Walmart Caused Me To Loose...
Decorating By stephanie214 Updated 19 Jul 2006 , 5:11pm by stephanie214
a wedding cake order for 250 people 
I had this lady to call me in early July about a wedding cake. She wanted to know how much I charge etc..
She stated that she was calling around to get pricing and would get back to me. Well, I didn't hear from her so I decided to give her a call and was informed that she is getting her cake from Walmart for $200.00 
to feed 250 people 
.
They are not setting up the cakes...just giving her the plates to set up her own cake. I explained to her the importance of knowing how to set up the cake with the stacking or tiering and that if she didn't do this right, her cake was going to end up falling 
.
She apologized for not calling to let me know that she was going with Walmart. I told her that was fine and wished her luck 
.
On the brighter side; I have my second wedding cake due July 29th... . Also, I'm meeting with a lady Saturday about doing her cake for August....yeah, another short notice cake for 250 people.
Let me tell you about this one...another trip city 
At least I know this young lady personally...my grandson's cousin.
We started talking and I asked her how many people was she planning on having and was informed that it was about 250...okay, big order
Then I asked the biggest question, "what is your budget for the cake"? Well, let me tell you, my mouth fell open when she stated, "oh, about a $100 to $150.00. I informed her that she would be looking at a very small cake...maybe about a 10 and 8 inch cake for that price.
She told me that she didn't know anything about wedding cakes and didn't realize that they were so expensive....believe me, she is telling the truth...bless her heart
We will be meeting this Saturday to look over some cakes and discuss the prices. I suggested to her about the sheet cakes in the kitchen.
Now, can someone tell me how much to charge for the sheet cakes with no decorations?
TIA 
Stephanie, I am sorry to hear of you loss to Walmart Unfortunately some people think a cake is a cake and cheap is all that matters. We cake decorators know better. With your price she is not only getting a wonderful cake that is beautifully decorated, she is getting your knowledge and skill of setting up the cake. When this cake falls over I doubt if anyone from Walmart will be running to her aid.
On a better note --I am glad to hear you have other wedding cakes in your future!! My next is Aug. 5! We just keep chugging right along don't we!
I've never done a kitchen cake, but love the idea of it! Sorry I can't help you with price. At first I was thinking of charging around the same as for a birthday sheet cake, but you also need to consider if you're doing dummies and your time a material in the dummies. Maybe someone with a little more experience there can help ya
as for the sheet cakes, are they full or half? For me I charge 40 for a half and 80 for a full but that is with basic decorations... and as for walmart they can choke on thier crappy cakes.. Great news on the othe wedding cake order though!
Edited to add: my sheet cakes are 1 layer (these are what I have standing orders for)
re: walmart bride...she loves stress doesn't she...having to put together her cake on her wedding day! OY!
re: sheets -- at least $1/serving or 1/2 your per serving rate for wedding cake -- whichever is HIGHER! (and it better be 1/2 your per serving wedding rate!!!)
Based on $1/generous 2x1 inch servings
$50.....9x13
$75.....11x15
$100...12x18
$165...11x22
$210...18x24
Hey Stephanie...are you sure she's getting a cake at walmart to feed 250 people for $200? On their website the wedding cakes start at $1.35 a slice and go up from there. Maybe she's trying to get you to come down in price? That would only be .80/slice 
For the sheet cakes I would charge what i normally charge for a sheet cake. Especially if it has no decorations.
Good luck on your cake
Sorry about the Walmart situation,but in my opinion some people only think about prices and not quality.When it comes to a wedding cake I would NEVER go to walmart.I live about 5 mins away from them and constantly walk around there bakery the cakes I've seen isn't even worth the money they charge,but thats my opinion.
I charge $1.50 per serving for a double layer sheet cake.
re: walmart bride...she loves stress doesn't she...having to put together her cake on her wedding day! OY!
re: sheets -- at least $1/serving or 1/2 your per serving rate for wedding cake -- whichever is HIGHER! (and it better be 1/2 your per serving wedding rate!!!)
Based on $1/generous 2x1 inch servings
$50.....9x13
$75.....11x15
$100...12x18
$165...11x22
$210...18x24
Ditto, Doug:
On the bride and the pricing
Kim,
Seems like we are always together...remember our first wedding cake on the same day This second cake is the one that I've been telling you about. Can't believe it is finally getting here
Tanya has been a doll to work with...no bridezilla what so ever
ge978,
Yep, that's what she told me.
