Please help me - I need help pricing a wedding cake!!

I've only ever done one wedding cake before, so I have pretty much no experience pricing them. This is for a friend's wedding next month... it's so last minute to finally be bringing up cost, but I have to bring it up, especially because it's like a 3 hour drive on top of the fact that I can't afford to do a free cake!

I'm attaching a pretty crude drawing of the cake they'd like. 3 round tiers - 8", 10", 12" off-white with cascading mini daisies in autumn colours. Supposed to feed 150 people - do I have enough cake here or do I need to do an extra slab? Each tier is a different flavour: Almond w/ Raspberry BC, Lemon w/ Lemon BC, and Chocolate w/ Choc Mint Frosting.

Please help me, this is an emergency!!

I can't see the picture, but the sizes on my chart serve 24-36-50=110, so you may need to do a small sheet cake to get to 150. I charge $1.75 per serving on regular buttercream, so with your speciatly flavors, I would suggest at least $2.00 per depending on where you are located. If the daisies are gumpaste I would charge at least $30 extra for a cascade down 3 tiers, if they are fresh or silk, I wouldn't add anything. Lastly, the delivery... OK, I wouldn't deliver that far, but, since you are and gas is $3 a gallon, I would charge at least your gas money there and back for delivery. This is going to be quite a bit depending on what you drive, but it's all part of it!
Hope that helps get you started!
-Lori

i don't charge extra for "specialty" flavors or multiple flavors. i price high enough to cover them all. i would price it at $375-420. are the flowers silk, RI, gumpaste? that will effect the cost. if you're making them you'll prolly want to add extra for the cost, if they're silk the bride should buy them. for delivery i would just charge for one fill up, so $35-45 depending on how big your tank is. if she's a friend and you feel like you need to give the "friend discount" then i would find your regular price (please make it at least $300) then take off 10-20% depending on how close you are to each other. that will give her a nice $40-80 wedding present.

Awesome, thank you! I don't know why I can't get the picture to attach, so I uploaded it into the gallery, but it says it will take at least half an hour to be available...

The flowers will be either gumpaste or MMF. I'd like to do gumpaste, but I haven't really worked with it - but I don't think it would be TOO different from fondant. Just have to work fast, right?

I think I'm comfortable with a $300 minimum. oi! Talking money with friends makes me nervous!

If you would feel mor comfortable you could always work with a mixture of 1/2 gumpaste 1/2 fondant... it will give you more time to work.

I am coming up with about $500 which is $3/slice X 150 + $50 for gas ect. $3 a slice is the minimum I charge for a cake that large and for the kind of cake you are describing, with the type of work you are talking about, and the distance you have to deliver it I think $3 a slice is a "friend discount"

Anything less and I promise you, through no fault of your friend, you will be attending your friend's wedding with a chip on your shoulder feeling used and abused.

Good Luck

Will they be eating the top tier or saving it? That is not enough cake for 150 people IMO. I would make the tiers bigger or add another tier. My friend rate for this size cake would be around $400.

Thanks! I charged $3 / serving, and now they're saying they'll probably save the top tier, so an additional sheet will probably happen - which means a slightly better price tag, and me all happy to make a cake for them!

I LOVE that I can charge that much for making a cake for someone!!