Wedding Cake For 1500 Guests!!

Business By taartenmaker Updated 13 Jan 2014 , 7:16pm by craftybanana

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taartenmaker Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 12:54am
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AMy cousin is getting married in a year and she wants me to make the cake, well no problem but then i heared its for 1500 guests. I need some advise, like what size cake, better a square shaped tiered cake or/and a lot of cupcakes? And i have a stationwagen and i figured to stack the cakeboxes in the trunk. And ofcorse i am giving them a discount but not a free cake.

How would y'all do this?

61 replies
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kikiandkyle Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 1:15am
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A1500?! What?!

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taartenmaker Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 1:19am
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AI know its a lot but we are italian and its normal to throw that a big wedding! But this is my first time making a cake that big

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JayJay23 Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 1:33am
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Maybe make the wedding cake she wants plus however many sheet cakes you need to feed all those people

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Carrie789 Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 1:35am
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That's a huge undertaking. If your cousin wants one large cake instead of several smaller ones, check out these:

 

www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82877336/

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19630624&id=1gFQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N5UDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5610,3587907

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scrumdiddlycakes Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 1:54am
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Really, you need to talk to the bride and confirm the guest count before doing anything else. I'm Italian, and 1500 guests at a wedding still sounds insane to me.

Just the ingredients and supplies are going to cost you a fortune, NM adding in even a steeply discounted labour rate, so make sure they can afford it.

 

A display cake and kitchen cakes would be the only thing I would even consider.

 

Have you ever seen 1500 cupcakes? Not only do they take up a massive amount of room, they would look ridiculous on display in a formal setting. And I doubt most venue kitchens could/would be willing to accommodate keeping them in the kitchen behind the scenes.

 

A 16" square is 128 servings, takes up a fraction of the space that 128 cupcakes would take, and at least for me, a lot easier to deal with than sheet cakes.

I would make whatever tiered cake the bride wants, then make up the extra servings in those. I am usually a stickler for making sure there are equal amount servings to guests, but for 1500 there is no need.

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taartenmaker Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 2:18am
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AThanks for your advise! But how should i transport it all, should i rent a van? I think the wedding will be in another state. I know 1500 sounds insane, but i even bin to weddings that had over 2000guests! And they didnt had no cake

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liz at sugar Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 2:58am
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Just curious how many venues are available in your area that can seat 1500 plus guests?  Because if they can, they have all kinds of room in their kitchen to store cake, cupcakes, vehicles, etc.

 

That is 150 round tables that seat 10 ppl each, minimum of 75 waiters, etc.  Just saying "wow" and what kind of budget can they have for cake and feeding that many people?

 

Liz
 

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liz at sugar Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 3:10am
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Also, what is the largest guest count you have done to date, and how big is your kitchen/storage area?  I am glad you are confident that you can accomplish this, but hope you consider just how much cake this is, and what a "discounted" rate would still be, seeing as you would have to transport it all out of state.

 

I own a restaurant with a commercial kitchen, and I run out of room to store desserts for big holiday events as I am making them.  And I am only making desserts for 300 to 400 people, not 1500!

 

Liz
 

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jason_kraft Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 3:38am
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AI would recommend clarifying that your gift is a cake that would serve 300 (or whatever number you are comfortable with), to make sure the couple understands that they will need dessert for the rest of the guests.

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mcaulir Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 10:00am
post #11 of 62

Make sure you price how much van rental would be for however many days you'll need the van. That alone will cost hundreds, and would be the whole gift for me, without giving any kind of labour discount.

 

1500 guests is at least ten 16inch squares plus a tiered cake. You'll definitely need more space than a car, even if you can stack the cake boxes.

 

I would be baking two layers for each cake, so just for the 16 inch squares, that would be 20 cakes baked. Even if I conservatively estimated 4 hours for each of the 10 squares, that's 40 hours of labour without even starting the tiered cake. You're talking more than a week's work, plus supplies, plus all the drama of transport.

 

Think about how much everyone else at the wedding will be gifting the bride and groom and how much you would be spending if you weren't making the cake before you give them a gift worth thousands of dollars.

