Ok!! The age old pricing question! Except this one is a little harder!
I am starting my wedding servings at $2.50. This bride sent me two pics and a bunch of questions regarding what I would charge for what! I am assuming the first one she gave me is the one she wants. It has scroll work ALL over it! Should I be charging extra to do this?
Are the flowers real or fake on this?
She wants to know if the bc will melt by the candles? I don't think so! They will only be lit an hour.
What tiers do you think these are?
Any help is appreciated! This is one of my first inquires on wedding cakes! Yeah!
I don't charge extra for design work, so I wouldn't charge extra for the scrolls. My logic is that I dont' discount when they want a "plain" cake with just a ribbon border, so I dont' add on when they want anything above "plain".
Since fire safety is a BIG thing with me (my parents had 2 house fires by the time I was 14 ... neither were their fault.... and I caught my hair on fire once when cutting a cake due to candles by the cake!!).
So.... if it were me....I would light them right before the cake cutting, for picture purposes, and blow them out when the photographer is done.
My icing crusts very well, and even I would not guarantee my icing with direct, hot flame directly on the cake.
Wow, that's alot of detail work, I would think you might charge more than 2.50 a slice...that's just my thoughts, but then it would take me forever to scroll that a wedding cake! The cake is beautiful that's for sure!
Personally.. I would charge extra for the scroll work. If you've ever done it before, you know how time consuming it is, especially that small and controlled.
As far as the flowers go, regardless of whether the picture has real or silk, I would ask the bride what kind she wants on her cake.
I completely agree with Debi -- I wouldn't light the candles until it is time for the pics/cutting. The icing should be fine.
I can't see the flowes well enough to tell if they are real, silk, or sugar.
I also personally would not charge extra for this type of scroll work.
As far as sizes, I think they are possibly 8, 10, and 14, but I can't tell for certain. Do you know where she got the pic? I feel like i have seen it before. If it is from CC, the creator may be able to help you.
I have placed candles on cakes before but what I did was get some cardboard and put the candle holder (upside down) on top of the cardboard and drew a circle of the top , then I cut the circles out and wrapped them in heavy foil. Mine did fine and the candles were lit for over 2 hours. Did not do a thing to the icing under the circles.
I charge $4.50 a slice for wedding cakes. That includes design work. Flowers and fondant are more, of course.
Regardless of what is in the picture you need to find out:
How many servings (so you know what size cake to make)
What kind of flowers she wants (gumpaste or fresh)
If she has fresh flowers, I would double and triple check the assortment she wants is not toxic!!! Also, she should have a florist handle the flowers (usually not cake decorators responsibility).
Hope that helps. 
It's quite possible that those flowers are fondant or gumpaste. There are many talented people here at CC that can make flowers that look real (not me). If you don't think that you are able to make them, then use real or silk.
The size of the pans is hard to tell. What you could do is measure corner to corner on your pans and that will be the size of the cake below it. Then decide what size combinations you need to get the number of servings she wants.
I am not sure where this cake is from!!! Thanks for all the response's!
I will probably be doing smaller than this and then doing sheet cakes but...she also wants the scrolls on the sheet cakes! Oh MY!
I think in that picture there is a little sign that says it's for 200! I was thinking a 14, 12 and 8...I could be wrong.
Thanks again!
Personally, I would not charge extra for the scroll work -- it is not horribly hard and, on the whole, white on white give a lot of buffer room.
The flowers would be up to the bride ... I do not buy the flowers ... but I do place them on the cake ... didn't once (and never again!!)
Make sure that the pans can fit diagonally (including the board they are sitting on!!) This is a big issue and will cause you a lot of panic if you dont measure first. (Since you are doing sheet cakes just pick whatever sizes fit insde themselves and look good overall.)
The candles should be fine. But I have seen the battery operated tea lights lots of places and this would probably be a great idea for this cake ... not hot and nobody would get burned ... which means you can leave the lights on longer!
Best wishes!!
I just wanted to mention, that whatever sizes you decide to use, take the empty pans and stack them the way the cak is in the picture, to make sure it fits (since the tiers are rotated) and there isn't any overlap. Maybe by doing that, it can help you decide what sizes will look nice together.
...I also don't charge extra for this type of design work.
Wow! I was thinking everyone would say that they would charge extra for the scroll work! I think cause it's all over the cake it is going to take sooo long that I might just charge a small fee.
thanks everyone for your feedback! i will try the pans fitting inside each other to test it out!
Thanks again!
Charge at least an extra 25 cents/serving for the scrollwork.
Ditto on the battery operated tea lights! They flicker just like real tealights. If you bring the flowers up to hide the lights, you'll get a really lovely effect without the worry of a meltdown or a fire. Plus, they will last throughout the entire reception. I get mine on eBay.
