I am still in shock...I can't believe that this really happened. I made a Topsy Turvey cake for a wedding today and the thing didn't make delivery. It was a 3 tier cake-6-7-8, 8-9-10, 10-11-12. Chocolate cake, Brides White cake, Whipped Frosting, and all covered in Fondant. I finished the cake last night, assembled it and left it in the fridge overnight. I went to get it today and noticed that it might be leaning a bit, so I threw a few more dowels in. I had 2 wedding cake deliveries today, this one and another one like an hour away from that. I decided to drop off this one first, because it was a topsy turvey and that alone was making me nervous. I arrived at the site, and the cake was leaning a lot more! I tried to save it, but the situation was just getting worse. My husband was with me...here we are in the parking lot bickering at eachother. I am almost in tears. My husband is holding up the 2nd tier, which is where the lean was coming from-and the cake literally fell apart in his hands. 
So after trying to rationally think this through. The time was 1pm, the cake needed to be ready by 5pm. The other cake had to be delivered by 3:30. I decided to drive back home (with my husband holding the cake in his bear hands the whole ride!) and try to fix it. My mom who was home with my girls babysitting, took off with the other cake to deliver it and my husband ran to the local super market and bought a huge sheet cake. We carved it and made a new middle tier, thinking I could save the other two. We re-covered the new tier in fondant and after all that, the thing just looked like crap. There is no way that I could ever pass this cake off as mine for a wedding! It is now 4:30 pm, and the cake is to be there in a half an hour and the site is a half an hour from my house!
At this point I had no choice but to try to honor my good business name and at least give this poor couple something. I quickly grabbed one of my display cakes, threw some of of the fondant decorations I spent all week making, and ran out the door. I stopped at a local supermarket-bought 2 sheet cakes. Wrote a HUGE heartfelt letter of apology to the couple and managed to get their as the guests are arriving. I couldn't even talk to the bride and groom, because it was too late! I explained everything to the caterers and they were not very sympathetic at all. I intend to refund all of their money. What a nightmare!
At least they were able to have a pretty cake for pictures and have sheet cakes to eat, but I just feel so horrible that this couple didn't get what they wanted. 
I am waiting to hear from them, but I don't think I will untill tomorrow, or who know's?
What a day...I am exhausted! My mind is just running. Why did my cake lean in the first place?
Just thought I would share my first cake disaster...and hopefully last! 
sbcakes........
:::hugs::: I am so sorry for you day. Take a bath, get a glass of wine and TRY to get some sleep.
Judi
I wish I could give you a big hug and a shoulder to cry on right now. I'm so sorry this happened. You are very talented.
They might freak out, then again they may not. Honestly at my wedding if this would have happend I would have laughed it off and told the cake decorator it's okay and gave her a hug.
im so sorry this happened!
ugh.
i get so nervous about the rest of my weddings whenever i hear about this happening!
This just keeps getting worse. The caterer just called me and was so mean. He told me that the sheet cakes tasted like crap and that he was short a few peices. He then told me that I shouldn't of brought anything at all, because the other cake was "dark"? I am sitting here crying as I am typing this. He said that he explained everything to them, gave them my letter but they were not happy. I said I feel horrible and he didn't care to hear anything I had to say. He said..."don't worry-they WILL be calling you!"
I'll be quite honest with you...at the moment, I just want to throw in the towel and give up! I have so many other wedding cakes booked in the next year and I am really questioning this all together!
I have 2 more of these topsy turvey cakes this weekend to do and I am scared to death to even try...I got into this thinking that I would make people happy and now I have just ruined someones wedding day and after all I did yesterday, I still managed to ruin my good business name!
Sounds to me like the caterer might have made a bad situation worse for you....Doesn't sound very nice at all and it really wasn't his place to give you a call the next day - he should be leaving that to your customers. Unless he's family - he needs to stay out of it and stop making you feel so badly!!
I agree with tbroskoski, it was NOT the caterer's place to call you....You did everything you could to give the couple what they ordered, and when you couldn't ~ you at least made sure they had a dummy cake for display and sheet cakes to serve the guests (a sign of a true professional, IMO). Apologize, refund the $$, and try to move on. Hopefully you'll never have to work with this particular caterer again!
Sounds to me like the caterer might have made a bad situation worse for you....Doesn't sound very nice at all and it really wasn't his place to give you a call the next day - he should be leaving that to your customers. Unless he's family - he needs to stay out of it and stop making you feel so badly!!
