I'm confused. Was the cake with the butterflies the model and inspiration for the second cake, which was the one made for the wedding? What am I not grasping?
Hope this isn't a double post - my computer screen seemed to eat my previous one... anyway - I can't judge, by the camera angle, whether or not the second cake is tilting. Also, I LOVE love love the butterfly cake - the more I look at it, the better it looks. So appealing, lovely design, well executed! .. I want one....
Honestly, I can see why they were unhappy. Not THAT unhappy, but not thrilled. The cake is leaning (so is the butterfly one) and it is a little messy. The ribbon placement isn't uniform on each tier...
I don't know. The cake isn't great. But the MOB had no right to treat you the way she did, either.
If you look, the reason it appears to be leaning is because of the camera angle. The table must be leaning too. Take into account the bright light behind half of the cake, that messes with how things actually are. She said it wasn't absolutely perfect.
If it was per the bride's instructions, then only she should have been able to send it away. I do understand that in the moment, it is difficult to have done everything perfectly or said the right things or come back with a witty comment. I always think of the best things to say too late. It's experience for next.
I love the butterfly cake.
oh my!
OP: glad you could vent and get it off your chest.
As far as my opinion of what happened, or the design of the final cake...I dont' think you asked for either in your OP & I have none to give. You thanked readers for letting you vent...nothing more, nothing less. So if it hasn't been said already...your welcome and vent anytime.
sorry this MOB incident happened to you. And sorry it affected the rest of your busy day. That's certainly not a pleasant way to have any day turn out. 
Thanks for sharing your story. It offers much to think about & learn from for many that are just starting out in the caking business.
Did you get a fabric swatch or anything to confirm what her idea of warm chocolate brown was? I am always weary when it comes to colors, because people always have different ideas of what they are. Some people misuse words or use them differently too. She could have meant warm as to mean rich, dark, etc.
Personally I would have been upset over the cake. When I pay a certain amount of money I have certain amounts of expectations. Now, when I got married I was on a minuscule budget and found a homebaker to do my cake for a dollar a serving. I got what I paid for and I was ok with that. But, had I went to someone who was acting as a business and paid the going rate for a wedding cake I would have been livid.
looks like another clause for the generic boiler plate contract:
<name of bakery> will not, under any circumstances, be responsible for supplying any ribbons, crystals, or other similar hard goods decorative items for use to adorn the cake. All such items must be purchased by the bride supplied to <name of bakery> at least two weeks prior to the event.
Further, <name of bakery> having used and applied said hard good items to the cake as specified and agreed upon in this contract, will not be held liable or determined to be in failure to perform as contracted, if said hard good decorative items are later deemed by the bride or her agent to any way compromise, clash with or in any way impair the agreed and contracted design. The bride shall not be entitled to any discount or refund based upon such conditions.
Saved in with my contracts! Thanks Doug!
yep, not everyone's vocab is upe to par, lol.
i don't have contracts yet as i am still a newbie but i do hand out a general info sheet that says if any details are left unsaid by buyer, i reserve the right to use my own indiscretion and if while decorating something does not seem to be working i reserve the right to make small changes to make it work. of course i will call first if possible.
Oh yeah! Any color that comes with an adjective must also come with a color swatch! "Brown" I can do. "warm butter monkeybutt brown" must have a color swatch on file.
One bride brought me a paint card from the hardware store .... that was pretty neat!
One bride brought me a paint card from the hardware store .... that was pretty neat!
I tell all the brides to go to the Home Depot to raid their paint cards! Or Lowe's, I'm an equal-opportunity paint card thief.
Another idea that I took from a rental place I work with is to take a three-ring binder with the pocket pages that you use for baseball cards and put a bunch of different paint cards in them. That way you can pull it out and have the bride show you the color they want if they don't have a swatch with them. The rental place uses that method to show all of the colors of linens they have, and I thought it was great idea. Whenever I go to the hardware store I "liberate" a few more color cards to put into my notebook.
I like the one with the butterflies, its beautiful.
Did I miss was he ribbon provided by the bride or the OP? The brown looks really light to me but if she never gave a swatch then she really didnt have anything to match it up to. I have had to make a cake with the color espresso and I was thinking that Id just use the choc brown fondant but then once I recieved a swatch I needed to darken the brown to match her color.
