I have a bridal show coming up next month. It will be my first one ever attending or participating in one. What I am looking for is some advice from anyone who has done a show like this or who has attended one. How should I or shouldn't I decorate my table/booth? My idea is to do up a dummy wedding cake for display with all of my literature and portfolio. What kind of wedding cake should I do? I was thinking of the one in Wiltons yearbook that uses all different shapes and has a ribbon accent(2006)! Also, if you attended a show, what are you looking for in a cake decorator, and what draws you to stop at one booth over another? I am really excited about this and just don't want to screw this up too badly!!
In exchange for the cost of the table in the show I agreed to make the cake for the grand dining hall. They are setting up the dining hall like a reception along with a runway for the fashion show. I am attaching a pic of the cake. Any help on this one would be great! IT is a white orange flavored cake with chocolate BC covered in fondant. I will use MMF of course. I was thinking of just adding orange extract in the batter before baking it. What are your ideas on that, is there a better way to infuse the flavor? Sorry this is sooo long but like I said I just want to do well. Oh did I mention that this cake will be eaten by all the vendors after the show? YIKES!!!!
I can't wait. Thank you for all of your help! I know that Iwill get good and honest advice from all of you here at CC!
Tina
Tina, maybe I can help you, because I just did my first bridal show this past Sunday.
I had several dummy cakes set up. I think you want more than one. The one you picked is really cool, but I would in addition offer maybe a tradtional and simple white fondant cake with flowers, a buttercream looking cake, and maybe a square wedding cake. You don't need a ton, but you should offer a few possiblities so people can see your caliber of work and also they can see that you are not stuck on one style.
The thing that drew people to my booth were the free samples of cake I gave out, and that is what has caused my phone to keep ringing for the past week non-stop. I baked 4 different flavors: white cake with raspberry, chocolate, orange, and tiramisu. (these were all very gourmet). I cut up samples and passed them out in souffle cups with those tiny little sample spoons (I think you can get them at sam's or gfs).
If anything sold people on my cakes, it was the taste of them. People also loved the decoration, but I found that the samples really worked. Just be sure that all of your samples are cut up ahead of time and kept fresh under plastic wrap until you are ready to serve them.
I guarantee, if your cakes are delicious, you will get business.
Also, make sure you have at least 1000 business cards. There were so many brides piling up at my booth that I barely had time to talk to them all, so I made sure everyone had a business card and told them to go to my website. We also had a computer hooked up with a slideshow of all of our cakes, and many people were watching.
If your bridal show was anything like the one I went to, you won't have time to chit-chat, so have something for them to see, taste, and then a way to get back in contact with you.
I hope that helps!
Good l uck
Wow!! That cake is amazing...I can't tell u guys how much I want to be like u when I get older...I wnat to get licensed soooo BADLY!!! I dont have info for u but I just wanted to wish u GOOD LUCK!!
PS---
I have a recipe for orange cake that people were raving over:
When you make your batter, squeeze fresh oranges for your liquid instead of what you usually use (pulp and all).
Then use a microplane to zest all of the oranges into your batter.
Add a tablespoon of orange extract as well (or as your taste fits)
Then once baked, I use Smuckers low sugar marmalade to fill the cake. For my icing, I use the wilton 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening. Instead of the 2 TB of milk, I use 1/2 a jar of orange marmalade and let it whip up for about 7 minutes in the kitchenaid. You can also use this to fill the cake if you don't like the marmalade idea, but trust me, people were crazy over this cake. They could not believe how good it tasted. It had a very vibrant burst of flavor. It's a lot of work, but once people try it, you will be getting customers. (as I can attest to because my phone won't stop ringing).
Hi Tina. I've done a few and have one coming up next month. I've done more expensive and less expensive shows. What I've learned is to try to do it in your area as opposed to a surrounding county because some folks cannot imagine you driving the distance to deliver their cake, although you may not mind doing so. More expensive shows do not mean more business.
I offered two selections of cake. What I learned in that regard is to try to pick a filling that pleases the masses in general. Believe it or not, some people cannot think outside the box. For instance, I made one with a white chocolate key lime filling that was fab. People assume the key lime is over-powering but it is not with the white chocolate and once I convinced them to try it, most were pleasantly surprised. The chocolate mellows out the key lime. Anyway, I did another with chocolate and well, you just never know. So, try to do one (if doing more than one selection) in a flavor that most people out there like. Give it your best and make the tastiest best product you know how. There are many others who make pretty cakes but they taste horrible. I like to pride myself on both.
