Hey guys!
I had a consultation with a bride the other day. Her wedding is on Aug. 30th. She wants a 3 tiered square BC cake with non-edible ribbon and rhinestone border. I told her she has to pay 50% by Aug. 16, the remainder due 1 week before the wedding. She said originally her mother-in-law's cousin was going to make the cake, but she hasn't heard from her in a while...
She was supposed to call me a few days ago to let me know the deal (is she hiring me or not?) and she hasn't called. I'm not calling her. But I don't want to stress about the details - since time is running out. Here are my questions/concerns:
1. She wants the ribbon to match her bridesmaid dresses. Who gets this? Me or her? (I'm new to doing weddings obviously!) I'm concerned she'll leave me a very small amount of time to match the color.....
2. She wants a custom monogram. How do you guys usually handle that? She wants it to be in rhinestones. Do you guys make them/order them or send the client off to find one on their own? (I'm hoping I don't have to deal with this especially since it probably has to be special ordered and will take a while to come in.)
3. She wants a strand of rhinestones around the bottom of each tier. Again, who gets this - does this even exist already on a roll, say at Michael's?
I'm finding myself stressing out about all of this. My worry is that she'll either wait until the last minute and I'll have 2 weeks to scramble to figure out these details, or she'll pay the deposit, and then cancel if this mother-in-law's cousin decides to do it on the cheap.
This sucks!
TIA
If she wants ribbon to match dresses I usually ask for a color sample then purchase ribbon myself. Monograms are usually purchased by the bride. And I have never had a bride who wanted rhinestoes but I have had them ask for pearls and I provide that. Hope this helps.
Call (home and cell) and e-mail her and say if you do not hear from her by 6pm today, not cake.............and stick to that! Hopefully she will contact you - did you get the deposit? At this point tell her payment in full is required or, again, no cake.
deb
PS: you can get rhinestones at any good craft or sewing store
A rhinestone monogram is a topper and brides buy their own topper.
I point bride's attention to my collection of leftover ribbons and tell her, "If you want just blue, if you don't care what blue, if you see a blue you like in that collection, then I'll use something up there. But if you want a specific color blue, then you need to drop it off to me a week prior."
(Slightly off topic, but there's a high-end bakery in town that charges $65 to add a ribbon to a cake and a bride has to provide the ribbon. I get lots of bookings from brides when they visit that bakery and hear this!)
" She was supposed to call me a few days ago to let me know the deal (is she hiring me or not?) and she hasn't called. I'm not calling her. "
I would call her ONE TIME..... that would be TODAY...... tell her if she wants a cake from you, you need an answer so that you can plan and order things...... ( it is to late for custom orders, make sure she understands that ) Then let it go..... she doesn't want you to make the cake.......
Ok, so it sounds like each baker is different. I think I'm going to go with what Indydebi said and get them to provide me with the ribbons. I kind of thought it should be her responsibility to get the monogram (which is what I told her, but then I was second guessing myself). So I guess I shouldn't worry. Thanks, guys!
I do both...I have brides who want a certain kind of ribbon with hearts or poka dots and they have to provide that...I am like Debi, I show them the ribbon I got, and I have pretty much all the David Bridal colors...they usually end up just picking ribbon from my collection. I dont charge them for placing (that is CRAZY! Do they charge extra for stacking the cake too?)
I would call the bride today as well, and tell them you need a contract by today or no deal. Tell them you are booking up and don't want them to loose their slot!
I always ask the bride to provide the ribbon.
For the topper, I do offer the option of me making a fondant or rhinestone topper. I can give you directions for the rhinestone topper if you need it.
Check out this site for the rhinestones.
http://www.threadart.com/shop/category.asp?catid=274
But I agree with the other girls, call today, leave a message and if she doesn't call back then don't do the cake. It isn't worth getting yourself worked up over.
I do the same thing as Indydebi...I have leftover ribbon, and if the bride is not picky about colour, I will use that. If they want something to match the colours of the wedding, then they must provide it to me a week early. Same as the topper - I must have it hand a week early so that I can see how heavy it is, any special considerations when placing it on top of the cake, etc.
I have never seen rhinestone tape/rolls, but I have never really looked. I would ask the bride to consider an alternative if rhinestones are not possible at this point - she is cutting it pretty close!
Stuff like that they have to provide to me. If they don't care like InyDebi said then I will use what I have. Like I did a cake the other week and the bride said if I thought the cake needed a ribbon then to add it. After putting the cake together I thought it needed a ribbon so I picked it up and used it on the cake and the cake board.
You guys are so helpful!!!! Thanks for the info on the rhinestone chains! I'm going to go look today at JoAnns just so that I know for myself how much it costs and what it looks like. I need to get a sheet of vinyl for rolling out my fondant anyway...
Southerncake, I did offer to make her a gumpaste monogram, but I told her if she wanted rhinestones she needed to order it - I didn't realize I can make on myself!!! Can you PM me the instructions, in case this comes up again?
Again - thanks so much!!
Amber
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