I just made a wedding cake for my dear friends wedding last weekend. I didn't know his bride very well, but he is such a good friend I wanted to help them out. They said they didn't have a lot of money to spend on their cake, so knowing that I had made 1 wedding cake previously for a family member they asked if I could make their cake for a discount. I told them I would, and only charge them for supplies. I spent 2 days making the cake. I was supposed to deliver the cake by 5:00, but I was still frantically putting it together and didn't get it there until 6:00. The bride was ticked off to begin with. The cake was late, and to top it off transporting it became a problem, because the wedding was held at her parents house which was up the side of a mountain on a dirt road. So when we got the cake there the fondant had cracked and some of the polka dots had slid out of place. I fixed it as well as I could. My friend was grateful to have the cake, but the bride was not a happy camper. She kept rolling her eyes at me but then she told me the cake was beautiful. I left feeling very sick to my stomach. I really tried hard on this cake, but like I said it's only the 2nd cake I have ever made. I only charged them $75 for materials which they have not paid me for yet. My question is, should I charge them less, or let them pay me the $75 even though the cake was a disaster in my mind? (the cake is the first one in my photos, polka dots)

The cake looks very nice to me! If you had problems....you covered them! You made it...you delivered it and they ate it! The least they can do is pay you for the supplies and $75 is MORE than reasonable!

i think ur cake is beautiful! u had a few bumps but u covered it- and i would still charge them the $75- they werent going to get a custom wedding cake for that amount of money anywhere. what kind of icing did u use to adhere the polkadots?

mimi

Your cake looks just fine. Definitely get the $75 from them unless you want to make the cake your gift to the couple (and only do that if you can afford it, $75 worth of groceries is a lot).

I'm sure you spent a ton on ingredients, SPS, and fondant. Have them pay you for supplies, the cake is great and your a nice friend for helping them out.

Don't give it to them. It looks great. Nobody on this site, I am sure, guarantees a perfect cake. Cake is food and food has flaws, even if they are only seen and not tasted.

Get your money, you did a huge favor for them. It would probably make your friend feel better to keep up his end of the bargain, no matter what the bride thought. And believe, he got a bargain! Again, the cake is very very nice.

Upfront payment would have been great....but anyway, yeah I still think you deserve the money! I think the cake was really pretty! And they got a good price on it. Plus, they ate it...right?

I think it is more than generous of you to make the cake at cost and I think the cake looks very pretty. They should BOTH be grateful.

The cake is beautiful!!! Not to mention that they said it tasted great, you made 3 different cake flavors, your own fondant, etc., then delivered it. Your $75 is SO well deserved, and they'd better pay up.

With everything that you did...don't take ANYTHING less then the $75 agreed upon! The cake looks GREAT!!

Your cake is lovely and $75 is an absolute steal, with or without a few bumps and bruises. Boo to the ungrateful bride!

the cake is very pretty, you can't tell there were problems. You mentioned that you used frosting to adhere the dots and they slipped. I use gum paste adhesive or just a little water to adhere fondant decorations to fondant covered cakes. HTH for next time, no slippage.

Ditto what pattycakes said. Your cake is very pretty- second cake(NICE JOB). For future cakes, your dots probably slipped because of the frosting. Fondant to fondant applications only require water( a little dab will do you) or gum paste glue(take gumpaste and let it sit in a bit of water- becomes tacky and great "glue".

That is a steal of a cake for $75!!!

The cake photographed well which means their wedding album will show a lovely cake for years to come. Don't offer a discount or freebie unless your friend mentions something. After all you didn't charge for your labor; you only asked to be reimbursed for the supplies. They got a great deal and a pretty cake.

Dear Darling, get paid for your supplies! Don't look back, the unappreciative bride has no clue about making cakes, cause if she did she would have just been glad that your arrived with anything, let alone only charge them $75.00. What a steal. Cake delivery can be challenging(LOL)
Hammy

it is absolutelly not a disaster, you should not call it like that!!

It looks really nice and I couldn't see any disaster anywhere.

Ditto, ditto, ditto!!!

Like everyone else has said to you the cake looks beautiful. You deserve ever bit of that $75 dollars. Just cause there were a few problems with the cake, the picture does not show it.

The more I hear, the more I think brides think they're SUPPOSED to act miserable about something--anything-- on their wedding day. Reality TV syndrome: "Everybody's doing it...guess I should too."

I understand your feelings of being concerned and uncomfortable. I have not been doing wedding cakes for long and I learn something new everytime! I think the hardest for me was confidence. Now I work for a grocery store and am considered a "wreckerator" by some. I try my best with every cake I make. Sure I have had some wonderful wrecks! If we didnt have wrecks, it would be a boring proffesion!
Always remember that 75-90% of cake decorating is covering up "mistakes".
and MOST of allIf the bride was not happy with her $75.00 cake ( that is beautiful by the way!) she would not be happy with a 750.00 cake either. Pick up your chin, smile and move on to the next cake! KNow there are many of us just like you too!

I totally agree! $75 is more than fair, and they knew this was the second cake wedding cake you have made. They knew this up front and took the risk that something could go wrong. It looked great and they definately got their money's worth!

Mimi,
I have had the same problem with fondant dots falling off the fondant. What do you recommend for adhering them securely?

Thank you all for your confidence boosting posts. I am starting to feel much better about this cake. Also, thank you for the great advice about sticking fondant, to fondant. That is a great peice of advice for the future.

I did a wedding cake for a co-worker as a gift but told her she had to pay for the supplies. After about 3 weeks of phone calls I finally got my money. Love the girl but not giving her a $100 gift! The cake is beautiful, unfortunately the rudeness of the ungrateful bride is bringing you down. Id start calling for my money!

Boy, how i wish you had charged them more, delivery included. get your $75 and never charge that little again. the cake looks great to me. worth way more than $75.

$75.00 on this cake is a steal! I would not consider giving them a discount.....

Boy, I sure expected to see a newbie looking starter cake. But WOW~ Get yer money girl!! (You deserve so much more). Your cake is beautiful.

All I can say is "$75 my ask". M best cake doesn't look as good as your disaster. Make them pay. I just hate it when people try to get something for nothing.

I would have charged at least $250 for this cake, issues or not, so go get your money. Also, if you ever watch Food TV, you'll feel a lot better about your own cakes. I used to think I was the only one having problems until I watched the masters and all their cake problems. Now, I know that we all have them and the sign of a good decorator is when you can cover them up and still get compliments. I think the being late part was what the bride was tore up about but it doesn't warrant a free cake. You're not Domino's in the 80s. Just have to start earlier next time. I always try to be done at least two hours before the cake is due so I'm not stressing and they surely won't stress.

That is a totally lovely cake!!! and worth the retail price, for sure. These snotty little bridezillas just make me want to slap their snotty little faces. A lack of gratitude is one of my pet peeves.

Unfortunately, your friend is in for a rough ride with that little princess. Hope she grows up someday.