So Why Is It That We Charge Differenty For Wedding Cakes?
Decorating By SweetDreams Updated 14 Dec 2006 , 5:32am by nglez09
Good point Knox ... I would guess that the interaction with the person purchasing the cake would be a lot more with a wedding cake. I hadn't thought about that. But then again, I am going to either make my own cake or assist a friend with it. I wasn't thinking about all the other stuff!
I think the reason people charge more for wedding cakes is because people will pay for it!!! Ironically, the limo company, the reception site, the florist, the church, the catering company, and every other vendor charges more as well. If you tell them that is for a wedding, they will whip out the "wedding price list" everytime.
With me, there really is no "different" price list, per se;
It's just that a "wedding cake" definitely costs MORE for ME to make.
Let's just go with the following costs, and by no means is this a FULL list:
This is for a 4 tier, like the one pictured in my gallery. 6, 9, 12, 15 champagne cake, with BC and scroll work with ribbon...PLUS the groom's cake, 8 inch and 10 inch, coconut with buttercream and fondant.
20 boxes Duncan Hines cake mix $20
15 bags Domino sugar $30
8 bottles Lorann flavor $27
8 packages Crisco bars $24
2 bottles clear vanilla $ 8
2 bottles clear almond $ 8
2 bottles clear butter $ 8
8 dozen eggs $10
1 bottle vegetable oil $ 3
1 gallon milk $ 4
10 pounds sour cream $11
5 assorted cake boxes $15
15 assorted cake boards
(to tape together under cakes) $18
2 rolls PressNseal $ 8
2 rolls Contact paper
(to wrap cake boards) $10
7 pounds fondant (white/black) $30
1 roll Scotch tape (wide) $ 3
5 pounds all-purpose $ 3
1 box corn starch $ 1
5 yards ribbon $ 3
4 packs Wilton dowels $12
Gasoline for grocery trip $ 3
Gasoline for consultation trip $ 3
Gasoline for craft store trip $ 3
Gasoline for delivery to wedding $10
Gasoline for flower pick-up $ 3
Cake stand rental (2 stands) $90
Baking time 8 [email protected] $40
Cleanup time 10 [email protected] $40
Energy costs 18 hours @2.00 $36
Sales tax on above: $47
TOTAL COST OUT OF POCKET: $535
I'm not even including in the above costs my TIME for decorating.
Sorry, but other cakes just do not come anywhere close to costing that much.
Now, *where* is the supposed "racket" supposed to be? 
--Knox--
The last wedding cake I did started with a consultation with the bride that took almost two hours. She could not decide what she wanted. Also making a wedding cake was very nerve wracking as it must be perfect, and meet the bride's expectations. Then there is the tasting, transportation and set-up. l way undercharged on my wedding cake and will not do that again! I think I actually lost money on the deal. l will always charge more for a wedding cake as it is way more work.
A tiered cake is a tiered cake, regardless of whether it's "wedding" or not. More surface area to cover/decorate, more equipment investment, more stress and extra care required for set-up/delivery.
I sell my cakes in a package: one price gets your entire wedding cake reception. I also have a flat price for wedding cakes.....I don't charge more or less for design. So when a bride tries the old "I'll buy the package for 50 and then get sheet cakes for 100" deal, I always ask her....."So you're providing plates and forks and punch and cups for 50 of your guests but the other 100 will have to eat it from their hand and drink water from the bathroom?"
I then go on to explain how "The cost of the cake is the same....it's the same amount of cake, the same amount of icing, the same amount of work, no matter what pan I bake it in."
I totally agree. We charge MORE for weddings because they TAKE MORE TIME, MORE ACCURACY, MORE TALENT, MORE SKILL, and everyone who orders one IS EXPECTING PERFECTION IN YOUR EXECUTION OF THEIR VISION.
Indydebi, I totally LOVE your analogy about the 50 servings/100 servings thing....if one more Bride tells me she'd rather have sheet cakes to increase the servings "because they'll be cheaper", I just might have to coat her in royal icing and stand her in the corner as a statue of the Bride who Had to Have it All and Didn't Want to Pay for Anything. I still have to buy the materials, bake the cakes, make the icing, frost the darn things, put them on boards/box them up, deliver them and somehow be content to live with making less money????? I don't think so. 
I'm so tired of Bridal magazines suggesting that this is a cheaper way to go ... maybe if a bakery (with their myriad of ovens and tons of pans and huge-quantity mixers) is doing it, then, yes, it does make sense. But an independent wedding cake designer is different. We don't all have a wall of ovens, so each cake has to be baked separately. Where a bakery can bake for 500 servings in 2 hours, it may take us 2 or 3 days to accomplish.
Whew! I'm glad I got THAT off my chest! Sorry for the ranting, but it just really irritates me when people say I charge MORE for a wedding cake just because the word wedding is attached to it! Wrong, wrong, wrong!!!!! 
Just be fair with your Clients and they will come back for more (or send lots of referrals your way). There's lots of Brides out there and lots of decorators who will do what those Brides want, the real trick is just pairing up the Bride with the right decorator. 
I charge per slice on wedding cakes, because of the magnitude of the job!
When I'm baking a simple 9 inch birthday cake, with a single batch of frosting and 2 or 3 colors, my kitchen does not get "taken over."
However, when I'm doing a wedding cake that feeds 250 people, I'm going to the store for a cart full of supplies, and spending $50-75 at the cake supply (perhaps more.) Then, I'm bringing all of that home, and mixing frosting for about 1/2 a day, and putting it into LARGE plastic containers. I'm baking layers, one at a time because of the size, and freezing them up. I'm washing extra dishes and cookware, so that my house doesn't look like trash lives here. I'm using extra wrapping and packaging materials to keep the said frozen cakes fresh and useable. Then there's the trips to the crafts store for ribbon and beading.
And those are just the "highlights" of doing a wedding cake in my house. I haven't even thought about the delivery and set-up of said cakes.
And let's not forget about the "tastings," "consultations," and phone calls that are also more intensive with weddings, vs. other types of cakes.
All in all, in my opinion, a wedding cake/groom's cake is much more labor intensive, detail oriented, and costly on my part.
That's why I charge more.
--Knox--
That was a superb explanation!
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