I would do up a sample contract that you would do for a regular customer-just what you would charge, etc. Then I would do up one to show her the family discount etc. I can guarantee this is going to take you time, patience, time, time, time, patience, dedication, time, time and patience. And I don't know about you but our utilities went UP last month bigtime so how about your oven????It is going to cost you to bake all those cakes!!! I would ask for a deposit so you can get your items of choice and go from there...if she gets angry-remind her this is a business and you have to treat it as such-you can give family discount but there is much work involved. Stay firm-you deserve it!

You might want to refigure your servings I know it is not a wedding but really with other food served they will be serving wedding cake size servings. I assume these are 2 layers thick so 1x2x2 layers are adequate or slightly larger I come up with 426 servings

16-100
14-77
12-56
10-39
14-77
14-77
-------
426 plus 15 more servings for the doll cakes even those will really serve 2 each

I would charge $10 for each doll minimum probably more


now as far as the tower do you mean NO seperations????? are you going to assemble it at the site????? a 4 teir stacked cake is a pain to transport and add that to the fact yours is tall and narrow with only 2 inches between each size it will be very heavy and wobbly chances are an accident will happen


As far as cost no way would I do it for cost... I might cut a deal for close family ( ok I have given nephews their wedding cakes for 300 as a wedding presents but that is a wedding I would not give a 16 yr old a $600 to $900 present)


me before I even started talking cake I would say I can not give this to you for materials only I need to charge for my time and expenses. If you are still interested lets talk cake.


remember to include the cost of that stand foam is not cheap you will be surprised.

I bet when they know they will be paying for it they will tone down their ideas $150 to $300 for 15 doll cakes get real


do not fall into the make it out of dummy it will be cheaper idea dummies cost more than cake and will take just as much time to do. they would travel fine though but will cost much more than cake.

Meg

Wow, this makes me queezy just thinking of what it would take to accomplish this. It really does sound like, from what you've said, that she may think that she will buy what you need, bring it to you like two weeks before the event, and not expect you to charge anything above what she dumps on your counter.

I had a lady at church try this with me but she said the words, "the cake can just be your gift..." so quickly that I almost didn't catch it. At first I was like, "sure, let me just think of everything I'm gonna need and I'll call you back..." - after trying to figure out what it would take I had to call her back and tell her that I would need her to give me the money so that I could buy my own supplies. It was for my pastor's wife, so I was already feeling the pull of the heartstrings because I really wanted to give her a nice gift but I couldn't get over the thought that I would not have given my best friend, or sister even, a $60 gift (due to my finances at the time) so why was I letting this lady decide what my gift would be...did that make any sense? sorry...

Just make it clear to your cousin how much this cake would cost a stranger and then give her the price you will charge her.

I agree totally with some of the others about NOT letting her be the one in charge of getting your ingredients or other supplies...if you do, you may end up having to pick up an item here and there from your own pocket because she either can't get it to you before you need it or you may have forgotten something in your ingredient list that you gave her.

I'm Back!!
Here is the deal.. I talked to her the other day, just making conversation.. And my aunt called me wanting me to do a cake for a housewarming party.. I hung up the phone and made the comment " If she thinks I am making it for free, just because she will buy everything I need she is crazy"... LOL that had nothing to do with my conversation with my aunt.. LOL I did it on purpose.. She then said, " how much stuff do I need to get and how much are you gonna charge me?'. I said to her, " well we have to make custom made bases, I will need more pans, I need for you to buy all the parchment bags, cake mixes, icing and everything to make the cake and icing.. Sugar, flour, salt, eggs, milk, oil, shortening, margarine, any color dyes for the cakes, wooden dowels, ALOT of fondant because I suck at MMF. You will need to buy all the cake boards, icing tips (told her I don't have the ones I would be needing for this cake). PLUS she still wants the dang dolls.. I told her I loaned out my mini doll pan and it never got returned (I told a little white lie) and so she would have to buy me another.. The doll picks, gloves for me (surgical gloves, all the dye she wants I will not show up looking like I glow in the dark). WOW after giving her an idea of everything I needed.. Then I told her, Just because you are purchasing everything does not mean I dont get anything.. I will have to sit down and figure out my price for you but on top of my price I also keep every cake item you purchase. That is part of my price.. I get the cake bases.. I can re-use those for another event.. I keep everything!! she had this look like "Damn!".. I was like "hell yeah"..
Sooooooooooo needless to say, we are going another route.. LOL she wants individual cakes (sizes to fit the people she expecting) with a simple smooth finish and a ribbon around them.. actually she loves this design we found in the CC gallery.. Made by CC member: MakeItYours
HAHA BUT she still wants the dang dolls.. Now I have to sit and figure out this cake design..

Oh my God, can you imagine what this woman will be like when her daughter is getting married? We don't have Sweet Sixteen Parties here, Thank God!!!

I have been reading this thread, and I ca't believe the gall of some people. My daughters are grown now, but we sure never had an event like that for them. I would have a hard time inviting 300 people, if I invited everyone i know!
Well, at least you got it all straightened out. Now you can relax a little.

