not even sure where to start w/the cake or this post!! LOL!! I just finished meeting w/a bride and she brought this cake picture w/her. She said "after looking at your cakes...I knew this is something you could do!!" While I thanked her kindly for the compliment (?)....I don't think there is anything in my portfolio that is ANYTHING even close to this cake!! but anyway...................

Wedding date is Jully 15.........This has been the cake picture she has taken to every decorator in town and no one would do it!! I told her I could do everything on the cake and would make it as close to the picture as possible....she wants a few changes (icing color & cake shape). But I told her I wasn't sure about the 'topper'...I'd have to see what I could do. the vase is fondant and I don't even know where to start w/it!! I told her I could figure something out....but I wouldn't promise anything!! Now I love a good challenge....so I would really LOVE to try this...so ANYONE ever done anything similar or know where I can get some directions?? I've got time to practice and I told the bride I would have to practice and see what I could come up with before I would commit to it...so she needed a backup!


Also, I may have to do another post for this but......PRICING!! She only needs the cake to feed ~60 people (cake will be hexagon shaped)..so she wants the top & bottom tiers to be dummy cakes! Before I knew this is the cake she wanted...I quoted her my base price of $3.50 per serving for fondant. At that time...she said she wanted some fondant roses cascading down the sides...so I told her something like that would be $4 per serving. But now she's thrown in 2 fondant covered dummy cakes, more difficult decorations than just 'some' fondant roses & that impossible looking vase/floral topper!! So what do you normally charge for a decorated dummy cakes. In this case the dummies would be 15" & 6" hexagon?? Also, would you charge more than $0.50 per serving for the fondant decorations??

I'm really excited about this cake.....I just hope I'm not getting in over my cake decorating ability!!!

whew...that's it for now!!
TIA for any suggestions/help/advice/etc.!!

Christine

The picture is from a baker in Alambama (she said she thinks her name is Barb's Cakes...but she doesn't have a website..the photo was from a magazine!!)

...wow thats gorgeous!!!

..bump

This cake is not technically difficult, it will be very time consuming as it has a heck of a lot of work to it. You've quoted too little. The base tiers that are going to be dummy cakes are going to require more work than the top tiers that are going to be actually cake, because being larger, will require more flowers and decorations. If the bride is not going to be asking for a very expensive cake base, you may find that it is going to cost you more to buy the dummies than to make the cake itself, i mean the cake base, not the decorations. I would personally charge around $200 just for the cake topper. That is all made out of fondant and gumpaste. LOTS of work there.
Im sure you can make the cake. Be honest with the bride, show her a picture of what you had envisioned when you quoted her $3.50 per slice, and tell her that she has chosen a very expensive cake, maybe convince her to go for just two tiers. Not sure, this is a tricky one, i would charge her as if the whole cake was cake, charging for the work, rather than the edible part, your time is more valuable than the ingredients you would use to make the base cakes, dont you think???
keep us updated on what you do
cheers
Nati

i would maybe look around for a lightweight, even plastic vase that looks like the top one. start on all those gumpaste flowers early since they'll keep, and maybe some of the vinework, look around for white covered florist wire? i have NO idea on pricing, sorry- never done a wedding cake.

Someone here did a fondant/gumpaste vase like thing similar to that one. I think it may have been Antonia 74....yep, here's a link to the pic.... http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=antonia74&cat=0&pos=30 .

As for the other decorations, I would think they wouldn't be that hard, just time consuming. And it seems placement would be more important than anything to get the look she's wanting. Maybe Antonia74 could help you out on some pointers for the vase topper...try pm'ing her. Pricing - I would definitely reevaluate...lol. Simply because the elements of this cake make for a TON of time on your part, not necessarily ingredient/supplies costs. Maybe you could stick to the per serving price you gave her for the actual cake part, and just add a fee for the 'production' end of all the decorations and the dummy cakes? Such as X amt of fondant/gumpaste deco items/dummy cakes = X$? But, this could be a totally ridiculous idea, LOL Hopefully someone more experienced with cakes like this can give you better advice. It's a beautiful cake and I'd be excited too!! You are very talented and can definitely pull this one off!!

Well, look at it this way - she wants the bottom two layers to be dummies, so you can practice ahead of time on those two layers. I think you'll do just fine. As far as past experience, I've never covered that shape in fondant. Whenever in doubt, I always run to Michaels and look for cake decorating books/magazines that show a similar design, learn what I can, and improvise the rest. It's always an adventure, but it's fun!

I'm sorry, but I really can't offer much help with the pricing.

The vase is really fondant?? I think you should ask the bride if she is willing to be flexible about the vase. You might be able to find an actual vase that is very similar or agree on a different topper...that vase looks like a nightmare to me.

Based on the fact that everyone else has turned her down, I think you have a right to at least ask her to work with you, since you have agreed to give it a shot.

Best of luck to you!!

You can make the top out of sugar mold may be a tea cup to mold it. I did a cake with strawberries and a dish on top made with the sugar mold worked great. It looks like there may be a pedestal under the dish to make it taller. It will be heavy so you will need to put dowels under the top piece. Heve you thought about using a candy dish you won't have to make one. Pm me if you need the sugar mold recipe.