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JSKConfections Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 1:26pm
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Insane!!icon_eek.gif I couldn't imagine.  I did a cake and 200 cupcakes and my kitchen was covered!  That was a gift for niece, I would never ever do that again! Her gift was worth a ton more than other people gave, plus It took me a day to make it all and I was up all night! Please let us know the outcome of this! Good luck!!! Oh and I'm Italian too and 400 is a huge wedding in my family! icon_eek.gif

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taartenmaker Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 1:33pm
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A

Original message sent by liz at sugar

Just curious how many venues are available in your area that can seat 1500 plus guests?  Because if they can, they have all kinds of room in their kitchen to store cake, cupcakes, vehicles, etc.

That is 150 round tables that seat 10 ppl each, minimum of 75 waiters, etc.  Just saying "wow" and what kind of budget can they have for cake and feeding that many people?

Liz

 

Original message sent by liz at sugar

Also, what is the largest guest count you have done to date, and how big is your kitchen/storage area?  I am glad you are confident that you can accomplish this, but hope you consider [B]just how much cake this is[/B], and what a "discounted" rate would still be, seeing as you would have to transport it all out of state.

I own a restaurant with a commercial kitchen, and I run out of room to store desserts for big holiday events as I am making them.  And I am only making desserts for 300 to 400 people, not 1500!

Liz

 

Most of the venues that can store 1500 guests are out of town.and i real don't knowhow they are going to do it, cause the bride and groom are very young. I am sure they want thecake for free but i will not do that . The biggest wedding cake was for 500 people and i was thinking thats a lot.normally i would ask 4500 for a cake like that but figured i can give them500 off which it a lot but i think they expect less. But maybe they want a cake just for show. They don't realise howexpensiveacakethat big is

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liz at sugar Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 1:48pm
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If they are young and don't have at least $4000 budgeted for basic cake for 1500 people they have two choices: scale back their plans, or connect you with the relative that is paying for this event.  Whoever is paying you is who you need to be communicating with, and even if it is family, you need a contract spelling out both of your responsibilities.

 

They will need another $15,000 minimum for a venue with the most basic food offerings - I'm guessing that would get them non alcoholic beverages and a basic appetizer set up.  I wouldn't worry a bit about making them a cake until they pull out a checkbook and pony up a deposit and/or payment.

 

Liz

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Godot Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 2:07pm
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1500 guests?

 

Dang. I guess they've invited everyone they've ever met since kindergarten.

 

It sounds suspiciously like a gift grab more than a wedding!

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taartenmaker Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 2:31pm
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AGodot, i know its a lot but our families are big!I've bin to family weddings with even more guests

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kazita Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 2:37pm
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AI agree with making a nice cake for the bride and groom than make a bunch of kitchen cakes to make up the difference in severings. And who even knows 1500 people? And all of their addresses to mail out invatations? All I can say is WOW! =-O

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cakesbycathy Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 4:39pm
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Have them go to some storefront bakeries and get some quotes on how much cake for 1500 guests will cost them.  Then they will have a realistic idea of what they should be paying for cake.  Then, add up ALL your costs (including the van you are going to have to rent to transport everything) and give them a price that includes something for labor.  They can either take your more than generous offer or fork up the cash to get cake somewhere else.

 

If they have a small budget (and don't you DARE to this for free or cost of ingredients only.  You will be kicking yourself from now until the end of time), I would do a 3 tier centerpiece cake for the bride and groom and sheet cakes.
 

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liz at sugar Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 4:49pm
post #19 of 62

Sorry this is slightly OT, but I just can't believe that 2 people getting married each have 750 living relatives who would actually attend a wedding they were invited to.

 

Let's say you are a member of one of those families.  Say 2% of your family members get married in a given year.  You would be traveling to/attending and buying gifts for 15 weddings a year!  It could cost a small fortune, unless your presence is the only gift requested.

 

To the OP: do all your relatives show up to every family event they are invited to, gift in hand?  Fascinated by this as I come from an average size family.  So sorry to run the topic off course, but I have worked HUGE events at country clubs where there were 600 to 700 guests and they all couldn't even see each other, let alone know who else was there.  Wondering how the logistics of it all works, but if you have that many people in your families, this has to happen on a fairly regular basis.

 

Liz

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kikiandkyle Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 5:09pm
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AWhen we got married we counted up the relatives in my husband's family, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and their kids (so first cousins) and it came to just over 100. Luckily a lot of them didn't come!