Doug,
re: walmart bride...she loves stress doesn't she...having to put together her cake on her wedding day! OY!
I will get all the details about the cake...her aunt is my beautician...can't wait 
Thanks for the pricing.
Alicia,
Probablly 1/2 sheets...easier to handle.
Thanks everyone
A lady called me once for a full sheet cake. I quoted her a price.
Then she said she had already called walmart and they could do it for $40.
That's ridiculous! It makes me upset b/c a lot of people will go with the cheaper price....they don't care about the quality of it.
Glad to hear you have a possilbe wedding cake offer.
Good Luck!
mmdd,
Yep, I get that all the time....Walmart and FoodLion sell theirs for such and such price 
This use to bother me when I first started decorating, but thanks to Squirrelly, tcturtleshell, veejaytex and some others, I learned fast to charge my prices and not to let them get to me
Yeah, the people who go Wal-Mart for wedding cakes are just not our market. I refuse to compete with Wal-Mart, and other stores like that. They are cheap, and, in my opinion, worth every penny.....
People who chose them are getting the "necessities". Our cakes are luxuries. They look spectacular, and they are mouth-wateringly - is that a word? - delicious. Those big boxes are just not in our league. Don't worry about losing a sale to them. I recently saw what you get for $175.00 from them, not me, thank you.
Then again, when I got married, many moons ago, I did not buy anything from any store. Home cake decorator, had my dress made by someone who sewed out of her home, I did go to a florists' shop........ my wedding was awesome. People who do what I did are the people I want coming to me for their cake.
And the wedding you are doing sounds great, too. Sheet cakes in the back is a great idea, I highly recommend it. I'm not sure what I would charge, though, are you decorating those at all, or just simple icing?
mmdd,
Yep, I get that all the time....Walmart and FoodLion sell theirs for such and such price
This use to bother me when I first started decorating, but thanks to Squirrelly, tcturtleshell, veejaytex and some others, I learned fast to charge my prices and not to let them get to me
When I first started out, I thought I had to lower my prices....lower than walmart! But, b/c of this site, people told me not to ever lower my price.
What people get from me is a one of a kind delicious cake, etc., etc., not a frozen, out of the bucket bc icing tastless cake!
I really just hate it that they could be giving me their money and they're not, lol!
Thanks for putting this in here, stephanie, b/c I learned fast about this too...and I learned from the best website out there...........CC! 
Would someone please define a kitchen cake for me? This is a new term to me.
Thanks,
Theresa 
Well, you might feel bad 'losing to Walmart' but don't -think about it, if you wanna feel bad, feel bad losing to another pro like yourself lol.
And I've been to a few weddings- I don't know any bride that didnt try to delegate and get someone else todo as much as possible to avoid the stress, like the day of- re setting up your own wedding cake LOL. Good lord! Well we shall all wish HER luck, eh?
I mean I know by the time I decide to get married I MIGHT be good enough to make my own wedding cake, and I DO love party planning, but I think for the one occasion I could give up control of making the cake because there's something called common sense (like re the bridezilla in the 'snubbed' forum thread) where you leave the worrying to someone else whether the cake will fall over or not LOL
This is totally evil but I think anyone who asked for a wedding cake for the low low price of whatever, should get a dummy cake Make it all perdy on the outside, and cardboard underneath. 'HORROR, where's my cake????' 'Uh well this is all I could do for you on your budget, if you had wanted a real cake that would have cost more but hey lady look on the bright side, it looks nice '
It's usually a cake, a plain cake with no decoration, that stays in the kitchen that is later cut and served in lieu of wedding cake. Most of the time it's used to make up the extra servings needed to either cut down on the cost of the wedding cake and to add extra servings.
Is that the same as a slab cake? If not, what is the difference?
Thanks again -
Theresa
This is totally evil
but I think anyone who asked for a wedding cake for the low low price of whatever, should get a dummy cake Make it all perdy on the outside, and cardboard underneath. 'HORROR, where's my cake????' 'Uh well this is all I could do for you on your budget, if you had wanted a real cake that would have cost more but hey lady look on the bright side, it looks nice '
Now, that is too funny...love it
Well, you might feel bad 'losing to Walmart' but don't -think about it, if you wanna feel bad, feel bad losing to another pro like yourself
I agree! Let her set up her own cake on her wedding day and enjoy dry cake.
