First off I want to say how much I love this site. I've been lurking and absorbing for quite a while now and it has been awesome! Having said that I finally have a question that I honestly need help with and who better to ask then you guys.

I was contacted by a MOG to provide various baked goods for a wedding in July. Apparently it's a week long affair and she is expecting 50-60 people to be staying on their property though the wedding. Basically she want's me to provide muffins, cookies, brownies etc. for these guests as well as a dozen pies for the rehersal dinner.

Now, I'm all fine with that, where I'm having conflict comes from her requesting a wide variety of sweet foods to accompany the cake such as mini cheesecakes, truffles, brownies... Now, I'm not doing the cake and in addition there will be a chocolate fountain. In addition to not wanting to upset the actual cake decorator I'm curious as to how much dessert you need at a wedding?

Would you be offended if someone else showed up at a weding you were doing with other treats? And if so, how would you approach this women/

TIA

It's not uncommon to have a wedding cake and dessert table. The consensus here seems to be that it would be a problem to the cake designer if you were also providing cake but since you are not there should be no problems/concerns.

And as to the amount of sweets at the event-some people are big sweets nuts/eaters so sounds like they are catering to their crowd!

Welcome to CC!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like she might be wanting all that for the days leading up to the wedding and not the wedding itself? So, if that is the case, then I don't think that offending the cake decorator would be an issue.

In my husband's family, there is always a cake and a cookie/brownie/other desserts table at weddings. It was surprising to me at first, but in many families, that's the expectation!

As long as your goodies are on a separate table from the cake, the cake designer shouldn't have a problem with it, IMO. Sounds like a great opportunity! Congratulations!

There's a liability issue. maybe not so much with desserts, but as a caterer, I have to be aware of these situations.

Sometimes I have a couple who will hire me for the cake, and buffet, but they want to do the appetizer table themselves (veggie tray, fruits, etc). I have no problem with that but I REQUIRE that they put up some kind of notice indicating this food is separate from mine ..... if someone gets sick on food, they will only ask "who was the caterer?" and Debi ends up being the one sued. I suggest they put a nice note in one of those acrylic photo stands, indicating something like "bob and mary have selected some of their favorite foods and have provided these to share with their guests.....blah blah blah". Anything, as long as it is clear, the foods are not provided by Debi.

Since I pay a staff to serve the buffet and cake, I also make it clear that the couple is to provide their own people to man, refill and serve the foods they provide, and provide the plates, forks, napkins for those foods. I'm not making any money on that food .... I'm not paying my staff to take care of it for you.

Thanks for all the great replies. I really appreciate it. I didn't know that in some areas a dessert table is the "norm" at some weddings. Indydebi are you wanting me to put up a sign that indicated that the cater did not provide this table? Or a sign that the grooms parent's selected the items? I'm a little slow on the upswing sometimes

It's probably not as important with dessert items as it is with hot foods. If food issues/liability is an issue, maybe something like "This table Creatively Catered by ....." ??

These past few days I've been scouring the web for examples of cake contracts. There was one that stuck out and may apply here.

Some bakers, caterers, etc. may not allow this due to health concerns, quality control or mistaken identity.