As a caterer, I absolutely agree with the above. Unless you contracted with the caterer .... unless he is the one writing you a check, then he needs to stay out of it.
I have catered weddings where the cake was bought at another bakery or decorator. Sometimes the bride will pay me to cut the other cake. If I EVER run into a problem with the cake, I would NEVER call the cake maker .... it is not my place, I didn't pay for it, I don't have a dog in the fight. Any problems are between the cake maker and the bride, also known as The Person Who Paid For It.
The only thing I might suggest is that if this is the on-site (in-house) caterer, he might feel he is involved because it affected "his" facility's reputation. But I think even this is stretching it.
He is out of line to contact you.
My husband said the same thing...that this guy has made it no better for me. He has probably fed the bride and groom with who knows?
I still haven't heard from them, but when I do, the only thing I can do is deal with it and refund. I will still offer their anniversary cake to them, but I doubt they are going to want it!
I am just trying to move on...take this as a HUGE lessoned learned and learn from my mistakes. I am researching the construction of Topsy Turvy cakes and trying to figure out why this happened.
I am so sorry to hear that happened to you, sbcakes! I once had a birthday cake fall apart 30 minutes before the customer was scheduled to pick it up. I remember the absolute sheer panic I felt, so I can totally imagine how you must've felt. Hopefully the bride and groom will be decent about it and everything will work out fine!
Don't listen to that jerk caterer, he has no right to discuss the cake with anyone!!! This is between you and theh bride, no one else. Don't give up and let this get you down --easier said than done, I know-- your work is too good to stop. Mistakes happen. Just think of it this way- How many cakes have been perfect to how many not? This is the only wedding cake probably this has happend to with you, now how many other ones are there that were great.
You know your work is good, don't let some nasty person put doubt in your head!
It sounds to me as if this caterer is upset that HE didn't get to do the cake as well. SOmetimes they get into a snit if they can't do ALL the food. I would just ignore him and wait for the bride to call you, I am sure it won't be as bad as you think.
Keep your chin up, you have wonderful friends here!
There is absolutely nothing I can say that will make you feel better. Believe me, I've been in similar situations where I just wanted to say "this isn't worth it anymore". But here I am, still doing cakes!
I applaud you for thinking so quickly and having a Plan B (don't leave home without it!).
I'm thinking the caterer was so nasty because he was the messenger with the bad news for the couple, and you know the phrase "don't shoot the messenger"? I'm sure he heard an earful. I'm not excusing his phone call; that was absolutely unnecessary.
It will probably take about 2 weeks for you not to be upset about this. You will get through it! And you will look back, and ask, what could I have done differently? That is always the best thing to do when you have a big disaster...ask what did I learn?
Big hugs to you.
Are you sure you want to return ALL of their money? I know that what happened was an accident and no fault of theirs. But you did invest in ingredients, time and 3 huge sheet cakes. And are you going to ask for your display cake back?
I'm really sorry for what happened to you. It's a true nightmare! But remember that accidents DO happen and that you have many other wonderful cakes in your record.
I wish you the best of luck in your next communication with the couple.
Marie
I think you acted very professionally to provide them with something rather than nothing. You acted quickly and made a great call to the best of your ability at the time.
Rather than a grouchy phone call, you should be given kudos for thinking on your feet! I've worked at a venue where the sneaky bakers brought in leaning/cracking cakes that had no hope in hell of making it through the night and it ended up being OUR problem to fix their mess.....but you didn't do that. You took control and solved the issues of the display cake and the sheet cakes.....good for you!
THAT is a professional! Your cakes are beautiful. Don't you dare give up. 
At my cousin's wedding on a warm summer day, we were in the Ladies' room helping the bride primp and the venue waitress came in and asked, "Who baked the wedding cake?" Best friend Betsy said proudly, "I did" and the waitress (smugly) said, "It just fell over." and walked out. We ran to the reception room and sure enough, there was the second tier (in the days of inverted champagne glasses between tiers!) on the carpet! My sis-in-law picked it up w/her hands and Betsy put it back together! 
I always think that intentions are most important, and you had the best intentions at heart, you kept your integrity, and your professionalism. You must forgive yourself and move on! I'm new at this and I figure that if it were easy - everyone would do it and then they wouldn't need us! Hang in there - by the way - my cousin got married for the 2nd time two years ago and guess who she asked to bake the cake? Betsy of course! (No champagne glasses this time) 
You poor thing!
