i hate it when someone calls for a cake (disney castle) and today id friday they want the cake sunday and i'm working on orders for saturday but even if i didn't have orders i still would not do it. i see it as a very high level of disrespect of what you do. so you cake central members handle it. because sometime i reall y want to say are you crazy but that would not be smart they could be future customers. what do you say or do when you get last minutes request that requires a lot of details.
deb
If it's going to kill me to make the cake I say no. I love what I do and I won't let anyone ruin it for me....I explain how my existing orders and their cake would be compromised by me taking on too much. If they like your work, they will come back...remember...people always want what they can't have! 
I would explain that making/decorating a cake is time consuming and detailed work. Without advance notice it's impossible to do the level of work that should go into your cakes. Thank them for calling, but explain that you simply can't as it wouldn't be fair to them or your other customers to accept another cake order at this time. Be sure to tell them that you need at least x weeks notice so that each cake gets the time, attention, detail and love that it deserves so that it can be of the highest quality.
I always tell customers I require a minimum 2 day notice on any cake or cookie orders. That is followed up with more is always better, there are days that I get booked up. I try to look at my weekend at the beginning of the week (weddings) and then decide how many general cakes I can do on top of that. Once that mark is hit, Sorry, everyone else is out of luck. First come, first served. Like someone else said, sometimes being unavailable makes you more in demand!
-Lori
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