Help! Pricing Large Wedding Cake Order (Long)

Business By kisha311 Updated 2 Aug 2006 , 11:11am by kisha311

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kisha311 Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 3:39pm
post #1 of 9

I was contacted by a bride that is getting married in February. She is very nice and easy going. The challenge is that they are planning on having 350 +/- people at the wedding and would like a 3 tiered cake with possibly sheet cakes in the back for serving. She would also like the same type of accents and decorations on the main cake to be on the sheet cakes so that everyone who gets a slice would get part of the "decoration" on their slice.

I mentioned to her the possibility of doing the smaller 8" or 10" cakes at each table, as I read about on here yesterday. I also mentioned mini cakes, but that is ALOT of work I know.

The shape of the cake is totally up to me, the bride only has a couple of requirements: 1) the color be red with gold scrollwork (preferably luster dust) 2) try to stay away from flowers as much as possible 3) buttercream icing. The wedding is a traditional south-Asian theme, explains the colors and scrolls.

Sounds simple right? But what should I do about pricing? I asked her to get back to me about cake flavors & fillings as well because I know that could also add to the cost depending on what is required. This would be my second wedding cake order. My first is for the end of Spetember for 200 people! I am still working out the cost details for that one.

8 replies
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kisha311 Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 3:49pm
post #2 of 9

BUMP!

Please help! any advice is appreciated.

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candyladyhelen Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 4:02pm
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First, congratulations on moving up to wedding cakes! Now: you need to establish your prices before you meet with the brides. Shop around pricing in your area. Sit down & write down all your costs for doing a cake. From all the ingredients, to colors, flavors, electric, etc. Then determine a per slice charge. I charge $3.25 per person for the basic cake. White chocolate seashells are an extra charge, depending on how many are needed. If I do the cake top, it's extra. I also charge $25.00 for delivery & set up. Once you have your base price, then you can determine how much the extra work they want will cost them. Good luck.

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Botanesis Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 4:38pm
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Definitely charge her by the slice. I'd say at LEAST $2.50 a slice. I've burned myself plenty of times by charging one price for the cake. It also depends in the area that you are in. Check the prices in your area, and adjust accordingly. Considering that they want it all red with gold luster dust...that's a pretty specific cake, so don't undercut yourself. Remind them how special this cake is. It's not your typical white buttercream cake. Good luck, and make sure to take pictures.

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waltz Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 10:14pm
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Just a thought -- you might want to gently suggest to the bride that usually when a regular wedding cake is cut, not all the guests are going to get "decorations" on their slice anyway, and the purpose of serving kitchen cakes is to reduce cost, which means essentially very little or no decoration.

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AbouttheCake Posted 2 Aug 2006 , 12:06am
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If you're going to be painting gold scrollwork on sheet cakes, she might as well get all the servings out front. If the sheets get the same decoration, then they should be charged the same-maybe a minimal, say 10-20%, discount. The purpose of the kitchen cakes is to reduce the labor in decorating.

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MsCakeLady Posted 2 Aug 2006 , 3:38am
post #7 of 9

how do you set up you schedule for baking a decorating an order like that?

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cupcake Posted 2 Aug 2006 , 6:23am
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When I get an order like this, I usually suggest "scoring " the cake in the kitchen. You can then decorate and put some sort of decoration in the center of each little square i.e. rose bud, etc...You don't actually cut the cake just use a long knife or spatula to mark it in 2x2 squares. I usually border my marked squares so they look like petit-fours, just not cut. This was whoever is cutting the cake knows exactly where to cut. It does not take too long to do this. I mark a quarter sheet in 24 a half sheet in 48 and a full sheet in 96. Each guest will get a little something, at least from the kitchen cakes. I would say at least 3.25 per serving on the main cake, and maybe give her a reduced rate on the kitchen cakes. Post a picture for us to see when you get done. Good Luck.

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kisha311 Posted 2 Aug 2006 , 11:11am
post #9 of 9

Thank you all for the suggestions, i don't feel so overwhelmed anymore! icon_biggrin.gif I am going to meet with the bride this weekend to go over the details of the main cake and the kitchen cake(s). My next dilema is finding a pattern for the scrollwork that matches the theme of the wedding. I plan to search the internet for various cakes related to the theme and see how the scrollwork was done. I would like to make the cake look as authentic to the culture as possible because I have never done one before.

Thanks again, you guys are the greatest!

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