The problem with giving someone the im[pression that they may have to provide extra cake pans, is they might expect you to make more cakes in the pans that they paid for. Got to watch for those kind of statements. At least with being paid, you are in charge, and no onw will know what pans you had to buy extra, nor will they hopefully be inclined to think they are owed something in the future because they put out money for equipment already.

I got an 11 x 15 x 2 pan for X-mas, and the person giving it told me, now you can make me a nice big cake. I had to tell them, I already gave you an X-mas present. That didn't go over well, but you can't let people take advantage of you or your business.

I HATE FAMILY MEMBERS!!!!!!!!!!! ok I donthate, they just piss me off!!!!
NEED TO VENT.. STAY WITH ME PLEASE....
ok Remember I told her what I was needing.. Well we looked and looked and looked and finally found plates and tubes for the cake stands.. Cost like $40. This was Very Very Cheap for 7 cake stands. We decided we would use 2 -12", 2-10", 2-8" and a 6". All round like in the picture above.. For some reason I kept feeling as if she did not want to do this because she was not going to keep what she bought. (cakeman now I know what you mean!!!) So anyway.. We get home and she says "dont open anything, now let me "go ask" hubby if he can afford this WITH your price and I'll let you know what he says". I'm like WTF!!! She had me going all day thinking I was doing the cake and that she was ok with the price.. So I just said "f&*& it".. I left it alone.. I didn't here from her that night.. This morning she calls and said, " I talked to my husband and he said "NO". He was not paying near 300 for a cake.. I said "what the hell?". (my price was at like 250. (doll cakes not included) and that is because I gave her a good deal) I was getting everything except the cake stand only because she insisted on at least paying for this.. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO by this time I am not in the f'n mood. So I said" you know what if wants to pay less then 200 somewhere else, then let him. I don't need this on and off thing and come get your plates".. I hung up! That was the best thing for me to do " hang up and leave it the hell alone"..After that ' I was in a don't f with me today mood'.
NEVER AGAIN!! THIS REALLY HAD ME PISSED OFF THAT I WAS LIKE... NO MORE CAKES, NEVER AGAIN.. My oldest Brittany has been my little shoulder to cry on.. LOL it was funny, so my cousin (lets call her loser) calls me to ask me about some stupid song. Brittany answered the phone and said (before handing me the phone) remember you are in a don't f with me mood attitude and smiled.. Teenagers, always makeing me laugh....

Briansbaker, I would wash my hands of the whole situation consider it a bullet dodged.

Do they really expect to pay less than $200 anywhere else? Some people are just clueless!! I agree, walk away and don't look back!

[quote="briansbaker"]This morning she calls and said, " I talked to my husband and he said "NO". He was not paying near 300 for a cake.. /quote]

Kinda sounds like she didn't talk to hubby about ANY of it beforehand, and when she told him how much she wanted to spend on cake for a KID'S party...he about had a fit! It probably didn't matter to him WHO or WHAT was being done, he wasn't going to spend that kind of money just for cake!!

Your cousin sounds like a idiot! RUN, don't walk to the first exit!!

At this point, I think I'd have to just send her a bill for all the time you wasted shopping for the perfect cake stands, etc, and tell her that you've booked a different party for that date if she has the nerve to ask you to come up with something else! I can't believe she had you out shopping for stuff when she didn't even know if she could afford to have you do the cake. I'd be livid!

Let us know if you hear back from her, I'd love to know how this one ends.

Laura.

Moral of the story:::
Family and business is like oil and water.... THEY DON'T MIX!!!!!!!

A lot of people don't realize how expensive making a cke can be. She is obviously one of them. I guess in her mind she had The perfect-sweet-16-knock-your-socks-off-with-one-lightning-bolt-type party planned. I guess she forgot one important part of making a party like that.... YOU NEED MONEY!!!!!!!

People never cease to amaze me!!!!

crazy ............i have a family story similar to that one only Im know as the one that charges for everything!!! So when debut time came around I quoted $350.00 and also got the runn around after a 2 weeks i gave up i stood firm and said i was not gonna worry about it!!! she ended up buying the cake from another "LADY" and paid $600.00 and it was UGLY!!!!!!!! so maybe youll have the satisfaction of seeing her with a cheap ugly cake like me!

Your cousin sounds like a idiot! RUN, don't walk to the first exit!!

Hahahaha! LMAO!

Watch Out! I think she might come back and talk business. Because, I'm sure she is calling around for cake prices and will soon know how the prices can be. She might end up getting a cheap cake! LOL. Who knows at this point.

Keep smiling!

CP - I would guess that it's simply something like they think because you're family that they shouldn't charge you as much as others would be expected to pay, or even do it for free because there's a bloodline or because they did something nice for you once. lol But then they go to a 'professional' and never question the price....with the excuse of 'they're in business, after all. Their price is their price...what'ya gonna do??'!!!! lol (I've actually had a family member say something like that to me once...though they were only related by marriage!! HA! ) It's like they forget that even if you only do cakes for friends and family or as a hobby that it still takes $$$$$$ to give them what they want!

LOL - Don't'cha just love when something like that happens!! I bet she never would've come back to you for the cake either OR told you how much it was! Guess her pride got in the way a little bit, 'huh?! lol Too bad her memory didn't remind her to put that receipt away before you came over!! LOL