Okay, so I'm trying to get my home business going and decide to start phoning around to get some business...so I phoned my recreation department to talk to them about Canada day cakes, who does them, would you be interested in me that sort of thing....as he is telling me what they normally do my mouth just about hits the ground! They get a 5 foot by 2 foot cake decorated! 
So now I'm thinking do I think I can do this? That's one huge cake! Has anyone done this before? How much would I charge? I was thinking of adapting one of boween's cakes of the American flag laying loosely on the top of the cake....but now I don't know!!! Would I be crazy taking this kind of challenge??? Am I qualified enough? He also said the man the did the cake last year supplied him with 10 individual cakes for each province....that is a ton of cake!! Keep in mind I live in a small town, but he said usually around 1000 people show up so this would be EXCELLENT exposure for me (if the cake turns out LOL!!!)
Oh yeah he said he would supply the cake board LOL!!!
What do you all think?
Would I be crazy?
How much to charge?
How would I transport or I could leave that up to them????
Please help he wants me to get back to him with a price! I just need to hear your ideas.......
OHHHHH man! I don't know. It would take a lot of hours and a lot of concentration. IF you were to do this I would charge a MINIMUM of 3 dollars per serving, figure 1000 servings minimum and you have 3000 dollars.
I've never seen a cake that big. I can't even comprehend how to start with a project like that. You are right, though, 1000 people eating a cake you made would be excellent exposure for your new business. Sorry I can't help with any ideas or pricing, but I hope you are able to work out the details. Congratualtions on your new business and good luck.
Okay, now I'm REALLY SCARED!!!
If most of you very, very gifted people are thinking I"m crazy, I MUST BE!!!!
Something about the challenge though.....just to see if I could do it! AAAGGGHHHH I'm just crazy!!
Maybe it's because I would just love to be able to say I did it!
edencakes: Thanks for your vote of confidence! 
Last fall I did a cake that measured 5 feet by 3 feet. I did this for my uncle who was a the manager of Lowe's. They were celebrating the store's one year anniversary and he wanted a huge cake that would wow the customers as they came in. At first I was overwhelmed, but it quickly became one of the funnest projects I've ever done. We took the Wilton race car pan and placed it on in the middle of the cake and put a real working race track around that race car. My uncle then built this fiberglass case to put the cake in so that no one could touch it before it was time to cut it. It was the craziest thing but so much fun. This spring I decided I wanted to tackle a similar project for my Pastor's 50th birthday. So I did it again. It was still fun even the second time. I had my mother's husband cut me a huge piece of plywood, covered it in wrapping paper and the began filling it with cake. We let it dry overnight, loosely covering it with trasbags and put in the back of a mini van and we were off. It took 3 people to carry these cakes, but people were very impressed! I charged $180.00 for this cake.
You can DO IT! It would just take plenty of planning, plenty of help, and plenty of freezer space! lol
LOL, I like your postivie attitude edencakes.
I agree, you can do it, but for a cake like that, you may want to get some help or hire someone interested in cakes and baking to give you a hand. Careful planning is the key.
Good luck!!!
I hope you don't think I was saying you are crazy to do it. I think as long as you are having fun and doing something you love, go for it. This will be great exposure for your business! Good luck!
I would like to charge $3.00 a slice but am doubting that they would pay me $3000.00 for a cake! (I wish!!)
How would I go about and find out what to charge? Should I ask what there budget for a cake is?
Am I still nuts? I know all of you are probably nodding your heads right about now!
I am so new at this!
If you look in my photos I have a picture of a wedding cake I did. The base of it was 9in across by 3ft long. I used a 9X12 pan and put it together, doubled layered.
It was long and heavy but not too bad to deal with. I think you can do it no problem.
Barb
jmt1714: Sorry, I forgot one small detail. They live 2 hours from me so they bought all the supplies and had everything ready for me to start baking when I arrived. So the $180 was labor and since it was family I tried to be nice b/c they helped as much as they could!
Let me know what other details you'd like. I used my 12x18 pans and bakes multiple flavors and used buttercream to hold them all together. You would probably have to make yours a double layer all the way across to serve 1000 people mine only served about 350. I wish I lived closer and I'd volunteer to come help. I'll glady pass on any info though that might be helpful.
I wish had a good pic to post for you but I forgot my camera that weekend so the only pic I have is a fuzzy one taken by someone else. I'll try to get a pic of the second one I did even though it was not near as complex as the first.
The largest cake I volunteered for was for 300 servings. It took months of planning for the design and structural support. I had to buy a freezer to hold all the cake and filling. The day before the event, I began the assembly (all decorations were done in the months ahead). A friend of mine came to help, thank goodness. There was no way I could have done it all by myself by the next day! It was covered in fondant...took four of us to move the rolled fondant onto the 18 X 24 in layer!I assembled the lower three tiers on a 3/4 in plywood base and it took 3 of us to move it to the van. The other decorated tiers were transported in boxes and assembled on site. It was truly an experience and lots of fun, and a little harrowing there at the end. I learned alot doing this cake. Once I broke the design down into managable pieces, it was not an overwhelming task. Just a bunch of cakes.
