hello everyone i am new at selling my cakes i always just did them for family , my issues is a bride wants a price on a two tier cake 6" and 4" with callla lillies plus 300 cupcakes each with a gum paste calla lillie, what would you charge for this much work , Please help she want a answer right away

That's a lot of work!

I'm not sure what shape the 4" and 6" cakes are. So the price would obviously change if there are more slices. And I'm not sure if they are fondant or buttercream.

I would say at least $1.00 for each calla lilly - for the ones on the cake and the cupcakes.

For the cupcake - probably $3.00 plus the cost of the calla lilly. So total $4.00 for each cupcake.

Again, for the cake I'm not sure how many servings. But I would say $3.00 for buttercream and $4.00 for fondant. I'm gonna guess it's about 16 servings. So $48 for buttercream and $64 for fondant. Plus the calla lillies on the cake.

You are looking at a pretty big order.
cupcakes @ $4.00 each = $1200.00
cake = around $48 to $64 + the cost of the calla lillies on the cake. So another $20 bucks or so.

Around $1300.00.

you need to sit down and calculate your costs (ingredients, gas for going to the store, small things like kitchen roll and clingfilm, things like electricity/ gas/ water), then you need to put a price on your time- at least minimum wage. then you need to think about what other places in your area charge for custom designed cakes.

a 6 inch serves 12 - wilton doesnt have a serving chart for a 4 inch, i cant be bothered doing the math. for a bc cake, the minimum price on here is about $2 a serving, but even that is cheap. you need to cover *your* costs. small cakes are more fiddly to decorate - so allow extra time!
cupcakes - like a serving of cake, i forget what the sort of average on here is. but you would get some ideas on the cupcake forum. and it depends is it bc, or poured fondant?
all that gumpaste - that will bump up the costs!!!! depends on the size of the lily, build it into the cost of the cupcakes. maybe you can get her to do alternating cupcakes, so you only need 150 lilies.

where do you bake from? (i will mention the legal issues - if its home, are you official? if not, will the venue accept your cake?) cause 300 cupcakes will take a lot of time and space to decorate, which most kitchens are short on! if you are on your own, thats a challenge. how will you transport them? store them?

im in the uk, and dont sell cakes. but that is a lot of work for you, so price fairly to your self, not just the bride.
xx

I don't think the bride will probably pay that much . would 2$ a cupcake sound resonable . and the cakes are square with fondant , royal icing accents

I will be doing the cupcakes with buttercream, I like your Idea of only every other cupcake . But what would you do on the other 150,
I do this by myself ( out of my home)for extra cash
the best way i know of transporting in is using stacking bread trays, I can get 8 tray in the back of my van

People always worry whether the Bride will pay the price or not....I would not do these cupcakes for less than what Indydebi calculated..whether I need the money or not!!If you teach brides that they can tell you what they are willing or going to pay then you are seriously setting yourself up for being known as the "Cheap cakemaker".I'm not trying to sound harsh but that is reality...If the Bride doesn't/won't pay the price..Offer her an alternative like simple swirled cupcakes with nothing on it..Buttercream icing instead of fondant...Why should you lose money!!Food for thought!!! You go Girl!!

if the bride wont pay the fair price then she wont get the cake she wants.
only do $2 cupcakes if you *cover your costs*. will it be making extra money if you only make 20 cents per cupcake, and are up til 3am? it will be hell on earth, trust me.

more than worry about the price, id worry about the practicality. most home ovens only fit 12 (or 24, if you have a good oven and can figure out the timing) cupcakes at a time. if its 12, thats 25 trays of cakes. that is just over 8 hours of baking, assuming 20 minutes per tray and an immediate turn around. and they stacking and storing and keeping fresh... that is what justifies the high price.

so to say ' here is the price for 300 cupcakes, and a two tier cake' might surprise the bride. but then say, 'we could make a 5 tier cake for this price' (huge wow factor - probably what she is really wanting. calculate *your* costs - generally tiers work out cheaper to make than cupcakes)

a simple swirl on cupcakes will be much cheaper than hand crafted gumpaste items. can you order mini calas - cheaper than your time making them probably. if you do 150 with the cala, just do the other 150 a simple swirl.

your price is your price. if the bride cant affor you, thats ok. its better than working for free.
(even my vague idea of usa pricing, at the very cheap scale, i get about $1000 for what she requested. $1300 sounds much mroe like you getting paid properly for your time)
xx

I would MUCH rather make enough cake to serve that many than cupcakes. Think how pretty a big cake with 10-20 big callas would be! For me, much less work with a better end result. Even the 6 & 4 like she wants with kitchen cakes would be cheaper and easier than the cuppies she wants. Here's what I would do:

Knowing what a pain all those cuppies and all those mini callas would be, I would not charge based on what I think the bride would pay...I would charge based on my cost and the memory of the last time I pulled an all-nighter fulfilling an order that was equally as horrendously time-consuming, painful and ridiculous. No way would I do it if I wasn't going to come away with a significant amount of cash in my pocket!

I would also figure the price for the tiered cake she requested, plus sheet cakes, or kitchen cakes, to make up the rest of the servings she needs.

Finally, I would quote a price for a gorgeous tiered cake that would feed all of her guests.

Without having actually figured this, I'm pretty sure the cupcakes would be the most expensive option. Of course, if that's what the bride really wants, she can have it, but it'll cost her!

Seriously...calculate the cost (labor and materials) before you quote (and even then, you should probably up it some for unforseen labor costs). I did a cupcake tower this weekend...it was only 25 cupcakes but they all had chocolate designs on the top (it was an 80s theme so things like radios, rubix cube, etc). I calculated what I thought was going to be the labor behind it and honeslty...for her order I could have charged her $100 more just for labor b/c it took double the time that I thought it would. (BTW it came out AMAZING )

The lesson I learned this weekend. When I calculate the cost for something, I'm not going to feel bad if it's expensive. I'm doing everything myself and I'm extremely meticulous when it comes to things b/c you never know who is going to see your work and want to order from you. Your work is your calling card (and if you think about it, advertising is not cheap...believe me, I used to work in it, I know!).

Good Luck!