A bride just emailed me to ask if cake cutting was included in her price. I'm going to reply that it's not, however, I'm assuming the next question would be if I will cut it.

Do you offer cutting services and how do you charge?

YOur subject line indicates you have no interest in cutting the cake. A simple, "No we do not do cake cutting" is sufficient.

Feel free to direct her to my website page where I show step by step how to cut a cake. http://cateritsimple.com/_wsn/page9.html

If you ARE interested in offering this service, you need to charge for ALL of the time that you are tied up with this cake. For example, I would deliver a cake one hour prior to the start of the reception. Then I'd have to sit there for an hour until everyone started to arrive. Then I'd have to sit there during the toasts, and the appetizers, and the 'this' and the 'that'. Then dinner. then when they FINALLY get around to needing the cake cut ... you go into action.

BUt you are PAID for the entire time you are tied to that cake! Even if you live close enough to go back later, you still charge a 4-hour minimum because you can't go to a movie with your family, you can't go shopping with your sister, you can't do anything for any length of time because you are "on call" for this cake.

My time is billable at $100/hour so that's what I charge for service above and beyond what I normally offer. Dont' charge less than $25/hour, 4 hour min.

Most caterers offer this service with their contracts, however as indydebi stated it is also billed for.

If your customer is looking for a way to save some money, it could be the reason for her asking you. You should get paid for your time as much as the next guy. So if this is something you want to offer, don't be afraid to charge for it.