I'm sure you guys see dozens of threads on this but there are just so many serving size guides online. I want to find one the is realistic and for party cakes. Does everyone use Wiltons cake serving guide? There cake serving sizes seem really small. To make this clear, I'm looking for the amount of serving sized per cake. TIA

I don't like the Wilton guide. The slices are unrealistically small. However, if you're having a caterer cut your cake, that's usually their guideline. I use the Wilton guide and subtract slices from each size. For example, if the Wilton guide says an 8" round serves 24 people, I subtract 8 and say it serves 16. The Wilton guide says a 10" serves 38, I subtract 10 and say it serves 28. I know the caterer will still cut it the Wilton way, but there is more cake leftover for seconds, and the brides are always happy to hear that I allow for larger slices so that they get more for their money. They like to hear that XYZ Bakery down the road would charge $ x 24 for the 8" but I charge $ x 16 for the same cake. This also gives the bride the option of saying that she doesn't mind smaller slices and would like the smaller cake. I would still charge the same amount per slice (if she wanted a cake to feed 24 I'd sell her the 8" but charge her $ x 16 since that's my regular price). My ingredients don't cost that much for my regular flavors (premium flavors are higher cost per slice) so most of the cost is in labor.

duplicate post--sorry

Am I the only cake hog out there? I could eat the 8" cake by myself. (After all, I'm the one who ate the ENTIRE fruitcake one Christmas! It's a good thing no one else likes it because I had it all to myself!)

I just go with Wilton's party slices or Wilton's Wedding slices. Tell them that it will serve (the number of Wilton Wedding slices and that's what you charge by) but that they can always cut each slice larger.

I use the same dimensions as the Wilton guide (wedding size) for pricing, regardless of the occasion... it's pretty much the industry standard, as as mentioned, it is the size most catering facilities will cut the cake to (at least those with staff trained to do this). My customers are made aware of how big the slices are and if they want a larger slice/more cake, they can pay for it, but I will ALWAYS price my cakes by this size slice.

Ditto to Tara. Those slices are very generous, as far as I am concerned. Especially when you make your tiers are 4" and above.