What do you do?
I have been using these rules rules and am debating on reworking this a bit:
a $30 non-refundable deposit when doing a tasting session for a bride and groom. If booked with me, this deposit will then go toward the final cost of the booked cake.
At each session they are allowed up to 3 cake flavors, 1 filling flavor and 1 frosting flavor (If any additional flavors are requested its an extra $5 charge per favor. (not part of of the "going toward the final cost of the booked cake)
2 questions:
1. do you think this is all fair?
2. I have not had a meeting where it involved more than the bride and groom... i just got a request to have several others there for the tasting. I was thinking about instilling a charge per person there (and im thinking this charge would not go toward the cost of the booked cake), What do you think?
Thanks!!!
Not that I have experience in this, but common sense dictates here. Sounds like it should cost as much or more (non refundable and not towards the final price) as a cake would to feed all those who wish to show up. Making all the different flavors etc will take more time than just one cake. My question - why would 'other' people need to come to this tasting?
Not that I have experience in this, but common sense dictates here. Sounds like it should cost as much or more (non refundable and not towards the final price) as a cake would to feed all those who wish to show up. Making all the different flavors etc will take more time than just one cake. My question - why would 'other' people need to come to this tasting?
"other people" Im gathering will be the parents....It's a first 
I don't want to say they can't come, but don't want to loose my shirt either hehehe
I haven't started my business yet, however, I'm in the preparation stages now. My per person fee is $20pp up to 2 people. If they aren't the bride, groom, in-law, or wedding planner, having extra people could cause for more confusion I would think. You will also have to make more cake, filling, and icing, etc. for people that may just want to eat free cake.
We do a free tasting (mostly that's the way it's done around here, I think brides would balk at paying for a tasting) which is three basic flavors (usually yellow, white, and chocolate). We have a bride's choice tasting where they can choose three of whatever flavors they want to try. This is $25, and is applied to their order if they book with us.
We have yet to have anyone ask to have more than 2 people there, but most people I think will either restrict how many people they allow, or charge extra per person. Sometimes, depending on where you are meeting, it's just not feasible to have a crowd there, and it can also cause confusion and distraction for the bride and groom if there are too many opinions.
I offer 2 options: Baker's choice and Bride's choice.
Baker's choice : they get to taste whatever I have available at the time. 3 flavors of cake and 2-3 fillings. This is free.
Bride's choice: they get to pick up to 3 flavors of cake and up to 3 fillings. There is a $25 charge due before the tasting.
I allow up to 4 people total at the tasting appt.
We no longer do in-person tastings, we only offer to-go tastings now -- $30 for up to 2 cake flavors and 2 frosting or filling flavors.
Jason, you always have great insight and business ideas, can I ask why you only offer to go tastings now? I can't stand doing tastings with brides and maybe this is something i can do in my business as well.
I offer free tastings. A total of 3 people are allowed to come. If more people want to come (only happened 1, there were 4 people) that is fine but I only provide cake for 3 - so someone has to share.
Whenever I have extra batter I bake a cake with it. I then cut the cake into 1" x 1" peices (bit size) and freeze. I always have fillings on hand. So for a tasting I pull out 6 different bit size cake pieces (6 different flavors but 1 per person, so if 2 people are coming I have a total of 12 cake pieces out) and put them in jello shot plastic cups. I put a small spoon full of filling in jello shot cups, usually 6 fillings + buttercream + a small piece of fondant for everyone to try.
This allows everyone to mix and match flavors. I don't like when I had to try a piece of cake with the filling already in it. If I didn't like that flavor of cake then I wouldn't have tried that piece and would have missed out on trying the filling. That is why I keep it all separate.
Set up is easy and fast. I take everything out 35 minutes before the bride/groom comes. The cake takes no time at all to thaw since it is only a bite size piece.
Jason, you always have great insight and business ideas, can I ask why you only offer to go tastings now? I can't stand doing tastings with brides and maybe this is something i can do in my business as well.
The main reason is that our daughter was born 4 months ago, and since then we have limited the amount of time we spend on the business, including the number of orders we accept per week. In-person tastings were another big time drain, and we found they don't really provide a lot of value for the customer or for us, since discussions about design can be done over email and the customer is perfectly capable of tasting the samples without us watching them eat.
We also offer a relatively unique product (allergy-friendly wedding cakes) and in many cases there are no competing bakeries that can accommodate our customers, so not offering in-person tastings wouldn't be a factor that would lose their business.
I do the same as cakesbycathy. For the Bride's Choice, I do not apply the $25 towards the order. They are paying for my time to prepare their specific choices rather than what I have on hand.
I also have a standard email I send to all inquiring brides which includes my tasting rules as well as my cake prices.
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