I got a call from a lady who got my number from someone else.. you know how it goes...

I say hello she spits this out really rapidly..

She asked if i could do a wedding cake for her.
She tells me she wants it delivered to the lake (nearby)
She tells me it doesnt need to be too big..
She needs it to feed 40 people
She will be perfectly happy with a 2 stack but will take a sheet cake if she has to...

And her budget....wait for it... wait for it... She doesnt want to spend more than TWENTY DOLLARS !!!!

Too shocked to say anything at first.. I chuckeld... I laughed.. I laughed harder...and then the snorting started...

Finally i choked out "can you repeat your budget amount?". oh yah..it was twenty dollars.. I was like..umm...umm..I think walmart is your best bet. She replied, It's ONLY a small cake. I started laughing again..I really truly couldnt help it.. and she hung up.

I still have a stich in my side. and it hurts!!! I laughed so hard it got my asthma going too.

I got one like this last year too...

Oh tesso-you crack me up!

That's so funny!!!!! LMAO!!!!

Muggles....They just don't get it. LOL. Thanx for sharing. I needed a good laugh.

Wow. People are seriously losing there minds these days. Unbelievable!

That is really funny!

maybe it was a prank? LOL

No, it wasn't a prank, people just don't get how much work goes into these cakes.

I'm just glad you had the cake balls to laugh at her rather than try to be all nice and supportive!

nope.. not a prank.. I drove by the gazebos (sp?) at the lake and dang if there wasnt balloons and about 40 kids running around. I thought..oh b-day party.. until I saw the jean clad bride with her veil on. !!!

edited to add.. she wanted the cake that following weekend. This happened the 9th. wedding 13th.. who the hell has an outdoor wedding in march?? I just now got around to posting the episode.

Sounds like your lady is related to the one who contacted me today for a wedding cake. Wants "just a simple cake" to feed her 100 guests. They're "on a budget" and only want to spend $50 on the cake. I suggested that Wal-Mart or the local grocery store's sheet cakes would be more in line with her budget. Geesh. Some people just floor me.

oh my,.... i actually burst out laughing when i read twenty dollars. i knew it was going to be ridiculous but not that ridiculous!

Everybody want's something for nothing. Amazing isn't it.

That was really funny! People just don't get it!!

Wow... Seriously? You laughed at her? I imagine the poor woman was mortified.

She didnt sound mortified.. she sounded shocked that I wouldnt consider doing a wedding cake for 20 dollars. Plus wanting it in 4 days..now that IS just funny.

If you havent experienced something like this.. just wait..you'll see.

tesso. i would have laughed also. i know you are telling the truth. but is is a crazy story. that anyone would think you would make a cake for 20.00. it almost sounds like she was just testing you to what you would say. i think you handled it perfectly. that was an insult to you.

Does 20 dollars cover the cost of the ingredients of a cake for 40?
Ingredients are flipping expensive.

It is kinda sad/funny when someone asks for a "wedding" cake for $20 and to be sure, they really don't realize how much time, money, and talent/ability goes into every single care...... but considering I do most of mine for family or very close friends and usually make it the wedding present, I guess I'm to be laughed at too!!

I like to do cakes...more than that I like to learn new techniques but I hate all of the red tape that goes with "baking for money" so I'd just rather turn it into a gift....

LOL Some of my Birthday cakes cost me as much as a small wedding cake to make just because I'm anxious to try something new just to see if I can do it!!

Let's see...a couple of Duncan Hine's white cake mix and a few cans of frosting...no embellishments...Hey...you could have made a tidy $10 profit!

Gee, even in my cake muggle days I would have know better than to ask for a wedding cake (no matter how simple it was) for only $20.00. That is unbelievable!!!!

I luv it that you seriously laughed at the idea right on the phone! Sometimes people need a hard slap on the noggin' to get the idea!

My big laugh-right-on-the-phone was the guy who called at 11:00 a.m. and wanted a carved car cake for his dinner party at 5:00 THAT NIGHT! I burst out laughing and said, "Dude! Do you know how many DAYS it takes to make a cake like that?"

