Before I Crack Somebody's Skull, Help Me Respond To This
Business By SweetThistleCakes Updated 11 Oct 2006 , 3:12pm by birdgirl
lol homecook I like your idea of a reply and if it was me I would quote exactly what you wrote. When I got married I couldnt afford very much and had a regular pink dress and was married at the justice of the peace but it was my 2nd wedding and the first was even worse lol no reception at all. So for this one since it was july we had a lovely reception in our yard but I really really wanted a real wedding cake but on a twinkie budget lol I didnt know any one who baked so I got a lovely 2 tier cake from the local supermarket it was very good and had one of those plastic wilton toppers for the top which my husband picked out. Since the cake was more important to me than paying for a hall and caterers (we did the food ourselves) I have to say that all brides that one something really delicious and nice should put aside the money for the cake before all else.
I say... let them make fondant.
Better yet, let them make a homemade cake(s), make the icing, torte the cake with homemade filling, make the fondant, roll out the fondant, then try to smooth the fondant into a seamless, completely smooth, perfect creation. Then make 3 more. Then transport that creation to another location, stack them all and still have it look perfect. 
WOW!! I gotta say some of the comments here are freakin hilarious!!!
I wouldn't respond at all - you won't hurt him and he certainly won't get as pissed about any reply you send..... he just doesn't understand..
However - the wedding business is BIG business - and it is certainly costly. I think the venue charges the most - I tried to plan some business meetings and was outraged at how much some hotels charge for a tiny little room.... and then they charge like $600 for Internet??? When other hotels give it for FREE???? That's a BIG price difference - FREE vs. $600!!!! (yeah we never went to those hotels that charged for Internet - get a clue people!). Anyway, I'm sure there are aspects to each different part of the wedding business that WE aren't aware of - costs, etc. for photographers, florists, etc..... and the time THEY spend doing everything - I think that should be appreciated as well. The venue is just THERE.... they don't neccessarily do anything but provide you a room sometimes.... I understand paying for the catering from a place - but the room costs are sometimes so outrageous it seems!
I think we are all artists and need to respect each other - if you don't agree with a price, you can make an attempt to bargain - but DON'T Insult as a way of getting a lower price - who would give a lower price to someone after they insult them??? I wouldn't!!! I just don't understand why these people feel they have to "vent" to the actual vendors - vent to your friends or your family or something or ASK what all is involved that causes something to costs so much - then at least you'll get some EDUCATION in business costs.....
Anyway that's my 2 pennies 
What does this guy do for a living? If he's a plumber, electrician, lawyer.....then, wow....,he's an easy target!
If he's totally poor.........could it be because he doesn't have any skills/talent/training/education?......unlike cake decorators???
I agree that wedding costs can get totally out of hand. There's a place here in San Diego that charges $3,000.00 to use their grassy area on the bay for the wedding ceremony. (The beaches in town are free!!) The reception room is extra, of course. Another place charges $35 for a bottle of house wine!
I don't agree that wedding cakes should be charged the same as birthday cakes. They are usually much more labor intensive, require structures (pillars, dowels, etc.) and delivery/set-up.
I wasn't going to comment but then after reading this, I just had to ... I think what I hate the most from a potential wedding cake client is as soon as they walk in they start with the "poor mouth"... "well, we don't have much money... everything is so expensive and we just don't have the money to do what we want to do"... yet when you leave, you hop in your Lexus and drive off????? Then when I go to set up your cake, I drive up to your reception site and I'm in awe at how much it must to have cost just to park your car in the parking lot much less walk into the building; you have the best caterer in town, rented all the backdrops, wrought iron, silver, had the most expensive florist in town do your flowers, yet you come to me thinking you're going to get a 3 or 4 tier cake that has been decorated to perfection where I've put my heart and soul into your cake to make and serve over 200 people for $200??? you gotta be kidding me huh??? it's just not happening!!!! I use to let them get to me and talk me down off my price for their cakes, but not anymore .. if you want quality work with the finer details on your cake, I'll do it; for my price, NOT YOURS!! If you waited to choose your cake after you've spent $2000-$3000 on your dress, another $500-$600 to have a limo drive you to your wedding and from your reception; you paid caterers to cater your wedding, you bought the finer end of florist work, then no ma'am, I'm not "bargains-r-us" here ... you pay or go to the discount store and get your cake ... my time is worth more money!! So tell those who write nasty emails to you, to try doing the cakes themselves or find someone else to do it for them... don't compromise yourself for anyone!