Go for the 1000 servings, gibson! Have space, alot of time, and additional help. But have fun doing it!
I use to do cakes for our banquet all the time when i work at the retail store bakey. We just got plywood and put paper over it and put a lot of sheet cakes together and just ice and decorated. At first I thought I coudn't do it but it was kind of easy considering I didn't have to bake the cakes or make the icing. ( all premade). I kinda of glad I did work there is had given me a lot of insight on a lot of things.
Wow, that is ALOT of cake!! But I think you could do it!! But like others said...will take some planning and space (to store all that cake & icing)!! 
and be very nice to all your friends b/c you'll need some help!!
but if you think you can do it....go for it!! it is def. a cool opportunity...I'd have a hard time saying no. plus you got all us CC folks to help keep your sanity!! 
as for the pricing.....um...good luck!! no... just kidding!! I'd call and ask what their budget is and then go from there.
when do they need this cake?? how much time you got to make this work??
OH WOW-DOUBLE WOW
I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT--
GO FOR IT
ALSO A THOUGHT...
AFTER U CALL AROUND TO HELP WITH PRICING
HOW MANY 'CAKES' WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE THE SIZE U NEED?
HOW MUCH DO U/WOULD U CHARGE FOR THESE?
ADD IN (ALOT) FOR TIME FOR PLANNING, EXTRA MATERIALS, ETC...&
THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM YOU WOULD CHARGE
I say go for it.......I think setting a bunch of cakes together side by side has got to be way easier than if they wanted a five foot TALL tiered cake!!!! Sounds like great fun!!! Just make sure you plan well......I would ask them what they paid last year for the cakes and tell him you'll see if you can give him a comparable price......because what if they're willing to pay 500 dollars!!!!/????? Don't wanna short change yourself!! Make the cakes ahead of time and freeze them.....ask friends and neighbors to borrow their freezers LOL or get a deep freeze (only if you plan on using it again of course)......make buckets and buckets of BC that's shelf stable a week in advance or so........write everything out.....and play it over in your head then you'll be sure to have it be as low stress as possible!! Anything that can be done in advance should be. good luck.....I hope you do it...I would LOVE to see a cake that huge!!!
That's a lot of cake!!!! What an amazing opportunity for you! Pricing on this project is very tough. You don't want to put in the highest bid and lose out on the opportunity, but you can't underprice yourself when this will require so much.
I'm sorry I'm not much help. I just want to offer my support. You are not crazy to take this on (well, maybe a little, but aren't we all? ) If you want it, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!! Keep us posted.
That sounds like a fantastic opportunity for the potential to get a LOT of business!! I wouldn't be able to say no if I were you! Like others have said just plan well, find the space to store it all & have lots of people willing to lend a hand!!
As for pricing I agree that you should ask them their budget but already have the materials/ingredients costed out so you know if their price range is anywhere near your ballpark. If it were me I would do it as long as it covered my costs & a BIT more but remember that normally you can't buy that kind of advertising!!!
Wish I was near you to help out!
Good luck & definately take lots of pics along the way so we can see the project from start to finish please!
How awesome! I would love to do something like this!
Basically, you are talking about 5 half-sheet cakes placed side-by-side, right? Would you also do the ten satellite cakes? Personally, I would price it by combining what you would normally charge per half-sheet times five, plus whatever you would charge for the smaller cakes (at least I would think they would be smaller...). When pricing, remember that you might make a little more, because you will be using a bit less icing ingredients when doing the large cake than you would icing five individual cakes.
Although nearly one thousand people may show up, I don't think you need to worry about serving that many...sounds like such an event would have plenty of other foods available. Good luck! I hope such an opportunity comes my way some day - like when I have a larger kitchen!
Tina
Thank you everyone for all of the great support.....now what do you all think about flying up to Canada to help a girl out? LOL!!
I'm still undecided, I guess I'm thinking this could make or break me! and I don't want to be broken before I've really started!!!
Then on the other hand what an opportunity!! Will I get this opportunity again? Who could say they made a 5'x2' cake!(besides a few of you!) and I have to say WOW to those who have done them already!
I think I'll be able to do it especially with the members from CC helping me along the way!! I have so many questions!!
I think I'll sleep on it.......I'll keep you all posted!!
Thanks again!
Honestly, 300 dollars for 1000 people. THAT is insane. That is 30 cents per serving. You would be paying him to let you make the cake! I know it would be good publicity for you but you need to decide if it would be worth it for you. We will be here to help you as much as we can if you decide to do it and I wish you all the good fortune in the world. Keep us posted.
See if he is willing to furnish the ingredients....
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