Wedding Cake Doesn’T Look Like Picture
Decorating By cinnamonrose Updated 29 Dec 2017 , 4:08am by Smckinney07
Hello! I’ve done several wedding cakes and I just made my first disappointing wedding cake. The bride showed me a picture of the cake she wanted but instead of all white, she wanted alternating tiers of rose pink and white. I did the right colors but I completely messed up the piping (which she wanted to look more like her invitations, not the stock photo) and the borders and I put the colors on the wrong tiers. I’m really disappointed in myself on this one.
The good news is that the cake tasted great and looked good but not great. She hasn’t actually said that she didn’t like the finished cake, but deep down I know she was disappointed. And I wouldn’t expect her to say anything because she’s an old coworker.
What should I do? Should I offer a partial refund? I’m picking up the cake stand from her tomorrow and I’m anticipating her telling me that she didn’t like it so I want to be prepared with a plan if that happens.
The first photo is the one I made and the 2nd is the stock photo.
Your cake looks beautiful. You should be proud of it,. The finish is smooth, the piping is well done. And you said it tasted great. You owe your client nothing. We can always stand to learn from experience, but I see nothing in your picture deserving of a refund.
yeah it's gorgeous -- suck it up -- it's part of the job -- sometimes you just don't like what comes out --
colors on the wrong tiers is the only possibly actionable issue -- i would smile and give off good successful victorious vibes -- get your stand back and carry on --
so just don't mention the color issue -- it's no big deal at all -- let it ride -- if she brings it up -- bake her a dozen cup cakes --
Let me make sure I understand this; she wanted the cake in the picture (or rather the colors-sort of-because she wanted alternating colors of white, yes?)
She wanted the piping but she wanted it to mimic her invites-and on the white tiers (which you did backwards) is that correct?
Ultimately she didn't want the cake in the picture at all.
I want to start by stating the reason I'm saying this is to help avoid these issues in the future-it's something that many people (myself included) forget at times-it is OUR job as professionals to guide our customers. It helps us both with managing expectations. Just because a customer wants an all cream cheese covered cake to sit out for hours on display in the hot summer sun doesn't mean it's a good idea (obviously an extreme example)!
Perhaps try asking what she likes specifically about the picture-it's a beautiful design with intricate piping, it's got a bold design however the muted color helps keeps it a bit understated-simple yet elegant and very clean...however the changes she's requested turn it into a completely different cake-it's not a bad design but depending on what she likes about the look (the color is all that's truly left) she's bound to be disappointed. So you've already sort of set yourself up to fail (come in under the mark) if that makes sense.
There are some things, like the monogram in the original picture is fondant and would have looked cleaner if you used fondant/gp as well. I know the piped design is meant to be different but it isn't as tight and clean as the original picture either, regardless of which tier it belonged on.
I'm not very good at piping myself so I wouldn't take an order for intricate piping unless I could recreate the look-I'm not sure what the invites looked like so please don't think I'm being offensive. Again I think it goes back to that initial discussion and managing expectations.
As for a refund, that's your decision. I know people, like my husband who could be irate and chose not to say a thing-you just mentioned that you knew her personally and 'knew she was disappointed'. Maybe you're projecting your own dissatisfaction onto her-only you know that.
But if you don't feel like she was delivered what you promised then at the very least I would apologize and speak to her. We are in the Customer Service business afterall and going that extra mile so to speak makes all the difference! Repeat business makes up a large percentage!
Good luck! Hope some of this has helped! SM
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