(BTW, anyone who has heard my laugh in person, knows that when I "burst out laughing", it really gets the message across! Jill? Lenette? CakeRN? Am I right?)

I've had a similar experience but in a different way. I usually make most of my neighborhood kids' cakes, part as my gift and charge very little, like $1/serving or less. I haven't charged anyone more than $35 or $40. I made a cake for one of the neighbor's son's first birthday cake last year, then when her daughter's came around she used Sam's, which whatever, hot pink icing tasted horrible but that was her choice. We've become very good friends over the past year so this year she was talking about doing a Mickey Mouse theme party for her son. She actually said, "Sorry, I won't use you like the other neighbors do, you're too expensive." I was like "Seriously?!" I didn't actually say that, I just shrugged. My best friend who is also in the neighborhood and always uses me was there and she didn't understand it either. They have rented out a community center and a bouncy house, but a $35 cake is too much. Really?! Then this week she talked to my best friend about how she couldn't find a Mickey Mouse cake anywhere, my best friend reminded her that I could make one for her and she again said she couldn't afford me. Now if someone in my neighborhood really didn't have $30 for a cake, I would do it for free, but we are in a nice neighborhood, and this neighbor is a PA so she's got the money. I just laughed when my best friend told me about their conversation. For a brief minute I thought about offering to do a small cake and she could get cupcakes but then I thought, No why would I want to do that for someone who could pay for my cakes if they wanted to. So she's going to get it from Sam's who has horrible black icing and I'm just going to grin when the other neighbors comment on why she didn't have me make the cake. Something for nothing, that's what everyone wants.

That is so funny! I would have laughed to. My story is funny because it is my PARTNER that gives me grief on my pricing, not my customers.

He tells me that I need to lower my prices because I am competing with WAL-MART and Kroger!?!?!?

Are you kidding me? I don't compete with anyone! I work 100 times harder than any work that goes into a grocery store cake. He wants me to sell a 10" round cake for 15.00-20.00?! Sheet cakes 15.00-20.00?!

Some people, even the ones you love, just don't get the hard work, time and ingredients that go into one of our cakes!

=)

If it's just a cake and they only wanted to spend $20, I'd have told her to make the stupid thing herself. If these people think it takes no talent whatsoever to make their last minute works of art they are flippin' nuts and deserve to choke on dry, nasty cake.

I'd have laughed at her too... no huge loss on that one.

Uh, Walmart won't even have a cake for 40 people that's $20. I was pretty shocked to see how much Walmart actually charges for tiered cakes......thanks for sharing this- we all needed a good laugh!

I bet the car salesman would laugh at me on the phone too if I called and asked for a new 2010 Honda Accord for $1500.....

Lol, this sounds like a distant family member that is on DH side not mine. Calls me up gives me the sob story:

My friend, poor girl works at Michaels only makes 8.00hr, and her parents only gave her 200.00 to get married, they are so broke, and my sister and I are doing her bridal shower, and you know money is tight for us too!!!

I knew if anybody could do a cake, it would be you and it would be beautiful!!! Your cakes are moist and awesome, I need one for a party of 50ppl.

I want cake for 50ppl, with seconds for them, with there picture on it, and roses, and watermelon pink and choc. in there for the wedding colors.
so since its family I gave her the "best price" I could being generous also and told her 65.00 and I mean gengerous. I did tell her I need a dep, and signed contract.

she comes back after not hearing from her 2wks later. You know Im so broke and thats just too much for a cake. Ill have to go go walmart. I said oh thats too bad, those cakes arent as pretty or fresh, but you do what you have too.

Im thinking:

these ppl spend 125.00 on a xmas wreath, eat out everyday and cry about being broke. The girl only has 200.00 to get married, why not wait, why are you doing a bridal shower so big? AND YOU ORDERED FOOD OUT from a fancy place INSTEAD OF MAKING IT AND a few bottles of liquor and A "KEG"?!!!...I dont feel bad. She told another family member that I was over charging her and taking advantage of her!

should have told her she could have 20 cupcakes, and then tell her what they would cost, oh me bad lol