okay, I have another wedding cake pricing question. or questions
so, I realize that wedding cakes have a starting price. lets say $3.00 per serving for buttercream. and lets say $4.00 for fondant. and say the serving size is 100. to figure out the price, you multiply the servings x the starting price. I get that. but then what about gum paste flowers? how do you price that? do you just figure your per serving price more? like say $5.00 or do you charge per gum paste flower?

and how do you guys price your gum paste flowers and fondant bows and intricate details???????

I NEED to figure all this out, trying to make a business plan..and am at a loss.
also, what about fillings? do you charge a flat fee per tier, or so much extra for fillings? I like the idea of charging extra per servings...like $.30 or $.40 per serving.

thank you for help!

melody

Good questions!...I need to know also!!!

Keep on baking!!!

Cindy

Sorry to say in advance that I don't have the answers to your questions, just a suggestion. I was wondering that same thing myself and what I've started doing is looking online at every cake decorators website I can find. It's helped me a lot in terms of pricing, what to offer, deposits, and even what flavors to offer. A lot of the CC members here have great websites, I would start there.

Just an idea, but maybe it'll help you.

I can't find anything that states how much each detail extra is.

I start with a base price - I then add a small fee per serving for special fillings - this covers most decorated cake - I don't charge a "decorating fee"
extra things like gumpast flowers - chocolate work, bows, etc - I charge a fee that I think is fair that covers my time and the expense of the ingredients - I try and make sure that I earn at least $10/hr for my time - appropriate for where I live....

I start with a base price as well. $2 for BC, $3 for fondant. Ive just stopped trying to charge extra for fillings. Its such a mess to try and figure it all out so I dont even attempt to anymore. UNLESS its an expensive filling, something like tiramisu (that mascarpone cheese is ridiculously expensive) or a filling that contains alcohol or out of season fruits that are hard to find and cost a lot etc. Otherwise I just throw it in there.

Same with my cakes. I used to have my flavors separated into regular and premium flavors (got that idea from someone on here actually). Premium flavors of cake cost more than the regular ones but when I sat down and figured it all out they really didnt and most of the ones that did the difference was very slight. So unless they are asking for cake with really pricey ingredients in it I just charge the same for every flavor. Causes me less stress trying to figure out a price and Im less likely to confuse the customer (which I did several times when I charged extra for every little extra in the cake).

For flowers I only charge per flower if its really hard to make or something I really dislike making, I charge a lot more for those lol. Things that I can whip out in no time Ill just give them a price per bulk sort of. I sometimes use sugarcrafts website to figure that out.

Ive never made a bow but I think Wilton sells their big one for $16 so Id probably go with that.

All those little intricate details I would charge depending on the amount of time I thought it was going to take me to do. I think Im worth $10 an hour so Id go with that.

Hey!
I'm with LNW...it's too complicated to price extra for all the little things, so I have one price/serving for all cakes. I think of it like I'm the bride...do I really want to settle on a $2/serving wedding cake, only to find out it costs $X to add a filing, plus, oh yeah, if you want flowers, it'll be $X for that, also.

I just mention to them while we're talking, "it'll be one flat fee if you should choose gumpaste/fondant decorations, which I will tell you as I review the cake you've chosen. "

It works for me, keeps it simple enough for them to compare with others, and we both get a fair price! I think whatever you decide, it's just good to inform your customers up front, so that they know what they can expect. Information is money!!

Good luck, melodyscakes!

I just check with the sugarland.com site, and got an idea of what my gumpaste roses are worth.
thank you so much for the info!!!!

I am sooo bad about just doing stuff for free because I enjoy doing it....but if I am going to approach this as a business instead of a hobby, I need to stop giving stuff away because I don't know what to charge.

thanks guys!

melody