For a 6" square, the widest part would measure ~8", so I'd go with a 9" square under that.
Remember a-squared + b-squared = c-squared? It will come in handy now. 
Time to thank your geometry teacher.
Charge at least an extra 25 cents/serving for the scrollwork.
Ditto on the battery operated tea lights! They flicker just like real tealights. If you bring the flowers up to hide the lights, you'll get a really lovely effect without the worry of a meltdown or a fire. Plus, they will last throughout the entire reception. I get mine on eBay.
For a 6" square, the widest part would measure ~8", so I'd go with a 9" square under that.
Remember a-squared + b-squared = c-squared? It will come in handy now.
Time to thank your geometry teacher.
LOL! That's a good one!
Ok now! Do I offer up a sampling if she likes my price!? Or when do i do this!
Should I give the top tier for free since they are not going to eat it? They are saving it! Sounds like a silly question I know!
Thanks for the help!
The top tier is your call. I do it for free, no particular rhyme or reason, I just do.
Because I don't do wedding cakes on a regular basis, so I don't usually offer tastings. Besides, the people who have ordered from me usually have tasted cakes I've brought to work or family/social functions.
Someone once mentioned a $25 tasting fee, which is credited towards the price of their cake if they book with you. I think that is a great idea.
I do wedding cakes almost exclusively. It's extremely common to give the top tier for free. I only know one baker (from all across the country) who doesn't. Certainly I don't know everybody, but its a very common practice.
Tastings are free nearly all the time. Caterers sometimes charge for a tasting, but even most of them don't.
Applied to your order IF you book with them.
as far as the top tier, i've started offering to bake them a new little 6 inch cake decorated like their wedding cake on their anniversary. this fresh cake would be free, but its up to the bride and groom to contact me 4 weeks in advance to schedule it. i don't just automatically make it. this way, i can say "oh you don't want year old cake! i ate mine that way and it wasn't too good. i'll bake a new one fresh for you and decorated just as beautiful". and if the couple forgets to call me a year later, or they are divorced, or moved away or whatever, i don't make it. so i don't automatically lose out on the cost of ingredients and the couple is happy that i bake a fresh cake for them. win win.
as far as scroll work, i would not charge extra. but i set my prices high enough in the first place to cover things like that. i never charge extra for more BC deco, just fondant and gumpaste. and she would provide the flowers and the tea lights to me as well.
Actually, Becca, I do something similar. I provide a gift certificae for the first anniversary cake. But it does not look like the wedidng cake. Its a 6" round with "Happy 1st Anniversary" on top. that's it. They can have their choice of flavors. And they must present their gift certificate.
indy--You have a PM.
I would also require the bride (or the florist) to provide the battery operated tea lights for this. A lot of venues don't allow open flames anyway.
I have found this a big rule lately and I can't say I blame the facilities at all.
wouldn't that help with the melting icing thing too?
That is very true and I suggested that to her!
Thanks to everyone for your help!
I quoted the bride $2.75 for the scroll work cake. She also inquired about dots...quoted that to be $2.50 per serving. I bet she will choose that one! I think she is going to be a little bit of a hassle just because of the amount of people she is inviting. I tried to explain to her the whole 60% rule...hopefully she'll get it. On the phone she really thought mostly everyone was coming even without RSVPs. I doo hope I get this one though because it will be my first and it would be quite a bit of money for me! i might even be able to pay for one of my college classes for the summer!
Oh! I did offer her a tasting if she wanted to sign with me! Maybe that will reel her in!??
Thanks again everyone! Keep it coming!
Congrats!!! I'm sure she'll love your cakes so much at the tasting that she'll sign right away!!!
I think the $25 tasting (with a credit towards the cake if they book you) is a great idea. I do what you do however, try to get the customer to show me what they want (or explain) then I come back with a price. I try not to give out how I got to that total, unless of course they ask! This way if I feel the cake will be a lot more work than another then I can charge a bit more (which I almost never do!)
Sorry, no advice on the candle but to put them on a board! I have never used candles on a cake before.
Ihappened to notice that Wilton has the tealights for $15.99 for a set of 8 .... about $2 each. You can direct your brides to their website to get them, or they may be able to find them at MIchael's or Walmart.
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=1006-7137&killnav=1
Ihappened to notice that Wilton has the tealights for $15.99 for a set of 8 .... about $2 each. You can direct your brides to their website to get them, or they may be able to find them at MIchael's or Walmart.
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=1006-7137&killnav=1
Thanks for that information! I did know they have them...I haven't heard anything yet from her.
Actually, I haven't heard anything from the bride that called the other day for Sept. 22nd! Should I call again and give a time line??
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