Hi!
I had a potential customer contact me wanting a 3-D grooms cake, but said they may not want a wedding cake. I thought this to be very unusual and something I had never run across. I was thinking.. Am I not good enough to do your wedding cake too?
I don't know all the circumstances, but it sounded like they did want a wedding cake, just not done by me.....
So, would you do only a groom's cake? Anyone ever run into something like this??
I wouldn't take this personally or find it strange. It could be a few things. Maybe a family member or friend is doing the wedding cake but doesn't have the skills to do a 3D cake. Or the person that is making the wedding cake recommended you for the 3D cake.
I don't know if you watch Ace of Cakes, but I remember this episode when he did the gumball machine for a bat mitzhah (spelling?), and another local decorator did the main cake.
I know I'll probably be in the minority here, but oh, well.
i do it all the time, both ways...
sometimes i do the brides cake, sometimes i do the grooms cake.
many times people will come in the shop after the wedding telling me they gobbled up the grooms cake (i made) and barely touched the brides cake.
it has not hurt my business one bit by doing this....many weekends i gotta turn business away i'm so busy.
I have a disclosure clause in my contract that I'll do it on the condition that it needs to be done at another licensed and approved bakery. Approval means that they're going to deliver it (which limits out Walmart, Costco, and Super Target in one swoop)..
As long as there is full disclosure to both you and the other baker, I'd be fine with it as long as they have approval from the other baker too.
For me it all came down to hey, they're sticking their neck out and being HONEST with me, I'm more willing to work with them under those circumstances than if they try to pull one over on me in the early days of the booking.
I keep track of my sales as:
1) Wedding cake only
2) Buffet only
3) Cake and Buffet
My average sales-per-event is actually higher when they get the cake somewhere else. So I've NO problem if they get the cake elsewhere. (So if any of you live near me, sounds like a win-win for both of us!) 
I would CERTAINLY do it! Make it spectacular and potential brides will remember YOU, not the wedding cake baker. The EXACT thing happened to me, and when they trayed the two cakes, mine FLEW. The wedding cake did not. No one remembers who did that wedding cake, but they all remembered the grooms cake, and people were complaining who didn't get any.......
DO IT. Don't take it personally. There are any number of reasons someone else is doing the wedding cake. I wouldn't give it another thought.
It's really not that strange. When I got married I had my favorite decorator do the wedding cake and my husband's family had their favorite decorator do his groom's cake. Not a big deal.
I guess I'm in the minority...
I have right in my contract that I must be the sole provider of the Wedding Cake/Grooms cake.
Alot of Brides are going with the option of having sheet cakes in addition to their "main cake". I would hate for a frozen/thawed commerically produced sheet cake being mistaken as the one I put every effort into. Not that I dislike commercial chain cakes (I like most cakes). But, I've worked hard and want to take credit for my work ~ I don't want anyone confusing the cakes. This hasn't been a problem so far...the Brides just order their sheet cakes from me too.
I did have one recently that said her mother was going to make the Grooms cake. I declined doing her cake. I have no idea what kind of baker/decorator her mom is (I know moms can cook...I'm a mom too) but, there is too much liability there. Too much potential for her cake not to be up to my standards and too much liability that she doesn't follow food safety guidelines. I've worked hard for my license (and 100% score on my Health Dept. inspections). And I also don't want to be responsible when both cakes are all cut up and somebody gets sick...guess who's liability insurance would be tapped into? Not hers...she doesn't have that protection. And how do you decide who's cake is who's after it is cut up? If hers isn't good...I could lose potential clients if they don't like hers. And you Brides talk...I could lose more than a guest of that wedding.
JMHO....
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