Can't help you on the topper, but I can offer a suggestion on the dummy cakes. I charge half to three-quarter price per "serving" for dummies. I figure roughly half of the cake cost is just for decorating labor and then there's the expense of the icing itself. These are two costs that you have even with dummy cakes, so I figure out what the number of servings would be for the size of the dummy then multiply by the fraction I choose. I go with a smaller percentage for easier designs and vice versa, hence the 50-75% range. Hope that helps (and makes sense LOL). Don't forget to get a deposit on those dummies too!

(PS--That's a beautiful cake, and I'm sure you can do it...but definitely have a talk with this bride and let her know that you quoted her your "beginning" price and that this design will be more expensive because of the labor. This cake is worth much more than the original quote per serving.)

I know alot of people charge per gumpaste flower....those roses are going to take you a long time. Say you want $10/hour for your time (which is low) and a rose takes 1/2 hour to do. You will want a minimum of $5 per rose on that cake, BESIDES the 3.50/serving for the cake AND dummy cakes. (I have always heard that people charge the same for dummy cakes as for real cakes...the real cake does not add that much cost because with the dummy you still have to use icing and fondant and time.)

I know people who charge $15-$25 or more per gumpaste flower depending on how time consuming they are!

You might want to give her some more economical choices...like using silk flowers, or like mentioned above, using a plastic vase of some sort. Otherwise for all the gumpaste figures you will want to charge per hour of work (basically) besides your cost per serving.

thanks everyone......just very overwhelmed w/this cake....and i just got the picture tonight!!

luckily the bride realizes the cake is very detailed and she couldn't find anyone else in town to do it b/c none of them will work w/fondant!!! or if they do they will only cover the cake...not too much fondant decorating!

I think what I'll do for the pricing is seperate it into actual cake w/fondant decorations, price for dummy cakes covered in fondant, and price for topper!! I like cakesoncall idea for pricing the dummies!!

as for the topper....she wants all GP flowers, but if I could find a vase that would give the same look as in the picture...I could probably get her to go for it!! For the flowers...I've been looking at wholesalesugarflowers.com...and thinking it may be cheaper for the bride if bought the roses and flowers from them?? (~$0.75-$1 per rose)...rather then me spend the next two months making them. although I enjoy making the fondant roses!! so I would have to do the vines and little swirly things.

i told her to give a couple days to figure out pricing....but I would love to find a way to make this work for her & me!!!

That's a great idea to buy the premade gp roses... I mean it makes us feel better to say we made them, but it will make you feel better to get money for a beautiful cake without all the time spent making the flowers!

crimsicle also has a very gorgeous vase in her photos. you could also pm her.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=favpics&cat=0&pos=-30228

Wow, gorgeous cake! Sorry, I'm no help though.

No big help here, but I would charge for the whole thing as if it were all real cake. Dummy cakes don't necessarily make it any easier. And, afterall, you're going to have to buy the dummies, and hex's would probably cost as least as much as ingredients. Beautiful cake! I'd say buy the flowers. Take a little stress off your shoulders. I'm sure you could make a vase. Looks like you've got several decorators to get advice from! Looking forward to seeing this masterpiece! You can do it!!!

I think they've pretty much told you everything you need to know...might wanna make the vase out of gumpaste or fondant with gumtex in it to make it dry a lot harder so it will be sturdy...other than that just wanted to tell you to check out www.dallasfoamonline.com for your cake dummies...they have very reasonable prices.

http://www.earlenescakes.com/drapespg2.htm
Some of the cakes on this page have sugar bowls and gum paste flowers like what you have for the topper, Earlene charges $150-$300 for the toppers on those cakes
I would keep your price per serving fine, but definetely charge extra for the flowers and the topperm since it will be handmade.
There's a saying- the more hands that touch the work, the more expensive it is. I have found this to be true when buying instruments, but it can be applied here.
The more handiwork you have to do, the more expensive it will be.

WOW those are beautiful cakes. They don't even look real. Maybe someday I can attempt something like that. I love the cake toppers. Those look very interesting to make.

That is a very beautiful cake! I can't help you either on decorating or pricing but when I look at the shape of the vase it makes me think of those plastic champagne/wine glasses you get at the grocery/party store. Not sure how big it needs to be but maybe covering one of those with gumpaste/fondant may just do the trick? Sorry, that's all I can offer. Good luck!!!

I would suggest charging a separate amount for the topper; use your 3.50 as a base, and add on for the flowers, and then the topper completely separate from the cake.

I've tries several different pricing structures....but no matter what I do the price hasn't been less than $450!! but what i ended up doing was like a few suggested....price cake w/the 2-tiers, dummy cakes w/fondant, fondant decorations, and then the topper!! but even ordering the flowers premade is only going to save ~$50 (but would save me a TON of time and give more time to work on the vase)!! and I was thinking of charging $75-$100 for the topper....so looks like I was close to Earlene's prices)!!

like relms said I was also thinking about maybe finding a vase and covering that w/fondant....has anyone tried this...how does it look??

