hello, i just found out i have my first wedding cake order... im meeting with the bride on monday. the main problem i have is i have no clue where to begin with valuing my cake... i have up to this point only made them as gifts. please help me work out what i do to ensure the bride is getting a good price without ripping myself off. this is my dream to make wedding cakes for sale, i just need a little help to make me more confident and also make a profit... thanks in advance.

Here is a link to the pricing matrix, it may be of some help to you in pricing your cakes.
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-5711.html

Well I am not great at this myself but I have gotten better. Alot depends on your competition! I live in a small town and there is only one bakery, besides the infamous Walmart and kroger bakeries. But what most people tell you is to calculate your cost(break it down item by item: including sugar,flour,cake mix, eggs, oil, extract, cake boards, ingredients in your icing, then include your time and labor. I think alot of people take the cost of goods times 2 or 3. Example if you spend $10.00 in ingredients x's it by 2 $20.00(10.00 profit) x's by three $30.00(20.00 profit). People do it a million different ways, just figure out what you are comfortable with. The other thing I think of myself is what I would pay for a cake myself if I were ordering it. Others charge by the slice. They would have a minimum price set for each serving. Hope this helps. There are alot more experienced people on here than me, and they will share there method!

thanks to you both, i cant download the pricing matrix, so i will try to work with your method princess3. i was planning on doing somethng like that but want sure what to say to this bride on monday if she asked where my prices start etc... i guess ill just ask how many she is having at the wedding and approxamate off what i paid for my wedding cake.. we only have a little backery that does cakes here ( apprently they are crappy) and a cheesecake shop which also are very limited at what they provide... we dont have walmart here in australia and there is one home decorator i know of and ive seen his cakes and they are nothing too special if you know what i mean... i was think ing of saying that a basic cake with 2 tiers, a ribbon around the base and a small bouquet of flowers on the top would start at about $180 au . does this sound accurate, and id charge more for the more decorative work... and more tiers..????

I do not know how $180 au dollars compares to us dollars!! I noticed you live in austrailia! I love Keith Urban!!! Just thought I would share! I hope you figure out your prices too, I could not get the price matrix up neither!

Maybe this can help

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-55002.html