As to decorating the table, more than one cake is advisable. If there are other cake decorators, they will likely have a few. I am preparing 4 for the show I'm going to next month to show a variation. Try to do something classic and something modern with great color to it. If you are friendly with a florist in your area, maybe you can make arrangements with them to do a little embelishment on your table with their product and maybe have a few of their cards on your table. One hand washes the other and networking is great.
Finally, be prepared for the questions. The brides may ask for an idea on how much a cake you have at the show will cost them. You can give them a ball park figure and also let them know that it all depends on how you customize their cake to their specification. Have many business cards on hand and brochures help too. Make them look professional and without fail, do a spell check and have someone look it over for you. I've seen some where the grammar is horrible and it's a reflection on you. I did mine online at Vistaprint. They came out great.
Lastly, be prepared to follow up with the mailing list you are sent. In any advertising it's the reminders and repetitive information that gets the attention of people. The brides and their mothers will have seen so many vendors that they forget which was which but when you follow up, it jogs their memory.
Best of luck, truly.
P.S.: An important note is on personal appearance. Look professional and extremely well groomed. Have gloves for handling samples because that gives the impression that you are clean (which of course you are). Keep your station very neat have a few towels and all the things you need, i.e. napkins etc. on hand. Write out your game plan and list everything so you don't forget anything. And if you can get a helper, it's a blessing.
How do I attach a picture? I can't seem to add the picture but you can go to my website and look at the ones not necessarily in the galary but in the other parts of the site. Look at the tables and the background. You may be able to tell I'm at a show in some of them. They have cake and other stuff on the table. www.artisticinspirations-cakes.com.
The site is still under construction so pardon the lack of enough stuff. 
Hi there. I went to a bridal show a couple weeks back with my sister who's getting married this summer. I'll give you an account of what I saw. There were three cake booths (that I was aware of). First booth that I saw was filled with cake dummies, about 6 to 8, but there was nobody in the booth. There were a few business cards scattered and the set up was to tight to go around. I saw people just looked at it and passed by. The next time I passed at this booth, the pastry chef was just sitting in the corner and didn't really try to make contact. I had to maneouver my way over to talk to him. I saw a fridge there and thought there were samples but he didn't really offered one.Second booth had about 4 cake dummies displayed on tables that were in L configuration. This had a more open feel to the space. There were two people in the booth but there talking forever to two other couples. They had pictures with some info like price and servings on a protected plastic sheet and I looked at this while waiting for them. They seem to be hiding the cake samples, a few people wanted to have some and talk to them but had to walk away. And I was one of them,I didn't even bother to take a business card. Third booth had I think just one cake display but their samples were out there to take. They were served in a condiment cup with a plastic fork. They also had a small garbage bin nearby. They offered only one flavour, which ws an Opera cake, and it was delicious. The lady that handed the samples, asked my questions (price, flavour etc.), gave me a business card and told me her location.
Now which one do you think stuck in my mind? The one I tasted,of course. All the dummies , as some of them were lovely, all looked traditional. I would have loved to see the cake that you posted in that bridal show. The big key is presentation and taste. If you can make a couple of cake dummies of different style, that would be great. Offer something different. Maybe with your cake dummy you can also display a cupcake wedding cake if you would like to offer this as well. If you only have one cake, maybe you can display this on a small round table and set up like on a real wedding...maybe 2 champagne glasses, cake slicer, nice tablecloth , rose petals scattered around, etc. Depending on how much people are expected to attend this bridal show, have at least 3 people to answer questions and hand out business cards. Be friendly and somewhat aggressive without being pushy. A brochure would be a nice touch as well.
Wish you all the best and good luck!
Thanks for that response didi5. That really helped. I hope to do this by myself but not so sure of that now. I have a friend going with me but she is just helping me. She has taken the wilton course 1 so she knows a bit about it. The advice was great!
Thanks -Tina
Your very welcome. Best of luck and let us know how it goes for you.
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