Hello! I need serious help on how to approach this quote, costumers wants a wedding cake to feed 200 people, I started my baking business 3 years ago and the biggest cake I've made is for like 70 people and only one small wedding cake.. How do I price this cake? How big should it be to feed 200 pple? Is it better to do a fake cake and have some sheet cakes for her to cut in little squares and serve that to people? I'm lost! Any advice is greatly apreciated.. This is the cake she wants 

Minimum of $1000. More if you are making the flowers. The middle tier looks like a double barrel. The others are 5-6" tall. You're probably going to need a forth tier. Just have to check the chart for sizes.

Look up the Wilton wedding cake chart and find the sized tiers needed for 200 servings.  Something like a 16,12,9,6 might do it but I've forgotten the # of servings per tier right now.  Then figure out how much you want to charge per serving.  As was stated above, a minimum of $1,000 probably.  It takes time and talent to make those flowers or to buy them ready made.   

Plus I think a cake that massive deserves a higher price point there's a lot more to a cake that big then 100 servings 

Actually Elizabeth there's really no decorating to that cake at all except for the flowers.  Just rather plain border work.   The time element is going to be in making the flowers & getting them put together into the clusters so they look just right.   If it was me I'd probably figure about $3 per serving but then tack on a good price for the flowers.  Whatever it would cost to buy them even if you make them.

What is your regular price per serving? 

Do you need to make the sugar flowers? That makes a big difference. I picture it taking at least 10 hours to make those flowers so that will add a hefty sum.

so I suppose your regular price plus a bit extra per serving for the gold layer plus a couple/few hundred extra for the sugar flowers depending on how fast you are at making them.

I don't have a business but if I did and I was producing a high quality wedding cake that had sugar flowers of that calibre, serving 200 I would picture charging $1500 - $2000 for it. I'm in a higher cost of living area though (Boston area) not sure where you are located.

Yes, of course it will depend on many factors to come up w/a price.  Gong priceing in your area, how much time you invest in making it, cost of ingredients (including ALL boxing, cake boards, etc - *everything!* used to make it) and what  you want to pay yourself per hour invested in making such a beautiful creation. 

Thank you all for your advice! So spoke to her today and now she wants a cake to feed 400 guest

Yes 400  I think I'm gonna do it all dummy cake and have some rectangular cakes for her guests.. The flowers I was thinking on buying them instead of making them so I save some time and the headache, they are about $100 for all.. And I normally charge from $4-5 per serving. 

400 servings is going to be hard to come up with unless you use a design that uses satalite cakes such as this:  http://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/2158953/red-and-white-wedding-tiers     You probably would need to increase the bottom to 4 rounds to get enough servings.                   http://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/1394180/doves-bells-and-shells    This one is only 1/2 the size you need but you get the picture of what I mean by combining the style w/satalite cakes.  In crease the size of each tier also and you might come close to your 400 servings.         http://cdn001.cakecentral.com/gallery/2015/02/900_37lqe7_church-staff-members-move-on.jpg      Another possible way to come up w/that many servings - tiered sheet cakes! :)            http://cdn001.cakecentral.com/gallery/2015/02/900_37jfZ8_flowers-galore.jpg    I could go on showing you more combination possibilities but you get the picture already.   There are so many possibilities you are going to have to study the sizes needed and show the bride some ideas for coming up w/the final display.  

400 wow! Well you can just make the original 4 tier for 200 then sheet cakes for the other 200?

$100 for all those flowers wow! That's a good deal!

A couple of times you have mentioned using a dummy for show and sheet cakes for serving, which leads me to believe that you may not be comfortable making a very large cake.  I certainly mean no criticism by saying that either!  One advantage would be that you would have as much time as you needed to decorate a dummy without worrying about it spoiling.  It would also be a lot easier and safer to transport.  The small top tier could be real cake for the couple to keep for their first anniversary.  The couple could always just pose for the cake-cutting shot and use a piece of the kitchen/serving cake for the feeding-each-other picture. 

Personally, I quite like the idea of a dummy display cake and sheet cakes to be served from the kitchen.  So much less messy.  You need to be sure you charge as much as you would for any other 400 serving cake, though!  Just because you are using a dummy display cake doesn't mean you will not have as much time and money invested.  If the bride can afford a wedding for 400 (who the heck KNOWS 400 people????), she could afford a Ron Ben Israel cake, so get paid what you deserve!

@kakeladi ‍, you cakes are gorgeous!  THAT PIPING!!! I wish!

Thank you SandraSmiley yes like I said above, I've never made a cake that big and my head hurts just with the thought of it.. thank you all for the advice, every little piece of knowledge you can share with me is welcome. 

Yes, I guess you  might be better off making 'kitchen cakes' w/a dummy display cake as SandraSmiley said.  Remember it is *important* you charge enough for such a big undertaking.  Even kitchen cakes take time.   When I made kitchen cakes I usually made just 1 layer (2") sheets, split & filled them, then iced and only bordered them.  For 400 servings you will need to make something like 6 or 8 sheets plus the display.  The good thing is that you can make the display cake well ahead of time (weeks) so your baking won't be so rushed.