But Do You Ever Have Brides Who Aren't Picky?
Decorating By Chef_Stef Updated 27 May 2006 , 4:06am by MichelleM77
agh
I'd almost rather have someone who has a definite idea of what they want sometimes. So far I've done 3 brides in a row who are new customers (and strangers), and we've done business completely over the phone and via email (believe it or not), and I've never met them in person...
What I'm lamenting is that most of them don't seem to have a definite idea of what they want. Only one has given me a gorgeous photo from a Modern Bride magazine, but then she completely changed her mind and decided she wants basically the cake I made for the Wilton Course III final cake (huh?). I'm going to call her and see if I can sell her up to something more, um, inspiring for me to make her--there are so many I'm dying to make besides that particular 2-tier, drop-string cake, and she has no books to look at apparently so may not even realize what her options are...
My brides so far have been really like, "Whatever" about colors ("as long as it's red"), style ("um, I don't really know") and even flavors.
Maybe I shouldn't even say this out loud, but just once I'd love to work with someone who finds a picture in a book or magazine and says, "I want THIS." ...or maybe I should thank my lucky stars that I've been given so much, um, free rein on the cakes I've done so far...?
*sigh*
What about you? Would you rather work with someone who says, "Whatever works, as long as it's red and white," or someone who says, "THIS is exactly what I want."
So far, the only direction I've ever been given from brides is the flavors & flowers...everything else has been left up to me. I would so much rather have it this way! Sometimes they will see my other wedding cakes & say...I want something like that. I just use my best judgement as far as the design goes. I take into account the amount of guests...how fancy the wedding is going to be...what season it is..etc & go from there. I think I would so much rather use my own creativity than be told how they want every detail of the cake.
I think the first suggestion would be to stop doing business strictly over the phone and internet. Yes it is easier sometimes, but ideas and information can become misinterpreted or not easily conveyed, as when scheduling a sitting. Face to face, you can go over photos, standard cake with flavors you may already have as a guide, etc., plus, it just more personable. Emails and phones should be left for quick questions and "thank you's."
Templates, like I suggested above, will help the confused or indifferent bride along and make it quicker for you. These include all your cakes, fillings, frostings, moistening syrups, etc. Photos of your cakes or others are also nice to have on hand. You can also ask them to bring along with them anything that would factor into the design, wedding dress pattern or something similar, colors or images they may have.
It is also a way that the client becomes familiar with you and how you work so they can give a better referral. 
Rodneyck I love your avatar!! I just realised it's a cake, very cool!!!
Anyway here are my two cents worth on this subject. I do this as a part time business, I work with people from all over Melbourne, sometimes people that are over 50km(30miles) away from me. I work full time in a business completely different to cakes, and have little time spare to meet with people. A lot of the time it is inconvenient to meet up because of distance, so people just prefer to deal with me over the email. I have had lots of customers whom i've never met or met once when the cake was delivered, and they loved their cake and gave me great referrals.
I think that getting free reign is fantastic, i wish i would get that more often. When that happens, i just find pictures of cakes that are similar or have similar decorations to what im planning to use and I send them to the bride to agree on, so that we're not flying totally blind, and she has an idea what is going on. I detest people telling me "I want exactly this", personally I tell them, that i cannot replicate anyones work exactly, and always endeavour to change something. I just like to be creative.
anyway blabbed on enough. : )
Nati
I really prefer it when they tell me to go with what I want! Some of the pix they bring in to me are just too difficult. They see them on the internet & boy, it's tough to copy.
I was the most un-picky bride ever. I never even picked out my cake...I let my MIL do it. She has great taste, and I knew I would like it. I just told her "white, three tiers, simple and pretty flowers. And I love raspberry". I loved my cake!
My brides mostly pick a cake from my website, call me and tell me what they want. I often don't meet them and still get great referrals. I also ask them to review the cake on my site and they often do. I've never had anyone say "do whatever you want." This would scare me, I think. Too many "What ifs"
I would hope to think that I wasn't picky. My cake baker came to my in-law's house along with all of her binders of cakes she had done and pics of cakes out of books/magazines. I picked a design style, the type of flowers, the flavors at that sitting and then I sent her swatches of colors that I wanted the fondant flowers to be. Really easy. We were done in one sitting and then she mailed me a beautiful sketch of what the finished cake would look like using all of the elements I had chosen. The finished cake looked just like her drawing. She had originally gone to school to be a sculpter/artist, so that helped with the sketch that she sent. I hope some day to be the cake artist that she is. I think part of why it was such an easy decision was that I had a particular style that I like. I have a feeling that a lot of brides just don't have a clue of what they want and that turns into a terrible time deciding on a cake style.
Michelle
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