Seriously, I'm just in the beginning stages of my Cake Business...
How can you guarantee to your customers that you can deliver exactly the cake they desire? So much of it is interpretation. I'm just asking because so many times I have a cake in my head (or sketched out on paper) and the end product isn't exactly like those. Most of the time, I am doing cakes for my family, that I "adjust" because they didn't want something exact. I have that freedom when I do their cakes (free of charge of course). So, eventhough I feel like I end up with great cakes that absolutely taste delious...I really didn't have a plan I had to stick too. So, if I'm working with Brides (for example) that have a particular design in mind....how do I guarantee to them that their cake will look like that exact design? I've done Paid Wedding Cakes in the past, and didn't have a huge problem following the examples of what they wanted. But, that was before my obsession...and before I worked with fondant, gumpaste, luster dusts...ect. Things just seemed much more basic then. ~ Not that I'm complaining, because I LOVE all the fondant and dusts and stuff. But, the cakes just seem more important now, they have real personality. So, now my nervousness is in guaranteeing their exact dream cake. Do you have some kind of "clause" in your contracts or when you talk to your customers so they know it may not be exact ~ or am I just not experienced enough to do this yet? TIA

imo you simply let the brides or customers know that every cake is done by hand and my be slightly different. no one is a machine that can churn out a perfect replica of a design every time, and any reasonable person has to understand that.

I agree with beccakelly, it is impossible to "guarantee" that. People need to understand that each cake is unique and with that comes the knowledge that they won't always be exactly what you set out to do.

Here's my guarantee: "I guarantee that your cake will NOT look exactly like the photo!"

We do not do cookie-cutter cakes. Each one is hand crafted. (Did you all see the thing on the food channel where a bakery has developed machinery to mass produce and decorate wedding cakes that look exactly the same each and every time? omg......!)

If I had a bride who wanted a guarantee that her cake would look exactly a certain way, I'd run the other direction. It's a Bridezilla and she's waiving a banner to advertise that she's a Bridezilla.

that is so like me too. I always have a picture in my head and it comes out too different. I just pray that they come out beautiful.