First Bridzilla, Did I Handle It Wrong?
Decorating By Florimbio Updated 25 Jun 2007 , 5:36pm by CakesbyMonica
Ok all, I just started doing the wedding cake thing...
I had a couple come out in April for a tasting, loved my cakes. I require a $50 deposit that get deducted from the cake price, they gave me $100. They asked if they could sign the contract and mail it back to me after they had their mom eat some of the cakes to help decide. She did not even give me a cake design..I stupidly said ok...(NEVER AGAIN)
Months pass no contract, no idea of what cake design. i am e-mailing, calling, no responce. 1 month before the wedding she finally calls and says she is sorry, had a bunch of drama excuses, but this is the cake she wants and she wants a grooms cake for the RI. Dinner..I say ok, quote her some prices. I tell her I NEED the contract and final payment is due in 2 weeks. She claims that she can not sign the contract b/c she does not remember what flavors she liked of the cakes and can they have another tasting. 
I say ok, offer a few times of when thay could out. She says she will ck with FI and get back to me...
NO call no e-mail. I am leaving messages and e-mails. I spoke to her FI and he said she was calling on his cell that moment & he would have her call me. I told him it was very very important, I HAD to talk to her..No call..Now it is the day before final payment is due. i get kinda mad and call and say I need to talk. Do you want the cakes or not? She calls me back yelling at me saying she doesn't understand what all the rush is. Her wedding is July 7, and if I could just drop the tasting cakes at her home (45 min away) she would sign the contact and give me my $ then. I inform her that I normally do 1 free tasting and that i am not driving them to her, if she wants them she can come and get them. We go round and round she is crying and getting all upset...I was not enen yelling at her, just not giving her her way...I expain that I do not have times of set-up, contact names, how many I need to feed, i do not even know what colors to put on the cake. And I am loosing other cake jobs. i was offered a B-day cake the same day as her wedding, had to turn down because i did not know when her set-up time would be! Anyway she gete mad and says i will have the $ and contract by Monday. and tells me what flavor to make the cake. I ask about the grooms cake, she is rude and says," You WILL get an e-mail tonight" and hangs up on me.
I trying to be the bigger person send her I am soory e-mail, I just want to make the best cake etc..
Woke up this morning NO e-mail..
What can I do??? Am I wrong?
You wrong - no way. She sound like a spoiled brat - that is used to getting her way in everything and has never had to be responsible for anything. I would give her one more ultimateum (sp??). Contract & money and ALL details in your hand by no later than _:__am/pm on the 00/00/07, if not there you will not make the cake - period!
I can see all sort of bridezilla problems continuing with this one.
You are better off not doing this cake at all. Another tasting is bull.
It really burns me when brides don't give thier baker the same respect and consideration as they do their other wedding vendors. Don't tell me that she is pulling this with her florist, caterer, dress designer, musicians....no way. They ALL have contracts and would not do business with someone who disregards thier contract.
"Why the rush?" It is your PAYCHECK, that's why. If her payroll dept said that to her after she didn't get her paycheck on payday, she'd go ballistic.
If it were me, I would send back $50, keeping the other non-refundable $50 deposit, with a letter explaining that without that contract, I cannot hold this date. Numerous opportunities to sign the contract have passed. Wedding cake production schedules require the same time and attention as other details in a wedding. At this late date, I do not feel that I have adequate time to produce a cake that you will be satisfied with. Thank you for considering me, but I have no choice but to decline.
Thank you, drive through. 
it's so easy, forget about her...
i don't chase my customers...who ever leaves me a deposit first gets cake. period. if u pay me, oyu will get cake, if u don't forget it...i don't call, i don't e-mail. i send friendly reminders to let them know the details and the dates that money is due...that's it...other than that, i dont chase people around....and i would never lose an order waiting for someone to pay me...
This bride is trouble. Drop her like a hot potato. Don't wait until Monday. She is exactly the kind of person who will find fault with the cake and say it isn't what she envisioned and will demand a refund. Send her an email telling her that her $50 deposit is in the mail and that your deadline has passed for 1) signed contract and 2) details of her cake and that you now must decline her order. And stick to your guns. Believe me, she is your worst nightmare and you do not want to move forward with this one.
I am trying to understand about the contract. Did YOU sign the contract? Or did you give them the contract to sign and then were planning on signing it yourself when they returned it?
If your signature is not on the contract then I don't believe it is valid. If that's the case, come Monday you could return all the money and tell her you are no longer available to do her cake. SHE is the one who didn't follow through.
Let us know what happens.