"I don't agree that wedding cakes should be charged the same as birthday cakes. They are usually much more labor intensive, require structures (pillars, dowels, etc.) and delivery/set-up."
There are some very elaborate birthday cakes out there that can rival some of the weddings cakes. I was refering to comparable cakes earlier. A similar stacked cake will cost more if it's for a wedding around here. Should it? Maybe. But the point is, I am not going to argue about it to with the bakery. It is what it is.
Angie
Sorry you had to put up with such ignorance. I don't do much in the way of cakes but I know it is hard work in just what I have done.
As far as weddings go...well I paid my daughters entire college education working extra shifts so that she wouldn't have any school loans to fool with once she was done. So now that she is getting married next year she has to pay for her own wedding. I am making her cake but if she wants all the other stuff she has to do that on her own. I can tell you though that she is finding it quite outrageous what some places charge for things and she is rethinking what she wants. I figure she got the best deal with me paying for her education because at least she won't be seeking a divorce from her education in a year or two 
and she will always have that education...it won't just last for a day and be all over with.
No one needs to go into debt for a one day affair that may not last . Who are we trying to impress? No one remembers a few years later....
By the way...your cake is beautiful...I love the colors of the flowers against the white...
This is how I see it. I choose to do cakes. Cakes are a lot of work. I charge for my time accordingly and the client has the option to pay my asking price or go elsewhere. I don't bargain on price or defend my prices because I have a business and a business is about providing the service or product the client has chosen (and paid) me to provide. A business is not about making sure the client knows how much time-effort-creativity- artistry-etc.-will-go-into-creating-exactly-what-they-want-which-is-why-my-pricetag-is-what-it-is.
It's neither here nor there if someone wants to be an a$$hole to me about price. I could give a crap. I do cakes, this is how much they cost, and I am still going to do these cakes for these same prices whether someone is offended by the price of "just flour and sugar" or not. As to the astronomical cost of their flowers, the sham that is the wedding business in general or whatever the he** else they're whining about- this is not my wedding they're planning, it's theirs and so I don't benefit from a discussion like that in any way shape or fashion.
I think the focus should always be on business, so if it were me, I would not respond to this person because to do so would be totally besides the point of business.
You said it Snowboarder!
Don't sweat it SweetTC! He obviously has no idea how much work goes into wedding cakes or that some people like elaborate stringwork and roses and other people want a simple cake with fresh flowers.
Don't spend another minute being annoyed with him. He's not worth it.
i got married before i was doing cakes, but i never would have thought about trying to get her to change the price. i gave her a picture of a cake i liked, told her how many it needed to feed, she gave me her price and i said "o.k" just like i wouldn't go into the bridal shop and say "oh, can't you take 15% off this dress, it just seems so pricey". sometimes the more "simple" cakes are harder because they have to look so flawless- takes a lot of time/practice/talent. that's why i like my cakes with lots of "stuff" put on them i wouldn't respond to the guy unless it will drive you nuts, then i would be very polite to the point of it killing me 
Here's the end result- I replied to his message so he wouldnt get his panties in a bunch about not getting a reply. Told him thanks but no thanks, it wasnt his cake, and that he probably wouldnt recognize Mike McCarey from Mike Nesmith.(nicely) He retorts says that after the fiasco of a cake that I made, I should be lucky that the flowers saved the presentation 
and now that I have completed what looks Wilton 1, I should move on to Wilton 2. Well, S/O saw what the turd wrote and replied with some kind words on how I am a WMI and spent two years getting my degree in culinary arts.
I've deleted my email address that the trouser snake was replying to and served all ties.
I think we have encounted a new beast by the name of.........GROOMZILLA
LOL!! Good for you! What a.......I am at a loss for an appropriate name to call him that won't get me kicked off this site!!
You handled yourself with tact and control. Lots more than I would have. Well done!
Angie
I think today's society is the biggest sham when it comes to weddings. It is not only the cakes, but the hall you have it in the size of the church--because of the size not what is in it, the dress, the number of bridesmaids, the reception hall, the food, the honeymoon on and on. The cake is not the issue it is what the bride and groom think they have to have to please society. My wedding was small ok 125 people, but we spent very little on it according to today's standards. It was in a small church with family and a few close friends (big family) we had sandwiches that were not assembled, a small tier cake with sheetcakes. Everyone thought it is was was a wonderful wedding.
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