I have 2 brides to be EXTREMELY interested in getting their cakes from me based on word of mouth on how yummy my cakes are.
The only thing is that I don't have a portfolio to "show" them other than regular b-day & other celebration cakes I have done and they both want to see some of the work I've done. I am sure they willask about wedding cakes too.
Both of the designs they have chosen are simple enough that I know I can do them, but...

How do you tell a bride to be that she would be your first wedding cake without turning her away?
I mean everyone had to have had a first right?

Why not do some dummies into wedding cakes and take pictures of them. Then you have several wedding cakes to show them.

jewels - i am stuck in this same situation! i've done one wedding cake and did a year's worth of practicing and research, so i feel confident with this new order that i have, but i don't have a real "portfolio" to show her!

i think the dummy idea is fantastic! gives you the chance to try out some techniques or designs you've been wanting to do as well!

You've done tiered cakes. You DO have pics of cakes to show her. Color the icing blue and put Happy Birthday on it, or leave the icing white and put silver dragess and BC roses on it .... the skill is the same no matter what the occasion.

I would have two books to show brides. One was pics I'd printed from the internet ... my "idea" book. The other was pics of cakes I've made. I'd tell them:

"Making cakes is like any other craft. If I can knit, I can take any pattern and make any sweater, even if I've never made that sweater before. This book (touching the my-photos book) shows you I can knit. This book (touching the internet pics book) is the pattern book."

Well said, Indydebi!!!!

I did a combination of the two. I dove headfirst into the wedding cake industry with a wedding show and I prepared four dummy cakes and a cupcake display. I took pictures of the cakes, which were pretty simple fondant cakes with a smooth finish. I then changed the colours, flowers and added some cornelli lace or scrolls and I had a totally different look, all from the same original dummy cakes. When I was finished, I had maybe 10-12 cake pictures to start my portfolio.

I then went on the internet to find designs that I knew I could feel comfortable doing and did up an idea section in my portfolio. I clearly marked the inserts as "obtained from the internet" and I told each prospective client that these were not my cakes but that they represented design ideas for them to choose from.

Before you know it, you'll have a portfolio built up.

Good luck!

I would suggest portfolio building with dummy cakes also. If I were looking to spend hundreds on a cake, you'd better believe I'd want to see other wedding cakes that the baker has done.

Indydebi...you never cease to amaze me! Oh, how I wish I had your gift of words!

I did exactly as ClassyCakes did...I jumped right in w/ a few dummy cakes. Show them your party cakes too, because those can be more detailed than weddings sometimes, even though they are smaller.

Also....sell them with a tasting, and present it nicely, like the examples shown in the other thread that was posted a couple of days ago.

When I started...there was no cakecentral resource so I had to fumble along and make my stuff up as I went. You have every policy you need to talk about, as well as a sample wedding contract to reference if they have questions.

Gotta do some dummies. Gotta. When you aren't working on a real cake, you should be decorating the hell out of styrofoam.

I mean, when you are trying to build a portfolio, you should be on dummy cakes as much as possible.

I agree with Jamie. You should be doing dummy cakes every spare moment you get. You'll need the experience and the confidence to go smoothly into this business, not just for these brides.
You're pics on here are great, but get dummies and get going!

Thank you so much everyone...dummies it is, but also...Indidebi... wonderful advise!

Thank you Thank you!

jewels.. i am in the EXACT same boat as you! And I just ordered dummies online.. I got a bunch for $25 including shipping. I plan on doing wedding cake designs to build a portfolio just like you. good luck!

I had quite a few "dummy" cakes, all different sizes of tiers that are seperate, then i would stack them with different pillars and combinations of stacked and pillar combos, would change colors, florals and such and took many pictures for my porfolio

When I first started, I made a lot of cakes using cake dummies. Funny thing, before I got really in designing cakes, I did those things in royal icing!!! Smack me with a spoon as I say sometimes.

I also have two books I show brides. I explain that one book shows my cake photos and the other book is an idea book. The idea book are photos I've collected from magazines, Internet, etc but most importantly all pictures in the "idea" book are cakes that I can do.

Good luck with those dummies!

Indydebi hit the nail on the head!