Just got a bride, wants a four tiered cake for next month (240 servings) and sent me the pic she wants. Wants to keep it around my base price of $3/serving.

Cake in the magazine clearly marked at $10/serving with detailed explanations of how labor intensive the decorations are.

Or, she thought, she could just get the four tiers to serve less people and get sheet cakes. (Note..."still keep the four tiers, just to serve less." haha.)



Trying to be nice and explain facts as well as make her realize how lucky she is I still have a spot open for her, happens to be a low weekend that I purposely cleared to get other things done but willing to take on a wedding...otherwise booked through the end of June. Most other decorators in the area other than grocery stores are FULLY booked through most of the summer.

Gave her a cheaper "alternate" option, we'll see!!!!

Well, you're magic aren't you?? Don't let her see where you keep your cake wand, she'll ask to pay less per serving for more cake too.

Isn't it interesting what some people think is a help but it really doesn't help out at all?

I had a similar experience the other day. A woman ordered a cake and when she picked it up insisted that she had ordered whipped when she got buttercream. No biggie, just give me 10-15 minutes, I'll make another (gotta love grocery store freezers full of cake and buckets of buttercream!!!).

So I start the cake and she mentions she's in a bit of a hurry, would it get done faster if I leave the writing off? I almost laughed out loud, looked up at her and just said "It takes me 30 seconds to write on a cake, so no, that won't make it be done faster."

She nodded and waited for her whipped cake!

Sometimes I take a step back and try to look at our processes with cake muggle glasses. I still don't get it.

TJ, may I borrow your cake wand to fill up my cake case tomorrow morning????

Did she just get engaged? is it a rush wedding (wink wink) Did she forget she needed a cake? How can a bride who obviously has bridal mags leave the cake until a month before the wedding??!! And then of course, expect some huge extravagant thing for almost nothing! Wow.

I found it humorous that the magazine actually explained how labor-intensive each little sugar piece was to make, and the bride was hoping to get at least something similar for my base price. haha.

I challenge her to find ANYONE to make this cake for $3/serving, by next month. haha.

I do kinda hope she sees reality and takes my cheaper suggestion and goes with it, I wouldn't mind taking the order.

Hehehe, it keeps popping up in my head...Sesame street sketch when I was a kid. This muppet approaches Ernie...."psst....ya wanna buy an 'F'?"....Ernie says "AN FF??"...the muppet says "SHHHHHHHHH"...


...pssst....Ya wanna buy a cake wand???

She decided to just order a basic cake from me which was totally fine! I was happy to get the order...it would end up being 5 tiers to serve everyone.

Then after I had her contract just about ready and was ready to get the payment, she wrote back saying a relative had hurt feelings and had wanted to do her cake.

I wrote back saying I understood but that I hoped that the cousin would be able to handle five tiers...and to let me know in the next couple weeks if she changes her mind.

Oh well. Not sure what the haste is/last minute stuff is here....She was ready to wrap up a cake order within a 24 hour period with me and then within the same 24 hours had to cancel. Wow.

I can make that cake- sure thing.... $3 a serving! Hobby baker, just took Wilton course 2, drop it in a box from an unlicensed kitchen in Texas. . I can compete with you pros. I bet my option ends up a web sensation--- at cake wrecks! LOL! Even a cake muggle should know better when it is ALL in writing in HER magazine.... sheesh!

Your work is beautiful, and I hope she gets her dream cake, at a price that is fair to her, and to you.

we posted at the same time...lol.... I bet her cousin is as good as me!

I hope her relative is more than a hobby baker because five tiers, even if just basic buttercream with a bead border (like she was about to order from me, with florist provided flowers) is challenging if you have not done it before.

I guess its always possible she could do it. My customer apologized and said they had previously agreed it would be "too much" for her and then her mom said when she found out she was ordering a cake from a baker, she got all hurt.

Oh well!

Whatever I love my family but deciding to let them make my cake beause it "hurt their feelings"? I'm betting that it's all about the money. I just don't buy these stories about letting someone that isn't capable of doing a cake to do the cake to spare their feelings. I could be wrong but I'm thinking it's about the $$'s and not feelings.

First of all she came to you with the elaborate design and found out that it was not going to happen on her budget. She then went with a simpler/cheaper design. Still way more that she ever thought she'd be spending for cake. Then she decides to look to find someone even cheaper because after discussing things with her mother they decide that you're just too expensive, even for a basic design. Mom says "so and so can do cakes and she will do it for X amount of $$'s." They then decide to call you and tell you that they just can't hurt family members feelings so they're going to let her do the cake. I could be wrong but I think she's trying to save money.

Your work is beautiful and she's going to wish she had let you do the cake and gone ahead and spent the money that she's "saving" by letting her "cousin" do the cake. You're absolutely right. A 5 tier cake would be a challenge to someone that's just a hobby baker.

We'll see the end results on cakewrecks. lol