I just have to post. I am so so so so upset that I am sick to my stomache. I posted a wedding cake last night that I had just done. It was for a bride who wanted a replica of her wedding gown. I was so proud, in fact, I feel like it is my best wedding cake ever. WEll, I got news from her today that she was totally disappointed in it.

I asked why, and she said she was expecting something different. She said she didn't think it looked much like her gown. She said that noone mentioned the cake to her at the wedding reception, or said anything to the effect of: "Oh, it looks just like your wedding gown". Her gown had a lot of sparkle, and it was embroidered in silver. I could not tell this from her pictures, and it was not written down on my worksheet.

Ironically, they liked the green bay packers helmut grooms cake better than the wedding cake. (posted to my photos)

When I looked over the worksheet, I saw about 2 areas where I fell short, but not much. ( I didn't luster dust the entire cake, just the corset and bow, and the ribbons didn't cascade as much as they could have).

However, I will say that she did not provide an adequate photo of her gown even after I had requested several times. I only had a blurry black and white printout. I also had a digital picture I took of her matching purse, but not of the gown. That is how I got the pattern to embroider in the first place, but I could not tell really what her gown looked like.

She did recieve the copy of the worksheet, which is what I go by when I do the cake.

It is horrible....I've never had this happen before, and what is worse is that I tried extra hard to make this cake the most extraordinary one yet. She is a local celebrity, a newcaster, and also a very nice person. I feel literally ill to think that she was disappointed. I even gave her 25 extra slices than ordered. She said that the cake was delicious and plentiful, and that it was pretty, just not what she wanted.

I am posting the worksheet, along with a pic of the cake.

Has anyone had any similar experiences with customers, and what did you do? Any words of encouragement would help!!

Ellen

Oops, here is the cake in case you missed it.

I think the cake is awesome! Really, I can't believe that anyone would be disappointed in this cake. You did a great job--its impossible to know what's going on in someone's mind--what she was imagining...but I'm sure that everyone there was impressed!!!! And by the way, I can totally tell that this is a "gown" cake!

I love this cake!! I would be thrilled to get a cake like this. You did a great job. This would be the first time I have ever heard that the bride wanted the cake to outshine her!!! You should be very proud of the work you did.

I think you shouldn't feel bad at all. It was HER responsibility to provide you with a good photograph of her dress if that is what she wanted the cake to look like. If she didn't care enough to make sure you had a good example, then she obviously didn't care about the cake that much anyway.

The cake is beautiful! I don't know what she expected if she didn't give you a photo of her gown.

WOW! Your cake is beautiful. I don't understand how she was dissapointed. I think your cake is GREAT!!!!

Thanks....I think elvis is right. Sometimes, even after communicating, we can not get into someone's head entirely to see what they see.

I think the cake is beautiful! You did a wonderful job!

As for the bride's disappointment, she is at fault for not giving you a clear photo of the gown after repeated requests from you. You did the absolute best you could from the information you were given to work with.

OMG! That cake is awesome! I agree that she bears some of the responsibility if she is not satisfied - but I personally would have loved that cake and I'm sure everyone at the reception thought it was beautiful!

Don't be blue too long - you have alot to be proud of!

Truly, I think that your cake is spectacular! I see nothing to be disappointed in at all.

I think her judging the quality of your work by hearing her guests comments about it on the night is a bit odd. (Nobody made any comments at all about my wedding cake on my wedding day....but I loved it more than anything!)

You guys are cheering me up!! It is so ironic, because this is my favorite cake that I've done all season, and ever for that matter.

So after the high of this beautiful cake, to find that the bride didn't like it is horrific.

I think the cake is absolutely beautiful!

If I ordered a cake and wanted it to match a dress (or anything else), I'd make a point of bringing the dress to you, or you to the dress, to avoid any misunderstandings. At the very least, I'd have brought a swatch of the fabric so you could see EXACTLY what it looked like, if it was that important to me that the cake match exactly.

If she only got you a copy of a printout, in black and white, and never mentioned that it was silvery and glittery, how could you have possibly known?

I think you made an outstanding, spectacular cake, it's breathtakingly beautiful!

Laura.

I think the cake is beautiful!

Your notes on your sketch say embroidery and crystals to mimic dress....what did you use for crystals?

Some people don't realize that you can make something similar, but never a replica of anything.
Even if that was possible, how much is anyone willing to pay?Your cake is gorgeous and it certainly looks like a bride's dress! Can you tell how much you charged her? I bet your cake is worth much more.
Forget these kind of people, we all still have to find many like her in our daily life.

Really?! (( She was disappointed???

Oh my goodness, I cannot imagine her being disappointed. It was an absolutely gorgeous cake. Don't know if it looked like the dress, but my gut reaction is "So what if it didn't!?" LOL Okay, okay, she is the customer and you have to please the customer, but my goodness, the cake is so lovely...

From the sketch the cake looks identical it is very beautiful and so perfect and neat, all I can think of is there is some people out there who will try their way out paying for things or getting discounts I used to have a friend like that. Used to always find a problem with anything and get out of paying a lot of lunches!!!! I hope you feel better after everyone replies how beautiful your cake is...

