Sorry everyone... I'm just so frustrated.
It's been 5 months since I made cake due to the fact that I was planning my wedding, working extra hard at my full time job, and also house hunting. So there wasn't enough time for cakes at the moment.
I'm back from my honeymoon and ready to start pumping out those cakes like I used to. So far so good, I've got about 6 orders for this month.
Anyway, a close friend asked about a price for a cake for a bridal shower. it's actually her Mother who's asking, but you get my drift.
It's for 35 people, 1/2 vanilla, 1/2 chocolate, cookie dough filling, and roses (fondant), BC, and BC swirls on the cake. Colors are pink, magenta, and gold.
I would've charged $3.50 per person, but I gave her a price of $3.00 per person and the roses are $4 each.
She said that her Mother wasn't looking into spending that much and that her budget is $60!!
A $60 cake for 35 people.... I'm so over the "I'm on a budget".
The economy is affecting EVERYONE, not just those who want a cheap cake!
Point her towards Walmart, Cosco, or Sam's. If they want that custom of a cake and fondant roses they need to understand that comes with a price. If you have a beer budget, then you buy beer not champagne!
Point her towards Walmart, Cosco, or Sam's. If they want that custom of a cake and fondant roses they need to understand that comes with a price. If you have a beer budget, then you buy beer not champagne!
Exactly! I'm pretty positive that not even our local supermarket will be able to help her.
A sheet cake for 35 people on a $60 budget is basically saying the supermarket will charge $1.75 per person! I've seen cake slices in the bakery for more than that.
I explained to my friend that I understand she may be on a budget, but she has to be realistic.
People think it's just eggs, sugar, and flour...into the oven, and out comes a fully decorated cake. 
Cripes...... duh! We are all on budgets! Which is why you can't do a cake that requires XXX amount of dollars and XXX amount of hours for 1/2 of X. Why oh why do they not value cake??? Why are people so brainwashed that they think " It's .97 cents a box at Wal-Mart - how long can it take to make a cake??" 
Can you tell I am coming off my own little bend of cheapies-who-want-the-best? I'm sick of these people on 'warm, flat can of Shlitz' budgets who want that Dom Perignon cake. And what really riles me is some of them have loads of money - we have friends (of friends of parents) who are sparing no expense on their daughters wedding......oh wait, except for the cake, which they wanted me to do for like $75.... a wedding cake. For 125 people......with gumpaste roses.
Um, no.
I do a lot of work with one particular venue, and I KNOW that the they pay $40-$55 PER PERSON for food depending on the package they choose. More of course if they want alcohol. Then they'll say they hired this awesome florist who I know is way high...
AND THEN tell me they need to cut the budget on their cake... it's so frustrating when I know they are paying $20 per hour per guest to have beer and wine, but they can't swing $5 per guest total for a cake. grumble grumble.
AND THEN tell me they need to cut the budget on their cake... it's so frustrating when I know they are paying $20 per hour per guest to have beer and wine, but they can't swing $5 per guest total for a cake. grumble grumble.
You are so right. And you know what the funny thing is? No one will remember the booze (in fact, if there's enough of it, no one will remember anything, lol.)
But the cake, they remember.... at least you would hope. You take pictures of the cake, etc. It's a memory. The food and drink is not. Not saying the food and drink should be any less important but the cake should certainly be AS important.
Bride: We're on a budget.
Debi's selection of answers .....
1) So are we ... that's why we dont' discount. 
2) Well that makes you a normal bride, then! 
3) You know ... never ever have I had a bride walk in and tell me 'price is no object! the sky's the limit!' I'm waiting for her ... but I haven't met her yet!" 
LOL Debi
You're awesome!
I explained to my friend so she can relay the message to her Mother so let's see what she says.
Do you think I'm over pricing for this cake???? I really don't think so!
I say go back to the $3.50 a slice.
Why because you are on a budget too. You need to pay for the things you use to make this cake. You can't pay that stuff on a "budget" now can you. Ask her "Mother" where was she when you got married to help you out with your "Budget".
Budget my A$$. It is called "Budgetary Use and Abuse of the Cake Lady, just because you are friends.
" Like Indy says to paraphrase try buying that Cadilac on a "buget".
Can you tell I am also so over "I'm on a budget"
Someone's post made me think of it like this (and I figure this is a very appropriate way to answer the "we have to cut costs on the cake" statement)...
"Have you ever seen the bride and groom posing next to a half eaten plate of food? No, you've seen them pose next to a beautifully made cake though, huh? Skimp on the food budget, no matter how good it is, people'll still talk about you. Go all out for the cake."
Hey, Tita, that's a good one!
I always point out how "..... no one rushes in and stands in line to take a picture of the flowers on the tables. But I ALWAYS see a line of people waiting to take a picture of your cake ... the Grand Centerpiece of Your Reception!"
Yep, I got a request for something just today that was the same thing..."We want this and that, and our budget is about $60 for 30 guests." I sent them to someone else, but I told them that I didn't know if they'd be able to help them either.