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taartenmaker Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 5:17pm
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AAnd a lot off times the in-law familys also get invited

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Baking Sis Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 5:39pm
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If it were me, and I was making a cake for 1500 family members, I would be very concerned about how many other family members would think I would make their wedding cakes for a discounted price. icon_surprised.gif

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taartenmaker Posted 23 Jun 2013 , 6:49pm
post #23 of 62

AI know it's a lot and its also the reason why i won't follow this family tradition. I think about 250 people is enough!

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cai0311 Posted 24 Jun 2013 , 12:11am
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We had 65 people.  That was 63 people to many in my opinion :)

 

But on topic now... I would suggest a cake that fits the venue size - in this case a 16" round, 14" round, 12" round, 10" round, 8" round and 6" round to feed 308 (according to wilton) and 16" round kitchen cakes for the remaining servings.  This also makes it easy to adjust the cake quantity without affecting the design agreed upon.  If 100 people RSVP they can't come, all you have to do is eliminate one of the kitchen cakes.  Also, I would insist on ingredients that do NOT need refrigeration.  That will help you find storage space for all the cake and make Transportation less stressful.

 

Take into consideration the entire cost.  The ingredients for cake, filling and icing, electricity (that is a lot of time your oven will be on), water/soap (that is a lot of dishes you will be washing), van rental to fit all the cakes, fuel cost (even if you would be driving to the wedding anyway if you rent a van the gas mileage would be worse than the car you would driving to the wedding otherwise), boards, boxes, support system...

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heartsnsync Posted 25 Jun 2013 , 4:51am
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AThis would be a serious undertaking. I have a home based bakery and the most I have done so far has been for for two different events each providing 900 servings and they about killed me! I agree with most of the other posters. Plan a large 5 - 6 tier cake and then make up kitchen cakes for the rest of the servings. Even at that, you are going to have considerations of where to store all the eggs, butter, milk, flour, sugar, etc. I had to purchase another refrigerator for my business in order to accommodate the ingredients for those orders and some other large ones I have coming up. Even with a large tiered cake that serves 350 or so you are still going to need to create about twelve sheet cakes with each serving 100 servings. You would definitely need to rent at least one van and have a plan as to how to fit all of the cake boxes for delivery. I purchase heavy duty sheet cake boxes that can be stacked up to three high (any higher and they tend to wobble too much in transport even with non-skid mats between each box). Then there is the consideration of the actual baking time frame and if you could do all the baking in a good amount of time or if it would require freezing some of the cakes ahead of time. All of this undertaking will take very careful planning. I wish you luck and glad it is not me! ;)

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EllesKakes Posted 21 Jul 2013 , 10:44pm
post #26 of 62

Wow...I hope she meant 150 and just added a 0 in error :-)  My suggestion would be to make a 4 tier regular wedding cake then make a bunch of sheet cakes with the same flavor as the wedding cake.  That would be much easier to handle and serve.  My wedding was 90 and I thought that was large.

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meriem Posted 22 Jul 2013 , 2:50pm
post #27 of 62

AWow! I feel for you, I once made 250 cupcakes and it took me forever! I can't get my head around 1500. I think you got some good suggestions on the sheet cakes. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

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darkchocolate Posted 22 Jul 2013 , 3:32pm
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I looked at your profile and other cake pictures.  You are very talented for 17 years old.  My hats off to you for such a big undertaking.

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SWR1GHT Posted 22 Jul 2013 , 3:44pm
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I was thinking the same thing, I think they feel since she's making it for them they can up the number of cake servings they need. I would never agree to do a cake for 1500 people no matter how much they are paying that is pure insanity and "if" I was even contemplating doing it I want full payment up front before any work is done!

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SWR1GHT Posted 22 Jul 2013 , 3:46pm
post #30 of 62
Quote:
Originally Posted by Godot 

1500 guests?

 

Dang. I guess they've invited everyone they've ever met since kindergarten.

 

It sounds suspiciously like a gift grab more than a wedding!

 

I was thinking the same thing, I think they feel since she's making it for them they can up the number of cake servings they need. I would never agree to do a cake for 1500 people no matter how much they are paying that is pure insanity and "if" I was even contemplating doing it I want full payment up front before any work is done!

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