o man, I feel for you hun, Having close calls myself with huge cakes. But I am gonna play devils advocate here for just a second...... ummm in your explanation of events I noticed that you didn't talk to the bride and groom but did talk to another vendor. I know, I know you probably wanted the earth to open up and swallow you right then and there. but telling the vendor to relay the message is gonna make him all pissy n upset and resentful so he's gonna embellish the situation to his favor and that's not doing you any good at all.
I for one, would call the bride and groom right away while at the same time sending them a formal letter of apology (on your letterhead) with a refund check for the full amount (better to eat this one than to lose em all). That way at least you'll have made the gesture n hit the ball back to their court. What happens after that is anyones guess but if they have manners and are gracious people then everything will turn out ok. If they are snobbish and put out then it could get ugly.
Definitely do a cake autopsy to see what happened and how to avoid that again. Go back over your actions on making the cake n see what was questionable n what worked. Don't be nervous about your next ones just learn from this one and go on.
I would also refrain from co-vending with that particular caterer again if possible. If they were any kind of professional they wouldn't have called you they wouldn't have been willing to forward your message (hun, sorry to say, but I really feel that you should have found some way to relate that to the bride n groom yourself,) now don't feel bad it's just a lesson learned for next time. Mistakes happen and that's ok. It's when we don't learn from them is when the problems start stacking up.
You'll do fine. Just learn from this experience and go on. You are the wiser and stronger for having to deal with this.
Sorry, indydebi.....not that caterers aren't wonderful, just that they are bountiful (at least where I live).
One more thing, SBcakes....consider from now on transporting your cakes unassembled, and stack on site. I did that with the two topsy turvy cakes that I did, and with EVERY wedding cake I do . I just bring all my tools and equipment and do all of the finishing work right there at the hall. That way, no sudden slam on the breaks or sharp right turn can do significant damage to the cake. My nerves are less stressed. It is a little more time consuming, but consider it to be a form of insurance.
Let us know if you hear back from them, but definitely send them a formal letter of apology with a refund. Right now, it's face-saving time. 
And say a prayer....you'll be fine, and your business will continue on.
Sorry you are feeling so down. I was panicing as I was reading your story. I always keep the phrase, "to err is human..." in the back of my mind.
THe best advice my photographer gave me before my wedding was, "something WILL go wrong on your wedding day..." I looked at him with worry, but it was the BEST advice anyone gave me! He was right....nothing is perfect...and neither was my wedding day.....
Well, it was supposed to be an outside wedding and a tropical storm decided to come through....No outdoor ceremony.
My cake looked beautiful but it was DRY......
Oh well, the honeymoon was excellent and the weather was perfect. I think I would rather have a washed out wedding than a hurricane week in the Carribean anyhow.
All in all, I never even think that these two things ruined my wedding. Yes, I am aware they happened, but the food was great, the music superb, and the place looked beautiful!
My point is - looking back, the bride won't even think about the cake! (Let's hope!)
Best of luck! Don't give up!!!
Sorry, indydebi.....not that caterers aren't wonderful, just that they are bountiful (at least where I live)....
Oh I know! I just had to razz ya a little! 
I'm sure you meant that "mediocre" caterers were a dime a dozen, but we good ones are like rare gems! 
I know that brides want their day to be perfect but they rarely ever are. I think you did the most professional thing you could do and if they aren't adult to realize that crap happens, they will have a rocky marriage. It is a sad situation but in the long run, it will be a funny story and hopefully they will get over it.
I am not trying to be insensitive to the couple who are upset by this but they have to realize at some point that there is nothing more you can do, you did the best you could and they can't rewind and go back - they need to accept it and move on!
Maybe for their frist anniversary party you can make them a cake for free if they plan on having a party!
I agree with everyone else. The Caterer should have stayed out of it. I would like to know how many screwups the caterer is hiding as he passes judgement on you. Don't let this mishap get you down as there are a lot worse things in life that could happened to you and having a cake topple over is the least of them. Don't sweat it, you did the only thing you could do to rectify the situation in the time frame you had. The bride had a cake for the pictures, a cake for eating and a refund of all of their money. If they complain about that, then good riddance and have a great life!!! Carry on and do what you like to do, DECORATE CAKES!!!!
Sorry you had to go through this. Would like to know the outcome of this. I have someone by me who is getting sued for not delivering a cake they ordered. She has some type of clause in her contract that covers hers, these people just want money. Let us know.
First of all, I'm so sorry that this happened to you.
