OK...
I took an order for a wedding cake the beginning of May. The wedding will be on June 10th, was paid a CASH deposit (1/2 down). Sounds great right? Well, I haven't been in contact with the bride since! AND...I told her I needed the balance at least 3 weeks before the wedding (on May 20th). I have not received the balance. I called her tonight to "touch base". She didn't answer the phone, and I left a message.
I still need to get her ribbon, or find out if she wants the cake finished "on-site". And...she wants fresh calla lillies on the cake (which I have since learned are poisonous!) So, I need to tell her that unless she wants to use a different type of flower, she really needs to get silk instead of fresh.
I don't want to be a pest, but I need to know what's going on, this is for 2 weeks from now!!!! Should I call agian tomorrow? Or, should I wait a few days to let her respond? I have taken no orders for that weekend, and hate to lose money by not booking others if she has changed her mind!
HELP!!!! 
glenda 
You should wait no more than 24 hours for her to call. (IMHO)
I would call her back after the 24 hours and explain the importance of this & that. And, pretty much tell her that while you understand she may be under some stress, etc., this detail needs resolved now or she can find someone else to do a cake on such short notice.
Good Luck! And, BTW, I would demand cash within 24 hours as well.
I had already considered giving her a deadline of no later than June 1st.
And, I hate to make her order another cake, but I am a planner. I NEED to know what my weekend cakes will be like before that weekend comes and wedding cakes make me even crazier than normal!
This is stressing me greatly...
I agree with you, if she hasn't called back by tomorrow afternoon, I WILL CALL AGAIN!
I just went through something like that been trying to get a hold of the bride. She phoned me weeks ago and change the order from a cake to cupcakes I sent her a new quote and never got a response. Figured everything was ok until the final payment was due. Tried severel times by phone and email still nothing until I told her I was easy to talk to if these a problem just let me know. Well she finally contacted me said my quote was to high for the cupcakes so she made arrangements to have her aunt make them and could I make the top 6" cake for her deposit payment. Told her it wasn't worth my time to make and deliver I would rather give back her deposit $50 and chalk it up to doing business and since I'm just starting out I don't want a bad name. It will cost me $50 just to rent the kitchen to make the cake.
I'd suggest you start using a contract. You ALREADY gave her a deadline and she didn't meet it. For all you know she might already have someone else to do the cake.
I'd send her a certified letter telling her that since she hadn't provided the balance of funds due by the agreed date you are removing her cake from your schedule and keeping the deposit as compensation for not booking cakes from other people. Or send her the money back at the same time (not cash, obviously). Whichever you choose. She'll call you pretty quickly at that point, I guarantee.
I'd suggest you start using a contract...send her the money back at the same time (not cash, obviously). Whichever you choose. She'll call you pretty quickly at that point, I guarantee.
Well...I have heard numerous horror stories on this very subject. So, I have in fact, started using a contract. (To cover my @$$! 
)
Believe me, I was scouring the "fine print" last night to see what my options were in this situation. The way I have the contract worded. I will only have to return 1/2 of her original deposit because it is SO close to the wedding date! I would, however, still like to know what's going on!
Time is very precious to me, and I am very obsessive about when something should be done by a certain time, ...IT SHOULD BE DONE!
OK...so I've waited no call! I called her just a few minutes ago. I felt really guilty calling her so late. But today has been a real madhouse around here...it's the first day of no school AND I kept my friend's 3 y/o! So I had 3 kids all day ages 8,6&3 and no quiet time to make a phone call!
Got the bride this time...she apologized profusely about not having sent the check yet! (She lives 3 hrs away from me!) Will have the check in the mail first thing in the morning...we'll see! I was very casual, and told her that I had been worried that perhaps it had been lost in the mail. She said to make sure and call if I had not received it next week! (Feeling a little better now!)
Also told her that the calla lillies are poisonous, she might consider using silks. I am going to call to talk directly to the woman doing her flowers. She and I will decide how to do the flowers on the cake.
Could tell by the tone of her voice that this wedding really beginning to stress her out! Hopefully, this will be smooth sailing from here on out!
I had a bride once who INSISTED on the live lillies on her cake.
I took the live flowers that morning, and placed them onto a white styrofoam plate. Touched the places where they touched down with a non-toxic marker. Then cut out TINY places for the lily to rest. Glued the plate pieces onto toothpicks. Put 'em in the cake. VOILA! No lillies touching the cake!
Just thought I'd throw that in...
Hope it works out for you.
--Knox--
You can go to walmart, michaels, or hobby lobby and buy some flower spikes. they are made by wilton. you put the flowers in them and stick them in the cake.
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E312C10-475A-BAC0-5D34A3D6D0BDDF27&fid=3E331274-475A-BAC0-5041EF53F94DDB26
here is the link to what i am talking about
I'd suggest you start using a contract. You ALREADY gave her a deadline and she didn't meet it. For all you know she might already have someone else to do the cake.
I'd send her a certified letter telling her that since she hadn't provided the balance of funds due by the agreed date you are removing her cake from your schedule and keeping the deposit as compensation for not booking cakes from other people. Or send her the money back at the same time (not cash, obviously). Whichever you choose. She'll call you pretty quickly at that point, I guarantee.
Yeah, and she'd be pretty p*ssed, too, which wouldn't make for a good situation for the provider of the cakes.
Brides get BUSY, just like we do. A phone call, an email, and a couple of days to get back to the cake decorator should be the first thing to be done. 
Trust me, I've had a couple of last-minute brides, and they're very frustrating to deal with, but you don't want to go threatening them and sending certified letters. That's pretty aggressive.
Like I said she was very sorry, I'm sure it just slipped her mind. With her being 3 hrs away, she will also be mailing the final payment. So, there was also concern on my part that perhaps she HAD mailed it, and I simply did not receive the payment!
Her wedding will be held here, where I live, and she has friends here helping to make arrangements, but SHE will not be able to come back to this area until a few days before the wedding. So it's not like she can just drive over to my house and hand it to me!
She's a young woman, early 20's, and her Mom has passed away. So this is a very difficult time for her, as she is making all the arrangements by herself. I reassured her that there was no problem with the cake, and that I understood completely about the payment. There is no point (as Cakepro said) in getting her ticked off or any more stressed than she already is!
gmcakes, the water spikes won't work with the calla lillies. If you know callas they have humongous stems usually 1 1/2" wide. You'll be trying to jam that big stem into a small spike. Just trying to save you a trip to the store.
What about with the miniature calla lillies? She has already said that she thinks the standard sized flowers will be too "overpowering" for the cake.
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