..."We want this and that, and our budget is about $60 for 30 guests."
I think I'm going to start looking confused, getting that tilted-head-blonde look on my face and ask them, "How did you come up with that number?" I would love to hear their logic on some of these numbers that aren't even close to reality.
I had an inquiry the other day that wanted wedding cake AND a buffet AND passed (PASSED!) appetizers .... with a budget of about $10 a person. It's from a lead website and I can accept or decline the lead. If I decline, my reason is sent to the bride. So I typed in "Budget is unrealistic for a custom designed wedding cake, full dinner AND butler passed appetizers. My lowest cost buffet alone starts at $15.75." At least she'll get a dose of reality when she gets my decline.
Am I naive? Do people REALLY think they can get BUTLER PASSED appetizers and a custom designed WEDDING cake *AND* dinner .... for the price of an Appleby's lunch?
People are not very realistic, My friend and I both made cakes for our sons football parties last year and someone told us they were so awesome that she would pay $20 for either one of the cakes. I wanted to cry, even my DH was irritated. I just don't think people have a clue what goes into decorating a cake or even how much it can cost to make a good cake. AMAZING!
.....and someone told us they were so awesome that she would pay $20 for either one of the cakes.
Had a guy come into the shop and ask if I did pineapple upside down cake. Told him yes I could .... 4 layers of cake, 3 layers of pineapple filling, plus the topping .... $80. He almost fell down and said, "I was only wanting to pay about ten bucks!"
I said, with a gramma smile on my face (and teeth gritting behind the smile), "Sir, I have more than ten bucks just in the pineapple that's in that cake."
Next!
I am not an expert by any means but I swear that people think of baking as just some fun little hobby, not as something serious. Most people do have to go to the grocery store, do they not look at the prices? I mean really pineapple upsidedown for $10, what a cupcake!!
Ha! I gave a bride a quote which I later kicked myself for, a tower of fake frigging hexagon cakes and 4 real 10" rounds at the base...I won't even say how much, WAYYYYY too little. Anyways, I get an email from planner today "Bride is consulting with family who may put her cakes together, we'll get back to you in a couple of weeks. " It's cool, planner lady and I are way cool now....but anyways, I almost jumped for joy!!! If, IF they call back.....I will be booked that weekend...
LOL today I got a person that called wanting a cake. When I asked how many servings they needed. They asked me why???? I quickly replied because my cakes are sold by the slice.
And she had the nerve to tell me she wasn't going to play the 'pay by the slice' game and wanted a quote on a cake. My response 'hum o.k. $500. She said WHAT how can it be that much? My response well you want tell me if the cake you want needs to serve 25 or 500 people and since we aren't playing the pay by the slice game, I'm giving you a quote.
Funny thing after it was all said and done, I got the order. I'm so tired of playing their 'games' and refuse to do it anymore. Don't call me and tell me how you are going to do business with ME!! I don't think so. LOL love that good ol cake backbone that I'm growing.
Amazing stories, I tell 'ya!
UPDATE:
Well....my friend stopped by my house and she apologized on her Mother's behalf. "I'm so sorry about today.. I don't want you to think that I'm taking advantage of you, but my Mom has no clue about cakes and stuff", she says.
So guess what I did! I said, "Pull up a chair and get comfy." I made a cake right in front of her! After she saw the baking, torting, filling, icing, smoothing, piping, and fondant work...she simply said, "OH MY GOSH."
"Exactly", I said, "People think that it's just a cake and frosting from a can is what I do."
She got a big dose of a reality check for cake decorating now.
And she had the nerve to tell me she wasn't going to play the 'pay by the slice' game and wanted a quote on a cake.
I had a similar call but my lady was VERY nice about it. She asked, "Now, do you charge by the slice? (yes) Why is that?" I said, "Because that's our measuring stick. We have to know how much cake to make and that's measured by how many people you are going to feed. Paint is sold by the gallon ... you can't go into Lowe's and say 'I want to buy enough to paint 4 walls.' You have to tell them how many gallons you need. Paint by the gallon ... carpet by the yard.... food by the serving."
Like I said, she was very nice and said, "OH, I understand!"
And poshcake, I had a guy try that when I worked for a powercord company. We were no-bidding his request (what he wanted wouldn't meet UL requirements). He said we HAD to bid it because he needed 3 bids. After trying to convince him we WOULD. NOT. BID on this, I finally told my CSR to quote him $1000 per cord (avg price was $3.00 a cord). When he complained, I got on the phone and told him, "My CSR said we could not bid this. So if you want a bid, you've got a bid. And this bid MIGHT cover the cost of educating your engineer on UL requirements so you don't get sued when you try to use this cord. Now you can take this $1000 figure to your boss, or you can tell him we no-bid it."
And she had the nerve to tell me she wasn't going to play the 'pay by the slice' game and wanted a quote on a cake.
