Bride Wants Me To Decorate Someone Else's Cake
Decorating By Piece_acake Updated 15 Apr 2017 , 3:01pm by SandraSmiley
Hey everyone!
Haven't been to the forums here in a while but I had an odd request from a bride and was hoping someone could give me some direction. She asked me for a quote on here wedding cake (which is 2 months away 
)... I told her it was $4.50/serving. Then we messaged back and forth for half an hour about the design, which is extremely intricate. She asks for a quote on 200 people, 5 tiers, and I tell her $900 plus delivery.
She tells me thats an "insane" amount to pay for a cake and thanks anyways.
Now I've received an email asking if i can just do all of the fondant decorations for the cake and how much that would be...
Would you be comfortable putting your work on another bakers cake? I feel a little off about it so I thought to maybe come here and ask your opinions.
Thanks in advance for any input!
Ditto! Not a chance in hell, when hell freezes over....
anybody else got one? ;)
If you really want to get into a conversation w/them tell them they are paying not just for a baked cake but for the knowledge of how to decorate it, and properly set it up.
Have you heard the story about 3 or 4 florists in a very small town.....someone very important in town passed away and one florist suggested they all get together to make 1 very large arrangement. One florist started it, passed it on to the 2nd one who added to it then passed it on, & so forth until only the back of the arrangement now needed 'finishing' and the last florist got it........they looked closely and decided it looked just fime and left it alone.
You could offer to decorate just the front of a smaller cake.........
Makes me so cross/impatient sometimes when I hear people call the price of our gorgeous custom made, handcrafted cakes 'insane' or 'extortionate'. I know they just don't understand what is actually involved and I do try to explain it as nicely as possible but it still irks me.
I am not a business, but I would not feel comfortable decorating someone else's cake.
I'm sorry that it seems her budget simply won't allow her to have one of your creations. However, if she indeed said your price is "insane" (and actually used that word... insane), then I think she really should find another baker/decorator more in line with what she deems is fair.
Wishing you the best with this!
I would source the fondant and gumpaste flowers, double my cost, and offer that to her (without telling her the sources, of course)
At $10-$40 per flower, she will give up quick.
you doing this to feel good or you wanna make money? and that's a serious question -- those are our two most compelling motivations doing this kind of work -- nothing wrong with either one --
so if it's $ i would cobble together some kind of deal like johnson6ofus says -- i haven't seen the cake but what would be ideal would be to just make and sell them the decor for whosoever to apply to whatever cake they get -- don't know if that would work but if you're in it for the dough -- make every effort to get some --
but no i would not as a rule decorate someone else's cake -- especially for a wedding
Thank you all for the replies, much appreciated!
I ended up tell her I wasn't comfortable decorating another baker's cake and I haven't heard a peep since.
To be honest, I wouldn't have been doing it for the money, more so bcs I have such a hard time saying NO!
There are dozens of people baking and selling out of their homes illegally here, with no overhead, so it's impossible to keep up with the pricing in my area. The only thing I have going for me in that respect is that I have a loyal customer base that has no problem paying what a quality cake costs. Having my decorations on a cake that might not have been up to my standards would have reflected badly on me.
Again, I appreciate the responses...I forgot how much I liked this cake community...I'll have to come back more often
Not a good idea to decorate someone else's cake. The cake might taste good or it may taste awful. For you to be associated with another baker's cake could end in disaster for your business. Or like someone else said if their cake tasted great then the other baker would get all the credit. Either way you would loose!!
If you're a licensed business the health department might not like the idea either.
My idea is exactly the same as LoraB's....the price remains the same, $900.00. The cost of ingredients for the cake are a very minor part of the final value of a cake, particularly a wedding cake. If you supplied the decorations, it would still take you almost as long and cost you almost as much as if you supplied the whole thing. Ego aside, if she wants to pay for the decorations (at your price) and you want to do it, go for it. But, what would be the point? She is expecting you to do the decorations for practically nothing, not close to their value. People sort of make me sick who plan a wedding for 200 plus people (who has that many friends anyway?) then expect to get their cake at a discount! Incidentally, I would have priced a simply decorated cake of that size for $2,000.00 and I live in a rural area!
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