Sorry Stephanie! You have other orders coming in, though and that's good. Great work is always rewarded! Chin up!
I am soo sorry to hear that you lost that one to walmart too. But she bought the 5 tier quincenera cake. A monkee on crack could put one of those up. But maybe you were better off not getting her as a client as she really didn't care what kind of flavor cake she had cause they only have one flavor of wedding cake and it's white. No other choices available. It's probably good to get someone who gives a rats backside as to the flavors of their cakes and all the different stuff that you can do whereas walmart is strictly limited to bc only and only four different types of setup. You can do all kinds of different stuff. YOu can stack em, have fountains, fondant, gumpaste, etc. etc....
So don't feel bad, she was prolly al cheapo anyway and you don't wanna have to argue with someone about a dang cake and how much your time is worth.
So, darlin just keep doin what you are doin. And we'll take care of the cheapos.
Nope, I'm not disappointed about this order...just scared for her
The wedding cake that I am doing for next week is pretty much taking up my time...I'm loving it.
As I stated earlier, Tonya is an absolute doll to work for...no Bridezilla at all.
I am determined to give her the best work that I can do.
I'm doing her floral arrangements also.
Her cake is completely paid for...yeah, baby .
I've never had a complaint out of her...not a one.
Obviously she (Bridezilla wanna be) has very poor taste.. 
Hey, Steph! My friend...my friend...you are very talented and I know it is more disapointing for you that this poor girl might get a nasty cake than the fact that you're not making it. But you can't fret over this one bride. There are always going to be the brides that are so excited about getting married and making a good impression on their hubby-to-be that they want as pretty as they can get for as little as it will cost. Flavor aside. I know, because I was one of those brides. I was fortunate though. My cake was a WalMart cake and it was not dry and spongy as most are. Guess it was a good day for the store!! However, knowing what I know now and tasting a WalMart cake compared to my cakes or any of the one's I've actually paid good money for from bakeries, I would not want one. You will do such a fantastic job on the orders you do have that they will speak for themselves and your name will become synonomous with "awesome cakes"!! Then you're going to get so many people coming to our for your fabulous cakes you will have to turn them away!
Hey fytar,
I really didn't care whether I got this order or not. I just couldn't believe the price that she is paying.
I am concentrating on the wedding cake I'm doing for Tonya on the 29th...the same day that you leave...will miss you
Hey, that's her choice and money
Thanks for the compliment; I still have along way to go to get to your talent...one day, one day old pal
Make sure that you have fun and get some much needed rest also...yeah, right
By the way, I didn't even have a wedding cake...my minister married us at his home. The ceremony and signing of the papers took all of 30 minutes.
Here's a short story of a cheap cake taking a toll:
When I was working for a florist shop we were setting up for this wedding at a prestigious country club in the Dallas area. This bride thought she was glam but was really a cheapo. She ordered her cake from a grocery store and they delivered it. Right when they left the whole back of the cake just SLID RIGHT OFF and collasped!!! We were dying laughing. The executive chef of this country club came out and had his arms up to his pits trying to save this cake. We finally saved the day by just covering the whole mess up with flowers while the bride was in the back doing valium for her nerves.
Blessings and blossoms your way!
One other thought...it could be that she had a very limited budget, and decided that the cake was not the highest priority (gasp ). Years ago, I was a bride on a very tight budget. For whatever reasons, the things that mattered most to me were invitations and my dress...so that is where the money went. I simply did not care about the cake...in fact, I don't even think I picked it out!
Of course, that is NOT where my priorities would lie today! (Which may explain, of course, why I am 50 pounds heavier now...)
For my wedding - the Cake was VERY important to me and I wasn't even decorating then!! It still ended up only costing $300 - 350 for about 150 people and I thought that was pretty good at the time b/c I was thinking of the "kek" from Father of the Bride and those astronomical prices!!! I wanted people to ENJOY the cake - and I didn't want it to just be pretty.... but also, when I looked at the local grocery store cakes I thought they were sooooo hideous! They may be cheap - but blech! I tasted lots of white cakes that were dry too - I finally found one decorator whose cake melted in my mouth and she had a caramel apple flavor (my favorite flavor of anything!). My cake was great.
As for "losing" to Wal-mart - nope, not a loss. She wouldn't have appreciated the cake anyway......
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