoon, please enjoy this relaxing time away. You guys deserve it!"

I will see what happens and keep you posted. Thank you for the kind words everyone. I do think my pictures don't show the whole truth. Here is another picture that shows the off center and lopsided part of it better.

I agree that you are being a bit hard on yourself. I'm going to guess that you get a bride who was pleased with her cake when you recieve a return e-mail.

I use whipped cream icing quite a bit but make sure that anyone getting the cake realizes that it will not be completely smooth. It's a good lesson for the next cake. Make sure the recipent understands this and signs off.

Your cake looks very nice. We all have had those days. It could have been worse - the cake could have collapsed. When I did a square teired cake I was obsessing over the corners that gravity instisteded on drooping. Keep smiling.

I believe we are our worst critics.

It looks ok to me. try the roller to smooth the icing. It is so quick and easy to do and hides a ton of flaws. I am sure you are judging yourself way to harshly. Let us know what happens.

In a case like this you wished the bride thought "the cake is NOT the most important thing about their day"

on the other hands for some of you in the wedding cake business we want it to be!!!!

I think it all depends on what the bride was expecting you show integrity let's hope she does, I think you should get paid

Thank you everyone! This is why I love CC. I do agree that I am my worst critic, after that my husband. Both of us thought that the cake did not look even or centered.

I do hope the bride was happy with her cake. I guess I will find out in time.

Icingandsprinkles- a nice thing about this cake was it was not the most important part of her day. They didn't even want to get a cake but her sister and mother demanded one. They were planning on just having Strawberries and Cream. So, since that is the case, maybe it won't be that huge of deal to her.

TPDC - You are being way to hard on yourself! From the pictures there appear to be a few bumps, but over all I think it is simple and beautiful.

With cakes such as this, it's hard to hide the flaws. You are doing the right thing by contacting the bride and letting her know that you (personally) are not satified. It will go a long way.

Personally, I think you will have more problems out of the other two guests that wanted the cake more than she did... At least your not dealing with them!

Although I am new at this and I'm practicing, it took me forever this morning to smooth out two BC
cakes. I don't know how you do this on a regular bases without pulling your hair out! I nearly pulled my hair out on practice cakes!

Hang in there...

I think the cake looked nice. Sure, it's not perfectly centered but the bride might not have even noticed it.

Oh sweetheart, you are so hard on yourself, lighten up. This is a very nice cake and to the untrained eye, it's perfect I'm sure. If she says anything, offer a refund less the ingrediant cost. I bet she was happy with the taste and looks of it. I know I see every flaw in my cakes and cookies and everyone else that knows nothing about cakes such as brides and other customers are thrilled. You did a good job and you did the right thing by emailing her and what you said shows you have integrity and grace. I'm sure she will use you again and drop your name as a recommendation to someone else.
I know I've made cakes that weren't perfectly centered and you know what the bride said? OH!!!!!!! It's perfect, just what I wanted! I'm sure she thought the same about your cake. If it will make you feel better, I would have you do a cake for me, REALLY.

I don't think it's a disaster! I did a wedding cake where one tier looked a little lopsided, so I took it off and put a couple of dowels in one side that stuck up a bit and it corrected the problem and no one ever knew!

it doesnt look that bad... and im sure you didnt ruin her day, shes marrying the love of her life... i dont think she'll let a cake bring her down.

It doesn't look bad at all to me. I like it! But since you're not happy with it, I think you worded your email very well leaving it up to her to let you know how she felt. IF she wants something from you I would just offer her a discount on a future cake or a free 8" anniversary cake or something. I DO understand how you feel, we tend to be perfectionists, don't we!

I think it looks nice! But I'm not your worst critic, you are...I think it will all be okay in the end, your cakes are awesome!

Your cake looks far better than my wedding cake! The decorator I hired to do mine had the wrong flower color, the cake had really flat tiers, and just didn't look like what I wanted. Even then being a non-cake person I knew it just wasn't a good cake.

Guess how long I thought about it at the reception? About two seconds! I saw it and was like, "eh, it doesn't look like I expected and the colors are off"....."OK NOW WHO WANTS TO PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!"

The only reason I remember of course is because I got into cake decorating myself and have since looked at the pics and picked it apart with my newfound "cake eye".

I used to get worked up and it finally dawned on me one day. If something happened that I did not receive what I thought i was getting, I would not hesitate to make a complaint. No news is good news. Most brides I know rarely honeymoon right away.
I personally would not have said that I was not happy with the cake. I would have asked how everything went with the cake. Just smile and it will be fine!

If she did not care about having a cake in the first place, then I really wouldn't worry TOO much! I agree with what everyone else said but I have to add....

Were they happy with the TASTE? Don't forget that the cake is essentially dessert. I'm sure it was DELICIOUS!

My boyfriend wanted me to respond for him. I make the cakes, he critiques them. He said "I don't see nothing wrong with it, and usually people are drunk by time they cut the cake, no one will notice a thing." On a more sensitive side, it looks nice to me. But you are a perfectionist and I understand. Don't sweat the small stuff. You didn't ruin anything. Keep up the good work!