I have to applaude you for handling it the way you did. I hope that the caterer did give the letter of apology to the bride and groom. You mentioned that it was too late to talk to the bride and groom and I'm sure they were busy enough with everything else going on to even bother them with this. Like canoewoman said, there was a cake for eating and a cake for pictures. Had you not taken those steps, it would be a different story. The bride and groom should be very understanding especially if you are refunding the money, more money for the honeymoon!!
I am anxious to hear the outcome. Take it easy and keep on frosting!!
I would not only offer them a full refund, but a free anniversary tier... so they have something to eat on thier anniversary. Granted, you're going to lose money on this one, but better to lose a little money on cake, then a lot from lost business by negative feedback.
It's tempting to hide in embarrassment, but that just gives them the impression of indifference. If you appologize to them yourself and tell them you intend to make things right, they will have more sympathy toward your situation and the circumstances.
sbcakes: Had to look to see where you live because I THOUGHT the caterer sounded like one that lives in MY town!
He is rude to other vendors and acts as though he should be the ONLY choice in town! Actually, there are only about 2 others, but he is high priced with mediocre product. He doesn't do ANY fondant cakes. In fact, once told me "You KNOW you can't cover an entire cake in fondant, don't you?" What was up with THAT? Now HE can't do it....so he thinks NO ONE can!
I agree with indydebi (on OH SO MANY points) that HE (the vendor) has "no dogs in the race" and therefore should stay out of it.
Just wait and see what the bride and groom think. Deal with it when it happens. I'm sorry this happened to you. Don't give up because of this one incident.
CHIN UP!!
Beth in KY
Aww I keep trying to think of something great to say to make you feel so much better but everything that came to mind has already been said. I am so glad you decided not to give up we must learn from trail and error and you are learnign from this. I can only imagine how easy it would be to just throw in the towel but you are sticking with it and I am so proud of you for that. I'm hoping the bride and groom will be understanding in this matter. Please keep us posted on how it goes and good luck
I'm so sorry this happened.
I agree that it was most likely the whipped icing. Chilled buttercreams actually firm up the whole structure--the whipped icing makes the cake even softer.....
I saw BKeith Ryder in person make his topsy turvy cake--just like the tutorial here on CC.
http://www.cakecentral.com/article1-Instructions-For-Building-A-Whimsical-Tilted-Cake.html
He used a very sturdy yellow cake and Whimsical Bakehouse buttercream (only because he travelled a long distance with the icing with no refrigeration. He usually uses a meringue buttercream--IMBC, I think). The cakes were torted once and there wasn't a lot of filling in between layers. He even commented that for a cake of this type to stay standing, the insides can't be too moist or fancy.
I'm sure that you'll come up with a plan that works well for you! We always learn the most from our mistakes.
Rae
man oh man!! you poor thing. life will go on, if only we could get the wheels in our heads to stop turning and thinking about stuff.
you DID provide them with cake, thats a plus. deff. says you care and didnt leave them with nothing.
caterer sounds like a rude idiot. who stirred things up a bit.
anyway, i wrote cakepros many months ago about bettercream whip icing, if you can put fondant over it? they replied ''NO'', it starts to break down the fondant. they used some tech. terms why. but the answer is no to whip and fondant. plus its slippery from the weight. i do believe this was the culprit.
look on the brite side, you just helped alot of decorators to not use whip on topsy turvy cakes.
time will heal things. i hope you are feeling a bit better now.
weve all had disasters of some sort, you arent alone.
o man, I feel for you hun, Having close calls myself with huge cakes. But I am gonna play devils advocate here for just a second...... ummm in your explanation of events I noticed that you didn't talk to the bride and groom but did talk to another vendor. I know, I know you probably wanted the earth to open up and swallow you right then and there. but telling the vendor to relay the message is gonna make him all pissy n upset and resentful so he's gonna embellish the situation to his favor and that's not doing you any good at all.
I for one, would call the bride and groom right away while at the same time sending them a formal letter of apology (on your letterhead) with a refund check for the full amount (better to eat this one than to lose em all). That way at least you'll have made the gesture n hit the ball back to their court. What happens after that is anyones guess but if they have manners and are gracious people then everything will turn out ok. If they are snobbish and put out then it could get ugly.
Definitely do a cake autopsy to see what happened and how to avoid that again. Go back over your actions on making the cake n see what was questionable n what worked. Don't be nervous about your next ones just learn from this one and go on.