I had a similar call but my lady was VERY nice about it. She asked, "Now, do you charge by the slice? (yes) Why is that?" I said, "Because that's our measuring stick. We have to know how much cake to make and that's measured by how many people you are going to feed. Paint is sold by the gallon ... you can't go into Lowe's and say 'I want to buy enough to paint 4 walls.' You have to tell them how many gallons you need. Paint by the gallon ... carpet by the yard.... food by the serving."
Like I said, she was very nice and said, "OH, I understand!"
And poshcake, I had a guy try that when I worked for a powercord company. We were no-bidding his request (what he wanted wouldn't meet UL requirements). He said we HAD to bid it because he needed 3 bids. After trying to convince him we WOULD. NOT. BID on this, I finally told my CSR to quote him $1000 per cord (avg price was $3.00 a cord). When he complained, I got on the phone and told him, "My CSR said we could not bid this. So if you want a bid, you've got a bid. And this bid MIGHT cover the cost of educating your engineer on UL requirements so you don't get sued when you try to use this cord. Now you can take this $1000 figure to your boss, or you can tell him we no-bid it."
lol they lady tried to be all 'nasty' I guess thinking I was going to bow down to her demands and when she found out that I wasn't going to play her game she changed her additude. Oh and the order she booked was over $300. Gotta love our customers. I just wanted to say I was nice to her even though she was being a jerk to me in the beginning.
My daughter's best friend's sister got married a few years ago. I was shown a photo of a 5 tiered white fondant with black houndstooth design in black fondant covering the entire cake, with white gumpaste flowers cascading down the side. The family is very wealthy, and for the 300 $10 per serving (included the flowers) and she also wanted a 3D grooms cake that started with a basketball then a football on top of it, then a base ball on top of than and a golf ball on the very top. I quoted her $7 per serving on that cake so her total $3427 for both cakes. She nearly had a cow. But yet she paid her venue $30,000 for food and venue rental, $5000 for a helicopter ride from the venue to the airport. $1000 for the horse drawn carriage to ride them around the circular drive (around a fountain), and $20000 for the flowers! And she had the gall to tell me she only wanted to pay $300 max for her cake...I laughed! Her friend who had just finished the beginner Wilton course did her cake as a wedding gift. My daughter was at the wedding, she said the cake was falling and was horrible. The BF's sister cried when she saw her cake and later told my daughter she should have had me do the cake.
Ah, tell us your daughter got a picture of that cake for you! I'm not asking you to post it, because that wouldn't be nice or fair to the cake maker. But, please .... she got a pic for you, right? (And if she didn't, you better get that mom finger going at her, big time!!)
My husband is a teacher and I get most of my orders from his coworkers. 2 weeks ago one of them called and wanted me to make a cake for her to feed 135, when I told her what my price was she threw walmart at me.....she wanted a cake for less than 1 dollar a person I don't think you can even get a wally world cake that cheap.
She showed me on her phone (she snapped it with her camera on her phone). She has gone through several phones since then but it was a tragedy of a cake. No I don't have a photo of it, nor would I have even thought to keep one. Just seeing it made me want to cry for her friend's sister. Believe me I got no joy from seeing that cake wreck. My daughter told me it tasted awful too. But then again on that front she may have just been saying that to make me feel better...LOL!
I was recently asked if I would do a wedding cake for a friend. I guess she thought it'd be free since we are friends. She wants 5 tiers all round, mmf covered, flowers from gumpaste to keep and a grooms cake that would have bride groom strawberries all over it. Okay first, this is a lot of work for someone that I hardly hang out with, I don't have $500 to shell out on anyones wedding cake, if I was going to do this I would buy myself a wii fit. Did offer a discount from $5.00 a serving to $4.00 not a pro but what she wanted I could do. Then she told me she could get a box mix and do it herself at that kind of price. Good, go for it. If you need help go to youtube.
I also had a friend of a friend what a cake and right away I just asked for her budget for the cake $30 for 50 people, explained that I couldn't help her on this but I could direct her to some youtube videos and that she could buy tips and such at walmart and by then she would have spent $100 bucks for her $30 cake. She said she hadn't even thought about the fact that you have to make your money back for the equipment it takes to make these cakes. She decided on $150 budget for the cake and to cut back on the other things. Yeah...
I always ask for the budget and then tell them an idea of how much cake they can get for that. I try not to do fondant cakes just buttercream w/ fondant accents. If they want to stay in the price range then they know what they can get for that. I have had several scale down the main and get a simple sheet cake on the side. They say it works best that way anyway. Who knows but it keeps from having the "wow, that much"
Hey, Tita, that's a good one!
I always point out how "..... no one rushes in and stands in line to take a picture of the flowers on the tables. But I ALWAYS see a line of people waiting to take a picture of your cake ... the Grand Centerpiece of Your Reception!"
Somebody needs to inform the Philly brides of this...mostly the ones who get the "included" cake with the catering package...three buttercream iced tiers with some scrolls and a bead border just like the last 56 brides before her.
And she had the nerve to tell me she wasn't going to play the 'pay by the slice' game and wanted a quote on a cake.
WTF? Are you kidding me? How on earth? Oh man....well, I'll be ready fro that one I guess!
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