I'm in the middle of making my first wedding cake, finished one tier, baked the second, finish it off tomorrow. And I'm constantly worrying about it!!
Does everyone constantly worry and stress and fret when they are doing a cake?? Does this nervousness ever go away??
I don't think my heart can take the pace! :D
Not got much experience but I know every time I even help do a cake I'm a nervous wreck having done the fondant work for two 25th anniversary cakes and I've got two wedding cakes coming up in July about a week from each other that one of them my aunt is taking point with and the other I'm doing by myself but the one I'm probably just making the fondant and helping stick it on but the second one I'm doing completely alone
Cake stress is there no matter what, it decreases with experience but it's always there, it's what keeps you on the game. I had a nightmare last night about a wedding cake due in June - but I think I was just worried about today's delivery!
BUT - when all the cakes are delivered for the week to smiles all round - then there's a great dose of cake endorphins! Quickly replaced of course by the stress of starting next week's cakes....
Always anxious............but that's part of the rush. Cake decorators are artists - yes - but also adrenalin junkies. That's part of the reward.............freaking ourselves out............succeeding ..............then reaching for that next sugar high. I'm in a rut with birch bark cakes right now.........and I'm scared stiff I'll be bored. There's nothing like a cake you're scared stiff about - makes you feel alive and sometimes like a magician
I'm at the point where the only thing I worry about is forgetting something.
YES!! I will toss all night when I'm doing a cake.
I'm so glad to hear that I"m not the only one as well. I literally can make myself ill with my anxiety and nervousness. Since starting my business I have actually increased my dosage of prozac to 40 mg to help with my anxiety (and previous depression). I know that's really horrible, I'm so glad that I love it as much as I do. I love the cakes, it's just the people that make me nervous usually. :-) Hang in there, you're not alone.
I thought my first wedding cake would kill me! I couldn't sleep for days before it was due. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and think about the cake and how it would be decorated and how I would transport it. Transporting scares me more than anything! When it was over, it really was the best feeling ever! The compliments and the bride being happy, what a high!!!!
Take a deep breath and keep telling yourself, "I CAN DO THIS!" You'll be great!
I'm in the same boat. I was really nervous when I first started because everything was new. I still like to push the envelope so I always try and incorporate a new technique into my cakes and naturally take on more stress because of that. In the end, I've learned that for me to manage my stress better, I do the following:
1) Write all of the details of my cake in a worksheet and reference it even if I think I know what I'm doing (I've baked the wrong cake flavors before)
2) Bake all my cakes in advance of the due date. I focus on stacking/decorating, not baking, on the day of.
3) I make all of my gumpaste items well in advance. I also list out all of the items I will need on my worksheet and cross them off as I do them. I double check my inventory for SPS, cake boards etc so I'm not left having to drive to Michaels at the last minute.
4) Get REALLY good at estimating how much filling/icing you need. I hate having to make another batch because I underestimated. I'd rather over-estimate at this point. Make the icings and fillings in advance if you can.
5) Leave enough time to take good pictures (Craftsy has a great class on this now)
6) Give myself plenty of time when delivering. I know it's not always possible, but nothing is worse than driving to an event and traffic, etc is getting in the way.
I think those are the basic steps I take to manage some of the natural stress that comes along with the territory.
Cheers,
Frank
Absolutely and I don't even do wedding cakes because I think it would kill me. Saturday was just a comedy of multiple errors that made me wonder if I should be in this business, but in the end the client was very happy. Gotta double check all those details!
Quote by @DeniseNH on 24 May 2015 , 2:38am
Always anxious............but that's part of the rush. Cake decorators are artists - yes - but also adrenalin junkies. That's part of the reward.............freaking ourselves out............succeeding ..............then reaching for that next sugar high. I'm in a rut with birch bark cakes right now.........and I'm scared stiff I'll be bored. There's nothing like a cake you're scared stiff about - makes you feel alive and sometimes like a magician
I totally just realized that I'm hooked on the adernaline lol. I never in a million years would have connected the dots on that. I kept wondering why on earth I keep doing cakes (iced cookies, fondant decorations and custom toppers). I worry, I flip out, I cry, I lose sleep, I even occasionally say "after this I quit bc I can't take this" but I swear to you as soon as it's all over I'm all jazzed ready for the next one. I think most of the anxiety and worry comes simply from my lack of experience and everything we do is usually still a first for us. So far everything we've done has turned out great with the exception of one color issue. So for all the potential disasters I've worried over only one minor thing has happened. I'll probably never stop worrying and I think that's ok :)
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