So what is she asking for? Why is she complaining? B/c she thinks she can get money back? Because she thought she wasted her money going with you??? I don't think there's anything wrong with the cake.... it doesn't look a ton like a dress to me - but it's a beautiful cake. If she didn't provide a good picture and didn't specify what she wanted - and after viewing the picture (sketch) didn't ask for any changes - then it's all on her. If she said it was delicious - then don't worry - that's the most important part. I don't remember anyone saying a whole lot about my cake the day of my wedding - although I heard a lot about it AFTER the wedding.... especially if i ask someone if they liked it - and when the picture came back everyone said it was so beautiful.... maybe she was expecting more from people at the wedding but most people will comment on the bride, the dress, the decorations - I don't think they go gushing to the bride over the cake...... at least I've never heard/seen anyone do that... Oh my wedding cake wasn't done by me but it was beautiful w/ real flowers - and delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd say forget the whole thing - maybe she'll hear more about it after the wedding and when the pictures come back....

so agree with the other posts that this cake is wonderful, beautiful, classy and as exquisite as you had intended it to be.
you can't be a mind reader, if you were, youd be in jay leno! you should show off the pics of that cake on the first page of your portfolio!
BRAVO!

Omicake,

I charged her 300.00 for the cake to serve 100. (3.00/slice, and that is with fondant, white chocolate and raspberry filling).

I also forgot to mention that she said she watched the Oklahoma city cake show, and even gave me a copy (which I did watch), and she was expecting the cakes to look like that.

I told her that those cakes were styrofoam that they work weeks and weeks on, something that can't always be done on a real life cake because one only has so much time before the cake would be stale. I told her that I stand behind my cake, but I am sorry she was so disappointed in it....that I was truly shocked.

My husband asked, "Is she smoking anything?"

i'm so sorry this is happening. i think the cake is absolutely beautiful...really its wonderful looking.

Oh Ellen....I'm soooo sorry. I wish I lived near you so I could give you a big hug!! Please don't be sad.... Your cake is totally gorgeous!! If I was near you and getting married (to Matthew ...shhh don't tell hubby! ) You would have to do my cake for me!! I love your all your cakes Ellen....every one of them are just wonderful!!! I'm always in awe when I see them!!



~Denise

I agree, it's perfect! Your work is wonderful - the cake is very well crafted and the embroidery is BEAUTIFUL.

I do also agree that it is very obviously a wedding gown replica, and if she wanted the cake to look like her own gown then it was her responsibility to make sure you had adequeate representation of her dress. You're a cake designer, not a mind reader specializing in subliminal telepathy lol. If I had been this bride I would have gone as far as to bring my dress to you so you could see it in person, not just expected to you pull the intricate details out of your @$$ from a fuzzy black and white photo!

Just my two cents lol, but I think you did an absolutely wonderful job.

I absolutly love the cake and surprised she was disappointed. I feel aweful for you. I guess I would feel the same. You put so much time and creative energy into a cake.basically your heart and soul (for me anyways) And to have someone even remotely unhappy would kill me. Chin up it's a beauty! You are truely talented.

YOUR CAKE WAS GORGEOUS!!!!!


Don't worry about her! She seems like a very hard-to-please person. Something's wrong if she was more concerned at her reception, about what people were saying about the cake instead of enjoying her wedding!!! I was so busy at my wedding I didn't worry about stuff like that. Only after everything people told me how much they liked the cake.
She seems like someone who needs people's approval.

Keep up the great work!

I think I even know the gown that she had!

Ellepal:

Wow. Just...wow.

I'm sorry, but---

Ok. I understand how important everything is to the bride, and blah..blah...blah. But if she looked at your sketch, and never did give you a clear pic of her dress, or a foot swatch, or whatever--how are you supposed to get close to her dress?

And--in the MOST EXTREME circumstance--would anyone even notice that it's supposed to be a "replica" of HER dress?

I mean, really. I've been to some serious weddings in my life, and I think most of the "little" detail-y things like this are lost on most people! Seriously--when was the last time you were at a wedding and noticed much more than the bride's look and colors? Really. Shoot, though. It'll take her 'til she's like 40 to even realize such a reality!

Barring all that crap, your cake is stunningly beautiful. Your workmanship shows through, as well as your concerted effort in making it beautiful. Your should be extremely proud of your craft.

Don't worry--she'll wake up in like, ohh...20 years or so!

Keywords: celebrity, I thought it would be 'different", "nobody noticed my cake looked like me".
Does this sound like a person who maybe is narcisistic? Maybe no one noticed that the cake didn't look like her dress because not everyone looks that closely at wedding gowns. Every bride the last couple of seasons has the strapless gown. Doesn't really matter what trimmings you put on it. It's just a strapless gown.

Your cake is gorgeous. I think the bride apparently was craving more attention than she actually got. Besides her wedding pictures, she wanted to be immortilized in cake. Just my .02.

I saw your cake in the gallery last night and was completely floored by it. So very, very gorgeous.

I just did my sister's wedding last weekend, and one thing I have noticed is: people at weddings just aren't that observant. All those little details that the bride sweats blood over? Most people will just never notice them. So if your bride's complaint is that people weren't coming up to her and saying that her cake looked like her dress, it's not your fault, hon. They probably didn't even notice her dress except that it was white and beautiful. Ditto for the cake.

You should feel very proud of this cake.

edited to add: knoxcop1 and I were posting at the time and thinking on the same wavelength

Your cake is stunning. The bride is being a BABY. Your work is amazing. She sounds like a spoiled Princess. You should be very proud, and she should have been very honored to have such a beautiful cake.

Angie