I think maybe if the tiers were all the same height that maybe the ribbon would have looked better. Im just not a fan of thick ribbon like that. I do think when making wedding cakes there should be no saying its not perfect. If someone is paying you to make a wedding cake the you should be able to give them something that is almost flawless because of course decorators notice flaws in cake that the normal person wouldnt notice but if there are obvious things wrong with the cake then they have every right to complain.
Be careful, Indy. Monkey butt brown could easily be mixed up with "Baboon butt red"...and I'm assuming that comes with your signature "Earwax filling"?
To the OP--so sorry you had to deal with such a jerk. I agree with previous comments that the bride should have had the final say. Does anyone establish with their Brides/Grooms who exactly should be there to "accept" the cake and deem it worthy? I'm thinking that's something I might cover now that I'm doing weddings.
So sorry this happened to you. I sadly can see my crazy mother pulling something like that.. ugh, there is NO excuses for that type of behavior!
Just chalk it up at a learning experience. Next time make sure to get color swatches as we all have different opinions on what colors are. I recently had a bride ask for apple green flowers on her cupcakes for a cupcake wedding. Thank gosh I asked for a color swatch because the color was more of a chartreuse w/ a hint of gray. This is not how I imagine apple green, but everyone is different. Also, if they want ribbon, get the ribbon from the bride. The ribbon on this cake looks a little too thick for the layers and isn't uniform, which could be due to you being rushed. Maybe you can take one less order and insure you have time for perfection opposed to rushing on someone's dream cake.
Again, so sorry. Try to make it a positive and learn from the situation. Your cakes are beautiful btw.. I just LOVE the butterfly one.
I am a paint card liberator also 
Most of the time people bring a swatch with them though. Most brides are pretty picky about colors matching and have the forethought to bring a sample of "their" colors.
The order forms and contracts that I use pretty much cover my butt for ANYTHING and I always get a contact persons name from the bride to verify the order upon delivery.
There are copies of my contracts in my photos if any of the newbies are looking for one.
i don't to be mean, but if i paid a professional i would never accept this cake either. i would have cried if this was my cake.
i don't to be mean, but if i paid a professional i would never accept this cake either. i would have cried if this was my cake.
But if that's what they ordered, that's what they ordered. If they special-ordered ribbon they obviously wanted that specific ribbon. I don't see what's so bad about it that you'd cry over it.
i don't to be mean, but if i paid a professional i would never accept this cake either. i would have cried if this was my cake.
well, I'd be crying having to make it.
It's one of those -- and why do I have to make cakes I do NOT like!!!!
(brown and pink -- YUCK!)
OP I'm sorry this happened. I don't know how that cake is worse than a grocery store cake but hey some people are just crazy. Not perfect but definately not worthy of ruining a wedding. I hope things work out for you.
I have a clause in my contract that states no matter who pays for the cake it's the Bride and Groom's cake and I will only accept changes from them (in writing). I go over that at consults too.
If the bride herself didn't tell me to take the cake away I wouldn't have taken it. And come to think of it I wouldn't have taken it either way. It's their cake. They paid for it. They can dispose of it. That way they can't make up some crazy story about how you left with their cake.
Okay...the bride provided that ribbon so I wonder if she thought the tiers would be taller and the ribbon wouldn't cover so much of the cake. Well...I guess I mean the MOB thought that....
I'm VERY interested also to see what the bride's reaction was to all this.
I like the idea of the color swatches from the paint sections...I'll have to remember that!
i don't to be mean, but if i paid a professional i would never accept this cake either. i would have cried if this was my cake.
well, I'd be crying having to make it.
It's one of those -- and why do I have to make cakes I do NOT like!!!!
(brown and pink -- YUCK!)
Doug...brown and pink complement each other nicely when you have the right shades....although I would not choose those colors for my wedding more for like a baby shower
i don't to be mean, but if i paid a professional i would never accept this cake either. i would have cried if this was my cake.
well, I'd be crying having to make it.
It's one of those -- and why do I have to make cakes I do NOT like!!!!
(brown and pink -- YUCK!)
Doug...brown and pink complement each other nicely when you have the right shades....although I would not choose those colors for my wedding more for like a baby shower
Bring out the color swatches DARK brown and hot pink look good together I think....but I'm with you...not for my wedding.
aw i did a wedding cake for a 4th of july wedding and i actually think it is hideodorous but it is EXACTLY what she asked for. she even came over the night before and was overjoyed with the flowers etc. it's in my pix if you guys want to look at it
so yea, if it's what she asked for it's what she asked for. not your prob.
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