I would also refrain from co-vending with that particular caterer again if possible. If they were any kind of professional they wouldn't have called you they wouldn't have been willing to forward your message (hun, sorry to say, but I really feel that you should have found some way to relate that to the bride n groom yourself,) now don't feel bad it's just a lesson learned for next time. Mistakes happen and that's ok. It's when we don't learn from them is when the problems start stacking up.
You'll do fine. Just learn from this experience and go on. You are the wiser and stronger for having to deal with this.
I agree with this 100 percent.... You put the vendor in a VERY uncomfortable position and he/she was going to do ANYTHING and EvEYRRHING to make sure none of that blame went to himself/herself (which it shouldn't). While, yes, you did write a heartfelt note, it was like a Dear John letter.... isn't it much easier to get that news face to face? It DOESN'T flatter your business that you ran and hid when the disaster happened - no matter HOW HARD you tried to do the right thing (and believe me, you tried HARD).... I can guarantee you, that if you sought them out, if you explained what you did here, if you offered a full refund then and there, and they SAW YOUR FACE in it's agony and terror at what happened, they would have sucked it up, moved on and understood (unless they are unhuman - and there are some people out there like that).
They wouldn't have had the opportunity to stew over it and wouldn't have let outside people override their own personal reaction to it all....
Anyway... I now realize for myself that disasters happen and I think I'll stay away from weddings! LOL People's expectations are even MORE "I want it perfect" on this day and that's a lot of pressure!
melissa
i forgot to tell you, sat. one of my cakes was to be tiered and i made it stacked....see, you arent alone with stuff happening. its my fault on the stacking, i did the order from memory, if i had looked at the order as i should of, it would have been tiered. bummer to me, all my fault.
any updates yet? have you heard from the bride and groom?
well here is another hug, don't give up, I mean it bites that it happened but hey after all it's cake it's not indestructible. I agree the caterer probably just didn't like that he had to be the one to give the bad news. and again good thinking for the back up plan. You will get through it, just breathe and get ready for the next one.
OK, the bride called today! She was SO NICE!!! I was dreading this phone call for 3 days now, but it went better than I expected. The first thing she said to me was "Don't even worry about it...I'm not going to be Bridezilla!"
I went into this deep apology and explained the entire story to her, from start to finish. I couldn't stop apologizing and she just kept saying, don't worry about it. She did say that a lot worse things happened that day. She said that her husband took it worse than her. I reassured her that I intend on giving her a 100% refund (I have to, it just wouldn't be right any other way!) and I offered to make her an anniversary cake for her to freeze. She was happy with that. So on Thursday, I m delivering her the top tier, replica of what the cake should of been (you bet that this will be the best cake I have ever done), the refund check, as well as a mini cake for her and her husband to have later that night...just the two of them. She said that would be really great, because she is craving my chocolate cake that she tasted at her consult!!! So, I guess after a HUGE financial loss, a very sad bride and groom, and a great lesson learned, I'm gona live through this! I am just so glad that she is letting me make things right. I think that I need this to move past this horrible incident.
Thanks SO much for all of your thoughts, hugs, stories and encouragement. This site is just so darn wonderful! I am so glad I had you guys to help me through this...and a great hubby who has wiped my tears...and all of the cake off his hands and clothes that day...
Ahhh what a nice ending. I think it was as you say a lesson learned but at the same time it's nice to see that there are still some lovely people in this world willing to forgive our mistakes and move on. And I think what you are doing for them is lovely as well.
I am so happy to hear that all went well with the bride. I thank God every day for this site. In a business were very often it seems we are alone in what we do, it's wonderful to have a place where we can vent, council, comfort, and support each other.
I'll bet now after all the support that you have received, that you can truly focus on a way to improve yourself and not focus on the bad at all. What a wonderful way to move forward!
Cascades
Hooray for nice brides!
I bet she recommends you to others. Sometimes service is way more important than the actual product, and your customer service has been excellent!
Sorry about the lost $. I hope you have some great orders soon that help make up for that.
Oh I am so glad that everything worked out. I dread the day this happens to me, and it is encouraging to know that people can still be understanding.
First of all, don't listen to the caterer, he's a non-factor who sounds like he'd like to be in control of something-anything. Next, call the bride, don't wait for her to call you, she might appreciate that. THen, maybe if you offer to make her and her husband a 1 year anniversary cake for the two of them "out of the kindness of your heart", that might cushion things up more. THese things happen, we are all human and if the bride isn't a bridezilla then she will understand. If she doesn't, you have to shrug it off and keep going, cause trust me, I still think of my wedding cake lady and how much I appreciated everything she did for us (which was just making the cake!).
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%