OK so heres the story. My husbands Cousin is releasing his first Solo Cd project. Hes just a small local musician who plays acoustic guitar . So his mom wants me to make a cake. A couple of months ago we were throwning around ideas, guitar, record, album cover etc.... So i said let me know. Well I get a phone call from her saying that a guitar cake would be awesome, and she wants it to feed 30-50 people maybe more. The more the better I guess. So I asked her what her budget for cake is. $50 was her answer!!!!. Now there is no way I am doing a huge guitar cake for $50. I would lose money on that cake. I also took this cake on as a favor because I already have a cake for that weekend, and she really wants me to do a cake.
So i need to talk to her and come up with something else. I don't think she has any idea what cakes cost to make. I am just going to tell her for that amount of money I would be wasting too much cake carving a guitar, and It wouldn't be worth my time, not enough servings Etc.... I'll just make up some good sounding excuses (Feel free to make some suggestions)

So anyways, I need some great ideas to take to her so I don't have to do the guitar. PLease help. It needs to be something relatively simple and easy for $50.

Why don't you just tell her you are having a hard time trying to carve the cake so you decided to make something else instead. Tell her you tried but it wasn't turning out how you wanted to, and instead of wasting another cake you made such and such instead. If you already started the other cake then she can't complain right???? Good luck!

Instead of making a huge guitar cake why not simplify it. I had the same problem a while back. They wanted the guitar but didn't like the price. I ended up making a sheet cake and made the guitar from mmf and put it on top. They loved it (although my strings didn't turn out the way I liked).

Just an idea....HTH!

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1199304.html

Personally I wouldn't even sell a sheet cake that serves 50 for $50.

What I'd do if I were you is call her back and tell her that the cake she wants will be $xx.xx, a sheet cake with a transfer will be $xx.xx and maybe give her one other option.

DON'T base your price on what she says she can pay. If she says she can't afford whatever you tell her be nice but firm about your prices.

I hope that if you do work within her budget that you make something that feeds 30 instead of 50.

Why don't you make a sheet cake with the album cover on it, maybe a fbct?

I know its hard doing cakes for family because you do'nt want to lose money but you do want to give them a deal.
Its easier said then done but just tell her the cost of ingrediants for a guitar cake to serve 50+ is $xx.xx and 50$ won't cover it.
If she really wants the guitar she will pay the difference.
You'reright though she probably does'nt realize how much it cost to just make the cake , so let her know and maybe she will pay and maybe she will go with a cheaper option.
Good Luck!

Thanks for the suggestions so far everyone. Keep 'em coming!! I just came across some Ipod cakes. What do you all think of a 9x13 Ipod cake with His name and album or song names playing on the screen. I really want to do something cool, because a lot of people will be seeing it. I don't mind putting in extra time to make it special, but I can't afford to put extra Money into it with materials and such.

I've been in situations where people ask for a certain cake, and being the precious cake muggles that they are, they have no idea of the cost involved. I just try to be up front and tell them "The ingredients alone for this cake cost $** and it will take a minimum of ** hours to complete this cake. I will then charge you $**. Is this particular design what you still want or do we need to find something different to fit your budget?" This seems to be upfront with the facts of life yet still giving the individual a graceful way to change plans. HTH

i made a cake for a friend who needed it for a concert he was doing at the church. i made a sheet cake and made choc. guitar molds to put on the top then i made music notes as the boarder it turned out great and was easy and cheap.

Don't lie to her and tell her you can't do it because you can't carve it or something.. because that won't fix the problem.. the fact that she doesn't understand the pricing of a completely custom carved cake. Tell her that the cake she wants will cost $XXX and if she wants to only pay $50 she can get XX servings. Don't make excuses for her.. don't be rude, but be honest and upfront. I wouldn't do a cake for 50 for $50 either. This is your DH's cousin.. not your sister or mother or something. You don't owe her a free cake. Are you really close? I might give a bigger discount for my favorite cousin, but you don't need to give the cake away and definitely don't pay them for you to make them a cake. A 50 serving carved guitar cake from me would be $400 easy. It's a lot of work. If you want to give it to her for cost then add it up and tell her what the cost would be and most importantly let her know how much it would have cost had she not been family so she doesn't expect you to do the same thing for a friend of hers or something. (Yes.. that does happen.. "oh.. can you make a cake like the one you made for my son? BTW.. they only want to spend $50 too." )

why not just do a giant Cd simple, bake a 14" round cake ad core a hole in center. cover in fondant, silver luster dust and his name/song