You did the best you could under the circumstances. There isn't a cake decorator on earth who could say with complete certainty that he/she would never have a cake disaster. It's not like this is a pattern with you or anything.
I think you're right to refund all their money, even though that will be a financial setback to you. The couple didn't get the cake they paid for, even if they did get a substitute.
Still, I hope they are nice to you! Accidents happen. Everybody with a brain should know this...
If a cake gone wrong is enough to ruin their wedding, then I don't have much hope for their marriage!
Good luck and lots of hugs to you! We'll be waiting to see what happens.
Aww, i am soo sorry about your cake! I have to make a topsy turvy cake for my brothers graduation in June and i am so nervous about making it. I have studied this site (which im sure you've found) and hopefully it'll help me! Best of luck with the others you have to make this weekend!! 
http://www.cakecentral.com/article1-Instructions-For-Building-A-Whimsical-Tilted-Cake.html
Wow.. I had a cake fall over(6 tiers) after I left the site... thankfully everyone was very understanding... but... in your case, if THE CAKE is what ruins their wedding... then they have bigger problems than an unexpected dessert.
Shake the dust from your shoes and move on... don't let them get you down, this is just one cake among many and I am sure that you have made many more people happy 
Wow, your story really bites big time! I hope the bride & groom have such a wonderful honeymoon that they look back on the whole cake thing and laugh about it. I hope the bride's MOTHER is understanding, as well! Don't make yourself sick over it. Was it a warm day? Or warm in the car? Your poor hubby having to be involved. Poor guy, he was probably trying to help best he could! Even if it fell apart, did it taste good? Did you forget to put in a post?
Please post us a closing if you can after you've talked with the little Missus! We are all rooting for you!![/b]
....Also, if you goto http://www.sugarcraft.com/ and then scroll down until you see the picture and link for "FAKE CAKES BUY-OUT" in the center of the page. When the Fake Cakes come up, scroll down all the way and then you will see a link for "General Instructions for doing Whimsy-Cakes" link right where it shows a picture of the round and square topsy turvy fake cakes. It sounds confusing, and i would send a link...but the link will just take you to the sugarcraft homepage. Its just another link that may give you a hint as to why your cake tipped over.
Hey thanks for all of you words of encouragement and sharing your stories. I guess this happens to many of us. I am not going to give up. i love cake decorating too much 
I am determined to figure out these whimsy cakes and I WILL get it! i am just too stubborn to admit defeat!
I will post once I hear from the couple!
So sorry this has happened to you! I hope that day will never come for others but I am sure it will some day. I had a cake slide right under my seat in the van and ripped the whole top off. What to do I was onm y way to work after deliveringit. I fixed it the best I could and they ate it anyway.
Good Luck with the bride if she calls.
I am so sorry this happened to you, but I agree with the others, if a cake can ruin their wedding, they aren't going to make it! I understand what you are going throuhg as I had a similar disaster about a month ago. In the end I think you should be proud of your quick thinking. They had something for photos and cake to eat. Hang in there you are very talented!
Sue
Just wondering if it was the whipped icing that caused the problem...
I've only done them with buttercream under the fondant, and if someone asked for whipped cream, I'd say no - simply because it doesn't sound stable enough.
Has anyone done one with whipped icing before?
I'm sorry you had to go through this. I can only imagine the stress you must have felt!!!! You came up with a great way to provide something to the bride and groom. Hats off for a great save!
Your cakes are beautiful and now you've got a challenge!!! Gotta love a challenge, specially in cake decorating!!!!!! I'm sure you'll get the whimsy cake down really well.
Please let us know what happens when you talk to the bride!
Laura
SBcakes......I have a clause in my contract that says (in so many words) "Sh..... happens, and I'll give you your money back if it does." Maybe consider doing that, but don't give up cake decorating. I think you did what you could considering the circumstances, and SHAME on the caterer for making you feel worse in an already bad situation. I'd call him back and let him know he crossed the line in a terrible circumstance, and you are disappointed by his behavior in light of the fact that you did what you could to remedy the problem. Caterers are a dime a dozen...cake bakers are not. You don't need his praises to continue on...if anything, he needs yours. Rubbing in your misfortune to the bride and groom was a crappy thing to do......and will come back to haunt him later. One day he'll have a kitchen disaster.....and someone will not be so understanding of him.
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