hey-- i've never done more than 60 cupcakes at one time. i just had a lady leave a message re: 150 cupcakes for a party. do any of you do cupcakes orders this big? is it a headache having to deal with so many or is it okay as long as you start in advance?
its funny b/c i just posted the other day about hating cupcakes b/c they take me so long (i usu. do the flat frosting rather than swirl) -- but anyway, its tempting b/c of the $$.
That would be 12 1/2 dozen cupcakes, minimum 7 standard cake recipes. Do you have room for the baked items? do have boxes, carriers for that many?
Is the customer willing to pay what they are worth, when grocery stores are selling them for 50cents each?
If you can answer those questions, go for it.
About smoothing them...I do something that speeds things up for me. It only works with a lightly crusting BC though. Using a large round tip, pipe the BC onto the cupcake in a circular pattern (like a coil), let it crust lightly and then turn it upside down and press it onto a viva paper towel...working it just a bit. It smooths them perfectly in no time and makes a nice even top. You may have a method that works better for you but I thought I'd share 
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Okay, I've officially accepted the order. That's a neat trick Lisa! I usually use all butter buttercream which doesn't crust== but maybe I'll switch it just so that I can do that!!
Transporting is another thing I'm wondering about too-- Is it safe to stack cupcake boxes? That's always made me nervous in the past. I guess I've got a few weeks to figure it out :O) -- I told her I'd charge $1 each and she said "THAT'S ALL!!!???" I wanted to say... "oh no, wait wait, I meant $3 each". I hate it when that happens! Oh well....
I've packed mine in the plastic cupcake containers like you see at the grocery stores. There are also inserts you can place in cake boxes to hold the cupcakes. The method I use most often though is to just glue them onto a cake board (usually covered to avoid grease stains) using a dab of buttercream and transport them in cake boxes. During delivery, I use the non-slip stuff you get to put under rugs and stuff...not sure what it's called. I place that under each box to keep them from sliding around.
As long as your boxes are strong enough to stand the weight, you can stack them. No too high of course or they'll tip 
$1.00 each sounds good. keep the decorations simple so that it'll be a quicker job...maybe you can get family members to help like a sort of assembly line.
I had to do 500 cupcakes for a wedding last summer, and even though the money was good it was way more work than just a wedding cake would have been. I was able to stack some boxes, but I have a van that the back seats pull out. Just make sure they are very secure and the boxes won't slide around. Have fun making all those, it took me forever before I would even make any cupcakes for my children after that one!
I'm glad you decided to go for it. To expedite the decorating you could use a large star tip. A couple of weeks ago I made 20 dozen cupcakes. It took me no time at all to ice them b/c I used a large star tip. I just made sure I had all cupcakes baked and all icing colors made. Then I piped the icing in a swirl motion. See my gallery or website to take a glance at the cupcakes.
I'm actually in the middle of an order just that size - for a wedding. I had tried this cool technique to smooth-ice the cupcakes using similar to FBCT and cutting the round shapes with a biscuit cutter. It worked but was very putzy, as the icing would start to soften right away after being removed from the freezer and it made removing the rounds a challenge.
I'm topping each cupcake with a BC flower (rose or daisy) so I just need to smooth ice, kind of like a crumbcoat. I'm just using an angled spat.
The cupcakes are filled, and with the BC flower all told I'm charging 1.25 each. It can be done....we have it assembly-line style here. As one batch of cupcakes is baking, the cooled ones are filled and iced. Flowers will come later. Then it's just flower, leaves, and off to the reception.
I get big 18x26 cardboard bakery trays to transport. If I crowd them in, I can get 70 cupcakes in a tray. I'm not crowding them, I think I've got 48 in there with comfortable space. I will be lining the trays with that no-slip shelf liner stuff so they don't slide around on me. Still can't decide whether I want to cover the completed trays with plastic or with bakery paper. Or with a beach towel 
Anyway - don't be intimidated. I'd recommend the assembly-line tactic. That way you mix it up and you're not stuck doing the same thing over and over again for hours.
This is my first cupcake order, and I told my DH, as long as we don't run out of pinot grigio, I'll be just fine!
Yes - if you use that rubberized shelf liner and space the cupcakes so they're not touching, you should be fine!
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