Ok, so I recently did a wedding where I made a 3-tiered, stacked wedding cake & 7 dozen decorated sugar cookies.

I did not allow myself enough time, so it is my fault. I had to skimp in some areas, and here's what I did...

Instead of fondant ribbon around each base I used real ribbon. Other than that the cake was fine.

For the cookies, there was supposed to be 3 initials. I ordered the stencils too late & realized too late that they wouldn't all fit, so I just did the one middle initial. When I was delivering at the reception site, I heard people talking about the wedding party & figured out I put the wrong initial on the cookie. I thought I put their new last name, and it was actually the groom's first name initial.

So father-of-the-bride calls & leaves a message to call him. I keep trying but it's busy.

I'm prepared to give a refund. But I don't know how much. I'm going to see what he says first. Should I refund the amount I charged for fondant ribbon and 100% of the cookies? I did make all 7 dozen cookies, and they did look nice & were packaged & tied with ribbon. But they weren't with the correct initials as agreed upon. (On the contract was actually "aDs" so I assumed that the D was the last name of A & S, but D was the groom's name and S was the new last name.)

Anyway, any honest advice is appreciated!

Lesson learned.

Refund the charge for the fondant ribbon and DEFINITELY ALL the $ for the cookies. In fact, the check should already be in the mail/Paypal refund processed.

Also, aDs = a, bride's first initial, D, new last name, s, groom's first name. So that monogram was wrong to start with and if you'd put aDs on the cookies that would have been wrong too!

I'm with Leah_s- 100% for cookies plus any ribbon up-charge. I'd consider a gift cert in addition to entice them to place another order with the note "I hope you will allow me a second chance to make a first impression."

I would refund 100%. How could you not have known the last name of the couple? Something you need to make sure you include on your contract, the full names of both the bride & groom in the future.

I would refund the total amount for the cookies...that's a big mistake to make. Totally changes the purpose of even having the cookies, if you ask me. If that was my wedding and that'd happened, they wouldn't have even been served. As far as the cake, I don't think that's such a huge deal if they hadn't asked for it to be edible (for instance, if you'd just said "Ribbon around the base of the tiers" and they had no opinion about it), but if they'd SPECIFICALLY asked for fondant ribbon rather than satin/etc, then I'd refund 25%.

Also, don't wait for the father to ask you for money back, go ahead and offer it upfront. You messed up, and it was a HUGE mistake. Make it right. So sorry this happened to you!

Thanks Leah. Yeah...I was trying to explain to dh that aDs was wrong, but that that's what the bride told me. That's why I'm *kind of* upset about that part.

I don't understand how this all got so out of hand! I thought the cookies were so nice (besides missing the two other initials)! and once I heard someone say the groom's name I was like...wtf?!

So do I sound like an @$$ explaining all this to the f-o-b, or...what would you say???

Ok, I don't know why all the other responses didn't show up earlier!

Well thanks for all your advice. I did feel stupid! The parents did most of the communication and the groom's name never came up! And when the daughter/bride said aDs, then that's what I wrote! Believe me, I have changed my contract to include both the bride AND groom's names now!

I don't think I'd go into too much detail when talking to the father. He's not going to want to listen to a bunch of excuses, and especially won't want to hear you say it's the bride/groom's fault. I'd just say that I realize I made a mistake, and I'd love the chance to make it right, and that the check is in the mail.

Thanks DomesticDiva. Oh no, I would NEVER say that it's their fault!!

if that is what the bride told you for the initials, the either she was confused or the correct way was lost in translation. I'd talk to the dad first and be prepared to offer the refund, but I certainly wouldn't jump in and say- "I screwed up" Maybe the S is the groom's name and they were calling him by a nickname or middle name? stranger things have happened.

I see what you're saying ErinAlicia, but either way it's not what was ordered. ...and the guy wouldn't have called if he wasn't wanting it to be made right.

To the OP, Im sorry if that came across rude (I know you didn't say you thought it did, but I always worry how my words will be taken!) By saying its their fault I just meant that if the guy is already upset about the cookies, trying to explain that it was how it was written down that way by the bride would probably be taken as him thinking you were saying it was their fault, or like you were putting it off on them somehow. So sorry if that came across rude!! I do hope you're not out a ton of money on the cookies.

so let me clarify- in the contract that the BRIDE signed, she told you aDs? If you have written proof of this, then you don't owe a full refund because of the D- she told you D. It may have been nice it you had noticed it and said to her, "I noticed the groom's last name is S____, would you rather have it in the traditional monogram format?" But she did sign a contract with the incorrect monogram, that she gave you.
If there were supposed to be 3 initials, then that is where the refund comes in. But it wouldn't have been a full refund, IMO.
You'll probably have to eat it anyway, but I'm not sure how the bride telling you the wrong monogram is your fault.

but she didn't say that the dad was upset, she said he called and asked her to call him. I'd just wait to see what he's calling about before I jump in and cause issue where there may be none. Nothing wrong with getting all the facts first instead of throwing money at someone when she may not need to. (but be prepared to do that if necessary)

Thanks everyone - and I'm not taking anyone's comments as rude! (don't worry DomesticDiva )

I finally got a hold of the dad - refund is in the mail - lesson is sure as h*!! learned - and he was actually pretty nice about it. He had mentioned about loving the cupcakes at the tasting & wishing his dd had gone with that! I offered to deliver his refund check along with some cupcakes & he refused. At first I wouldn't take no for an answer, but he was like, no, really...I've gained so much weight and we still have some cake here!

EXPENSIVE lesson learned.

Thanks for helping me go about this!

Looks like you already have the refund situation taken care of but...

for future options on the stencil. When i do monograms i cookies i print out the monogram in the specified font from Word, i resize it in word so it fits on the cookies. Print it out, lay acetate paper over top, and then cut out my own stencil with the exacto knife. Works great and i have every font and every size letter that i could ever need printing it out per order.

Leily - that is awesome!!! I wish I had thought of that!!! Thank you!

leily, what type of paper do you use for your stencil?