I agree with cakesondemand. You could make a sugar mold for the topper. My local library has some Colette Peters' books. In one of them, she shows how to make a topper using sugar mold and styrofoam. I'm pretty sure the book I saw it in was Colettes Wedding Cakes.

I agree... Tell the bride this isn't what you were thinking of when you quoted. Its not fair that you will be working practically for free by the time you craft all that...

Every bride knows that if its in a magazine you cannot afford it... unless you are willing to spend thousands on the cake. I'm not sure why she thinks she can get a 'designer' cake for discount prices... but I'd correct the situation asap.

we just met last night to discuss THIS cake....and only talked on the phone once. I told her I would have to figure out the pricing for this cake.....I told her the price I quoted for the other cake would be fine for the 2-tiers that are going to be 'real' cake, which would be $3.50 per serving for 60 guests (the cake will feed ~60-65)....this is for cake, filling, icing, and fondant...on those two cakes only. But I told her honestly that I wasn't sure about pricing the dummy cakes or the topper and would get back to her!!! So I didn't even give her a price range. but I want to give her a fair price....but also don't want to be working for 'free' either!!

so i'm not sure what the reaction is going to be when I give her my quote...and as I stated above..so far hasn't been less than $450. But the price I'm actually more comfortable with is $515!!

And I know she wants this particular cake really bad b/c when I told her she needed to find out if her reception location would allow a cake from someone who wasn't licensed....she said if they didn't....she would move the reception!!! so I'm hoping she is willing to work w/me!!

and she said the vase didn't have to as eloborate as the one the pic...but kinda along the same lines. would nice if i could find an awesome vase that i could wrap in fondant and then do a few simple RI decorations on the outside!!

thanks everyone for the help for this one!!

I think your price of $515 is right on, actually. I have no doubt that the original decorator probably would have charged close to, if not more than, $1,000 for this...assuming all the flowers and every other decoration were made by her hand. There is a lot of intricacy involved in this cake, and as I said before, the placement of all the elements is going to be time intensive, I think. Your idea of ordering the flowers pre-made is great! Even though it doesn't save a ton of $$, it saves so much time...time that won't be added to the price of the cake, that's good for her and you both!

It sounds like she's determined to use you, if for no other reason than you didn't say no to doing the cake right off the bat, like the other bakers/bakeries she went to before you....and she's really happy she found someone who's willing to work with her and give her (as close as possible) the 'dream cake' she wants. She will probably be very flexible with you, I would think...lol. Just give her your price of $515 and see what her reaction is...never know...it may be just fine w/her if it means she'll be getting what she wants. I'd explain all the intensive work that goes into making each component of that cake, vase topper/flowers/vines/dummies, etc., so that she understands your pricing, even though there's not that much actual cake there. I like the idea of finding a plastic vase or goblet or something that's the general shape you need and covering it with gumpaste...I think it would work fine. Good luck with everything & please keep us posted on what she thinks of the price, etc.!!

most of the cost of a cake is not the cake itself but the labor

You will find dummys cost the same or more than cake. and they will take the same amount of time and do not fall into the I can use them again the bride should still pay for them

Charge the same per serving as you do for real cake if not a bit more

As far as hex cakes you get less servings for the same size because the way they are cut AND they are more work so minimum use the servings from a round to figure cost. not the servings from a hex

And for the topper it should be at an additional charge NOT included in the per serving price I would figure an additional $50 to $75 dollars and even then it will not cover your time.

I did a cake covered in gumpaste roses and I mean covered and I told the bride I would use a mold and fondant for the roses... I was a huge time and cost saver and very lovely Still an expensive cake but half of what hand formed gumpaste roses would have been.

just admiring the cake and I wanted to say that it's gorgeous. good luck!

CORRECTION! Sorry, but the name of the book with the sugar molds is Colettes's Cakes. The name of the cake is Lilac Garden Cake.

That's a beautiful cake! I agree with everyone on the price everything the same and charge extra for the GP work and whatever you decided to do on the vase.

BUT- I just wanted to recommend http://www.dallasfoamonline.com for dummies. I've ordered from them and they are super cheap and shipping is pretty reasonable. Even factoring in shipping, the dummies were cheaper than my local supply store.

Keep us posted!
-Suz

Big surprise---she wasn't happy about the price of the cake!!! so not sure what she is going to do!! She said she would have to think about it!

She said her budget was $350 - $400, and I pointed out that if she got rid of the bottom tier (15" hexagon covered in fondant and used purchased flowers) the price would be $387!! But she said she likes the look of MY handmolded roses...b/c they aren't all 'perfect' ( )...she likes that look better than the perfect-all the same-purschased flowers!!

I think I gave her fair prices on everything!! and from some of your posts...probably undercut myself alot!!!

please check out the price sheet and see if you think it is reasonable!! would you guys try to comprimise w/her and maybe offer to do the 3-tiers w/my handmolded flowers for $400?? That is $74 less than my quote for that cake!