I have a customer that has been emailing me 2 weeks out from her date. OK great! Then I get another email today that she will call me NEXT TUESDAY for an order that friday.
What the heck is she waiting for? I sent back a note that she has to call me now!
It is so frustrating - I KNOW!!!! I am going through that right now with Thanksgiving orders........ people want to "wait"..........Why might I ask? If you are going to order, please do so now. I am only taking a limited amount of orders, so you might come up short if you wait too long.
I simply am too busy to deal with these last minute "On the fence people"..When they email I tell them I need 2 weeks advance notice as I have other orders....so if they want a cake they need to decide that day.If not..I am booked!! When I was just starting out I would take every order and be running around like a chicken with my head cut off because I wanted the money....now I have the luxury of saying No...and I am really proud of myself because I always have a hard time doing that.
You need to train them.
Turn a few down with "Sorry, I've been booked for ___ weeks, you really need to order in advance", and people start to realize how they have to be.
what FlowerGirl said. I tell folks, "Since I do only made-to-order cakes, my baking schedule tends to fill up 2-3 weeks in advance, so no, I can't make your cake for tomorrow. You might give Walmart a call ... they usually have a few sitting around."
I just checked how much notice four big-time New York City bakeries and cake shops require.
Payard: one day
Bouchon, Two Little Red Hens: three days
Sweet Melissa: At least three days
Overall Payard is the pick of the litter here and their prices reflect that. And they require a day's notice.
So maybe not all those last minute customers are quite so crazy.
I just checked how much notice four big-time New York City bakeries and cake shops require.
Payard: one day
Bouchon, Two Little Red Hens: three days
Sweet Melissa: At least three days
Overall Payard is the pick of the litter here and their prices reflect that. And they require a day's notice.
So maybe not all those last minute customers are quite so crazy.
Yes but there is a difference between a retail bakery and a by-appointment-only custom cake studio. There is a difference to how the work flow goes, how the orders and taken and done... how the whole business is run is quite different. If I had a retail bakery I would and could do cakes on shorter notice... but since my time is budgeted quite precisely for each job on my books, last minute orders just aren't a possibility.
Ron Ben-Israel, Colette Peters, Elisa Strauss, Anne Heap, Cynthia Peithman... you bet your ass none of them do a cake in less than a week's notice. Actually I know for a fact Anne won't take any orders with less than 3 weeks notice unless they have a huge open window (they're usually booked up much longer in advance anyway) and Cynthia Peithman only takes--I believe--two cakes for any given date, so she can be booked up a year or more. I simply do not do orders less than a week out. Less than 3 weeks notice and I have to REALLY like you to squeeze that into my schedule as well.
I don't mind doing a last minute order IF I don't have anything else - but that is a rarity. Generally my cakes are ordered 3 weeks or more in advance on party cakes and up to 6 months in advance. I now turn away as many cakes as I book. I will not overbook and make myself crazy. I refer them all to my friend who is capable of doing their cakes so it works for the customer, my friend and me! So if they want a cake from me, they had better book it early.
I had someone come in on Tuesday to order a wedding cake for Friday. Yes, it's true.
I charged them a fee of 100$ extra for short notice. They paid.
I have, however, such a bad feeling about these people and the whole experience I had with them, it's too long and complicated to get into right now.
In short, I know I am going to regret this order forever. I feel like I whored myself for an $800 order. It doesn't feel very nice, but I need the money!
What kind of cakes are these bakeries offering with a one day lead? Fully decorated theme cakes like we see here? I'll bet not. I'll be willing to bet the farm that these one-day-notice cake are just basics. Carrot cake with a garnish or stuff like that. Definately NOT those wonderful creations that Colette and the others make.
chutz, there's a bakery in town (and it's considered a high end bakery) that advertises they can do a wedding cake with only 24 hours notice and their cakes are never frozen. This is, by the way, the same bakery that my co-workers bought my birthday cake from, "....because you've GOT to try their cakes!", and my supv had to take it back because it was so frozen we couldnt' cut it.
Anyway ..... I stopped in there when I first moved to Indy, pretending to be the mother of the groom and picked up their pricing info. For $x.xx, I could have any cake I wanted ... as long as it was one of these 7 sitting on display. Any changes whatsoever would have a design deviation fee. Want shell borders instead of dot borders? Deviation fee. Want drop flowers instead of rose buds? Deviation fee. Want ivory icing instead of white icing? Deviation fee.
So you're right ..... they CAN do a cake in 24 hours notice, but you pretty much get a canned cake design.
But I guess if you wait until 24 hours before the weddign to order the cake, then you really don't care what it looks/tastes like anyway. 
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