If the final payment is due tomorrow, that's it. No payment, no contract, NO CAKE. Take it from me, it's much easier to live and let go. This girl is obviously used to things going her way. She's going to be trouble for you. I'd give her her $$$ back and tell her to find someone else to do the stinking cake. You're a business person. Stick to your guns. IMO, I'd tell her NO and be done with it. Her loss. Good luck to her finding someone else to do the wedding cake in a short amount of time, PLUS on the most popular wedding date of 2007!!!
JMO...
Amy
Oh Dear, ruuuuuuuun! I can see more problems coming your way, as Audraj said, she might fuss about the cake after the wedding and demand a refund. If I was in your shoes I would send her all her $ back with a note and have her get a Walmart cake (since nobody will make her a cake with such short notice) 
I guess I'm just mean.... 
Good luck and keep us posted!
I agree with SPStudio and everyone else. I would return the $50. If she gave you $100, keep the other fifty and tell her it's for the cost of the e-mails, phone calls, and tasting (which was no longer free because she didn't get a cake from you).
To have a contract you need offer and acceptance. You made her the offer (handing her the written contract), she did not accept (she didn't sign and return it).
What more could you do? Go to her and put the pen in her hand?! 
You went above and beyond and obviously she doesn't get it. Give up and save yourself the definite headache you'd receive if you did the cake for her.
You are not wrong in the way you handled the situation. She should feel lucky if you do the cake. Most bakeries would laugh if she tried to get a wedding cake at this late date. I guess she thinks it's so easy to throw a wedding cake together that you shouldn't have any problem waiting around for the contract and money and details until the last minute....wrong. The cake is usually high on the list of priorities for most brides...right under the wedding dress. She seems like more trouble than she's worth and you have more than went out of your way to get things settled. You shouldn't make any more efforts to contact her. Let her deal with the consequences of her bratyness and stupidity.
I agree with others have said. I'd return half of the deposit they gave, keeping the half you charge and let them know that you are no longer available. That date is only two weeks away and I highly doubt they'd be coming up with the full payment let alone the contract by Monday. You don't need the business THAT bad or the aggrivation, which is bound to get worse dealing with her. I say be rid of them now and move on. Life is way too short for this kind of business.
Think how a bakery would think, because in essence that is what you are. They require a set amount of time, money and info to produce a wedding cake or any other cake for that matter. The same should be for you, or how are you going to deliver a top notch product. If you set your expectations of your customers and don't budge from them then you won't be taken advantage of. This is obviously a learning experience for you and you'll know next time that if the contract hasn't been signed by either party then you are free to take other cake orders for that particular day. Adults shouldn't have to be babysat!
i would say to turn down the order. bc if you think about it..... lets say she does send you want she wants... how late would it be, think about... the night before you rushing to get it done. sounds to me like she will never be a satisfied bride. if she really wanted the cake and everything to be in place that order should have been taken care of a while ago!
I just don't understand brides that act this way. When I was planning my wedding about 5 years ago, I was scared out of my mind to miss a deadline and keep someone waiting. My cake lady did one wedding per weekend, so I knew I had to get that contract and deposit to her before her deadline. Same goes for everyone else we booked. I just don't get this thinking.
I haven't read all the responses, so I am sure someone mentioned this, but NO SIGNED CONTRACT means you are AT THE VERY LEAST not obligated to do her cake. Tell her sorry, you failed yourself. Hope you can find somewhere else that will do it with two weeks notice.
I agree that this girl is bad news but you do need to return the full amount paid because she did not sign a contract, you have no legal grounds for keeping it. Plus, you would be the one backing out of the verbal agreement.
The fact that you don't have a contract might be a good thing...then you can just tell her you cant do the cake (if you don't want to!)
I havent done any wedding cakes, but i have had to chase down a couple people that asked for birthday cakes. They would mention wanting a certain cake, but no details such as date, number of people etc. So after not hearing from them I would call and they wouldnt return my call, so I would call again and say if I need x amount of days to buy/order supplies and come up with the design so if I do not hear from you by___ then I will assume that you do not need the cake.
Good luck with all of that, but I'm with everyone else RUN!!!! and do it as fast as you can.
Get out while you can. If she wants you to bend over backwards now, just think what the wedding day will be like. She probably won't like something and complain and want a credit because that's not what she wanted. She sounds like a real brat and you don't need that.
I was wondering about the $100 ... $50 dollars of that is yours (the deposit part that would have been taken off of the cake price ... had she ordered a cake.) And tecnically the other 50 ... the extra 50 is your's too ... she GAVE it to you. But I have to admit, I would return it all (by mail) with a note of business-like-apology. I would not want her calling back demanding the money! (Now the other option is to keep the 50 dollar deposit becasue you LOST a cake for the same day!) Hope it all works out!
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