AJust sent a quote off to a bride and she responded with "sounds good. but I meant to ask, what happens ifyou getsick or something bad happens you (God forbid) on my wedding day? do u have a backup plan? "...

What am I supposed to say to that? I'm the only baker. no assistants...

not sure what to say..." keep your fingers crossed I don't die" ?

Haha..ugh

AIt's a legitimate question. If you don't have any other employees who can fill in, you may want to contact other reputable businesses in your area and work out a contingency plan where you can cover for each other in case of an emergency.

A

I know its legitimate..I just hadn't been asked before so it kinda made me laugh. so, does she get to pick the backup bakery? or do I?

AYou'll probably want to set up the relationship with the backup bakeries yourself (make sure you have similar pricing structures), since you'll want to be covered for all your orders, not just this one.

AI have a good relationship with 2 other bakers.

Last year, one of the husbands of a well liked baker died. It was awful. Almost every baker in the area who heard about it offered to help. All the cakes were delivered without a hitch.

Make friends. Establish relationships. Have a clause in your contract. Mine states that if I am unable to deliver, refund will be given based on the difference of what I am able to provide.

Also, my mother died last March. It was awful. It was sudden and horrible. I ha promised 600 cupcakes for a fund raiser. I finished baking, frosting, & decorating through tears. I delivered them to a friend & headed out of state. The friend delivered the day of the event for me.

Life happens. Have a contingency plan.

DO you have a cake club in your area ? That is a good place to start when looking for back up bakers.  We have a network that when someone is sick the rest of us help finish the baking or decorating.  That way no client is let down.   I have helped out in these situations as well as been the recipient of the help. I am able to tell my brides this at consultation most of them find it really reassuring . 

+1 to having backup baker buddies.  I have become very good friends with another bakery owner in my area and we are each other's emergency backups.  It's also nice to have someone to discuss techniques or new products, or just to call at the end of a busy day and vent!  You'd be surprised how many "I had this crazy customer call today wanting..." stories end up with "Yeah, she called me too!".

What a great idea. I've thought about it, but there are only home bakers around my town, no bakeries. Also, almost none of them are 'legal' businesses, so wouldn't it be a bad idea to use them for emergencies? I would like to, but I AM legal now, and wouldn't want to tarnish a reputation or make waves.

My mom got very sick very fast last, and I went home to be with her for 3 months, that was May/June/July, three of my busiest months. Thank God I had a back up plan, I couldn't have handled that extra stress.

Definitely have at least one other baker you can fall back on, I have 3, and they handled my work for me like champs.

I always make sure that part of my contract is very clearly covered with brides, I also cover the difference if they are more expensive. I'm sure that could get controversial, but if I had booked with a baker 6 months before my wedding, and 2 weeks before I find out she can't do it, I wouldn't be too pleased if I had to pay extra for someone else... Wedding budgets get pretty tight.

I was lucky, all the amazing ladies that helped me out honoured the prices on my contracts. We are all very similarly priced anyway.

All that to say, get a back up plan :)

A

I'm sure there are some other licensed bakers either in your town or within a reasonable driving distance.