I got an email from a bride yesterday...I had done her wedding cake last weekend, and I was very happy with it...thought that I had aced it. It was the first time that I had used Satin Ice fondant, and was very happy with the results. Anyway, long story short, the email is as follows:
I wanted to drop you a quick note and tell you how lovely our wedding cake was. You did a fantastic job, it was exactly what "groom" and I envisioned. It got a lot of compliments that night. However, we were wondering if there was a mix up. The cake was to be a chocolate cake with raspberry cream filling. Although the cake was chocolate, there was no raspberry cream filling it in. It was either a chocolate buttercream filling or mocha. The piece I had was tiny and didn't have much filling so I couldn't be sure, but the chef that cut the cake, thought it was mocha. We were a little disappointed after raving to our family about how good the chocolate and raspberry combination was going to be.
The only thing that I can think of is that she got a tiny piece of the side of the cake that had only chocolate buttercream icing (which is what I used underneath the fondant to adhere it to the cake) and no filling. (And no, I did not forget the raspberry cream filling!)
I have asked the bride to call me by phone so that I can get more information from her (ie. if anyone else said that they didn't get filling in the cake, if indeed her piece was a side piece and how tiny it was)...am I forgetting anything?
P.S. I just uploaded the photo of the cake into my album - it is called Chocolate Swirls.
First of all, the cake was absolutely gorgeous! My guess if you did indeed use the filling she requested, is that she got an edge piece....and I'm also wondering just how small the pieces were cut 
. Won't really know how to handle that until she gets back with you. All-in-all, it's a wonderful email and she sounded very satisfied! I think this will be an easy fix for you! Please keep us posted!
I myself wouldn't ask about any of the other guests if you KNOW you put the filling in. Just tell her exactly what you said in your post...."you most likely tasted a side piece with not much, if any, of the fruit filling. I use a dam to create a barrier between the fruit filling and the outside frosting on the cake...it's not pretty when filling starts oozing out of the sides! 
".
I find that the further I "dig" into a customer situation the worse it gets. If you know you put it in there then why ask??
I go with SweetConfectionsChef if you ask what everyone elses cake bit was like, its as if you cant remember and dont really know. Just tell her about the edge pieces. The only thing i dont really get is the chef cut the cake and said it was mocha, what was he cutting????
Quick update!! I just got off the phone with the bride, and she assured me that she and her husband are happy with the cake...she just needed to know if there was filling in the cake as ordered. There are issues with the reception venue - they threw out the rest of the wedding cake, so she only had the tiny piece that they served her at the dinner. Yes, she and the groom had side pieces, so they only got the "dam" of buttercream in the middle. (My first thought is what server gives the bride and groom the side piece - don't you give them the nice piece with the yummy stuff in the middle?? ) She also mentioned that the pieces were TINY, so there should have been lots of cake left, but the venue just threw it away...perhaps they threw it out after the staff all had some?
My other thought was how did the "chef" figure the buttercream was mocha...was he licking his fingers in between cutting?? 
Anyway, enough said...the bride is satisfied...I kept my mouth shut about the venue (professional all the way...I will have to work with them again someday!)
Thanks for your thoughts and support everyone! 
Nicole
Sounds like a good ending! Yea, I kinda wondered about the chef myself...how would he/she know anything about the filling unless they tasted it??? Anyway, all is well and you have a satisfied customer! 
If it were me, I'd offer to do a small cake with their flavors just as a good will gesture.
I know you did everything right, I know it was rude of the venue to toss the cake (what venue does that!?!!!) but there is nothing worse than not getting wedding cake on your special day.
One thing I did back home was always did a small 4 inch cake for them and kept it at the bakery for them to pick up when they got back from their honeymoon.
That way when they reviewed pictures, opened presents, watched their wedding video they had a fresh cake from their wedding to nibble on.
It was never a replica, or designed elaborately just the "left over" from the main one. The bride never seemed to care about the lack of pretty's on it since she saw the real one, they were just glad to have a fresh one to enjoy and savor since they couldn't on their wedding day.
I have to agree here... how WOULD the chef who cut the cake know what filling it was unless he was licking his fingers or eating a slice... Sounds like a call to the health dept.
Next, I agree it's probably the venue... We've got one here that Ugh... The computer tower/monitor/mouse/keypad cake I did was to serve 100 TOTAL... They served the TOWER in 100 itsy bitsy pieces... 
... the bride ended up throwing out the monitor because they couldn't figure out how to cut it... But what BURNS MY 
is the fact that I had outlined the bottom layer of both tower & monitor to the proper slice size!
The only thing you can do is when asked about a particular venue, you can say what you've experienced... and what they've told brides...
Either way, best to avoid that site if you can...
Well, my first thought was that at my own wedding, I did not get a chance to sit down and have a piece of cake... all we got was the cake that we smooshed into each other's mouths. And the guy cutting the cake was really in our face (and our photos); insisted on butting in and cutting the little pieces for us to hold and feed each other, after the official cut we made into the cake with our hands on the knife together. He cut two tiny edge squares, wrapped them in napkins and handed them to us to feed each other. I knew he was trying to help, but it was sort of embarrassing. Anyway, I assumed that this is what your bride must have gotten...a little edge piece for the feeding picture. Don't worry! (Although I know it's hard not to fret oevr this stuff!) You did great.
One thing I did back home was always did a small 4 inch cake for them and kept it at the bakery for them to pick up when they got back from their honeymoon.
That way when they reviewed pictures, opened presents, watched their wedding video they had a fresh cake from their wedding to nibble on.
It was never a replica, or designed elaborately just the "left over" from the main one. The bride never seemed to care about the lack of pretty's on it since she saw the real one, they were just glad to have a fresh one to enjoy and savor since they couldn't on their wedding day.
I luv this idea and I'm not even a wedding cake maker!!! I hope all you other wedding cakers pick up on this!!
I'll bet all the brides just luv this!
At our wedding the caterers cut the cake, but didn't serve it...large miscommunication somewhere there! Most people ended up not getting any of the cake as they didn't realize it was sitting there waiting for them to come and take it.
We also didn't get more then the cake cutting smooshed cake...but luckily we had some great friends who packed up the large amount of leftovers and brought them to the gift opening the next day so we could try all the yummy flavours!
I like the suggestion above about having a 4 inch for the bride/groom when they return from their honeymoon. Very thoughtful idea!
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