OMG.
I guess luckily this was not my cake, or I would have been way more upset and unable to do anything....
Went with a fellow caker to deliver a wedding cake this afternoon. My friend is in her 60's, and very good. Does more older style, but really really good.

We were delivering a 4 tier stacked (just with dowels) to a small club near the lake. I went along to chat and hold the top tiers for safety. Then I was going home and she was going to a picnic/cookout with her family, to which she was taking a big sheetcake with simple picnic decorations on the top.
We got it there, and were doing the set up, all going well. Family and such begin to show up and these 2 little boys (maybe 3 and 5) are running around like banshees. Screeching, throwing toys etc.
No big deal, so long as they are away from us right?

My friend is doing the borders, and all that last minute stuff, and the kids now are getting close enough and throwing enough stuff/running right past us that I get a person to ask the parents to chill them out. Don't want the cake knocked over right?
Kids are moved, sorta. You could tell the parents were more into getting at the free booze than controlling their brats. Not our problem though, so my friend finishes up, cake looks great. Bride is thrilled, as are the mothers, so she feels good, gets paid and we are heading out.
Stop in the lobby to chat with the MIL who wanted more caking info and we hear a shriek and then kids crying. We think the brats finally hurt themselves running around or the like..no.

The had run into the table with the cake on it.

Top 2 tiers are smashed, they flew off the dowels sideways and hit the floor. 3rd tier is torn and covered in bits from the top. Only the bottom tier is even still looking like cake. They had no sheet cake or extra, as it was a fairly small wedding. My friend did a stable set up (It was very sturdy, but could not handle the whole table almost falling over of course) and was paid and left a satisfied customer. She had no obligation to do anything about it at this point.

Bride and co. knew they were screwed and were SO upset. (Kids' parents still did not care, did not even apologize to the bride) Asked my friend if she knew where in town they could find some quick sheet cakes/pastries/anything and if they could pay her extra to fix the bottom tier.

My friend instead waved off payment, fixed the bottom tier to look good enough to serve as the nice one with the topper to be cut for pics, and brought out the sheet cake from her car, scraped off the picnic decorations, re-iced the top and let them have that for free.

I thought my friend was really classy to do that at all, not to mention very fast and for free. We felt very bad for the bride, who was in tears, but happy with the replacement set-up. When we finally did leave we could still hear the MIL screaming at the kids' parents and demanding they pay for the smashed cake etc. I hope the reception went well for the bride after that, poor girl.

It was a good lesson to always carry lots of extra icing and such for 'just in case', more than you think is necessary. I guess it doesn't hurt to have an extra cake in the car either! :lol

ohhh I don't even know what to say to that.I'm so sorry that happened to your friend, and she certainly went above and beyond the call giving away her cake.

How awful. I would damand the parents pay for the cake if it was mine. I am glad the MIL let them have it!

The poor bride.

Your friend is indeed a classy lady and a great business woman.

Yeah, I would have freaked out, felt guilty and probably not been able to fix it anywhere near as nicely as she did.
My friend was calm, cool and never batted an eye. Not the first time she has had a disaster!
She said if she had not had the sheet cake, she would have had them grab some grocery store plain cakes and would have decorated them up quickly and only made them pay for her time waiting for them to arrive.

(I just realized how long my post was too...sorry! Seems I type like I talk! )

That was really nice of your friend to go the extra mile for the newlyweds. I hope the MIL got the parents to pay for the cake. I think those kids needed to go to the zoo and not for a visit!

I am so impressed with your friend on how she handled this! But my favorite part of the story was hearing how the MIL was screaming at the parents!

How sad for the bride, I would have been furious! You really have to look after your kids when you're at events like a wedding. I delivered a birthday cake today, and it was for a baby turning 1. I set up the cake and I here a laughing voice approaching. Not even two seconds after I placed the cake down the birthday boys sister who is around 3-4 years old digs her fingers into the cake. Luckily the mom was right there to see what her daughter had done. She just laughed and said she loves to stick her fingers into cake. They paid me and I left. I'm always cautious about kids around when I have cake in my hands, even my own. I guess kids will be kids, but adults should be adults and control their kids.

I realize that weddings are "family" affairs and kids are a part of the equation but I really struggle with small kids at very important events, especially if the parents are AWOL!! I made a wedding cake and kids were running around the cake and I didn't have any qualms about squashing their behavior when no parent is in site! Like Indy, I stay and cut the cakes, guarding them like a pit bull!! It was lucky for the bride that your friend was so well prepared and generous!!

Wow, your friend is a very nice lady. That's why parents should always learn how to tie knots.

Mike

I don't understand why people even have children. They don't take the time to teach manners at all and they certainly can't be bothered to actually WATCH their children. If you want something cuddly and cute, get a pet. This is a huge pet peeve of mine.

Your friend is definitely a classy lady. She handled the situation like a true pro. I hope that MIL kicked those people out of the reception. No free booze for them!

That poor, poor bride!

Your friend is one classy lady. What goes around comes around, and I am sure she has many blessings in her life!

Yes, what goes around definitely comes around, and she will be well rewarded for her caring and concern for this family.

Theresa

All I can say is your friend is a SAINT! Thankfully her part had been completed and she was in the clear, but sad just the same. All that work just to have it destroyed because the parents weren't being parents.

I was at a cake show earlier this year and there were two little kids picking each other up and swinging each other right next to the tables and the moms of the kids were standing there just yakking away paying no attention. Their gabfest was far more important than all the work these exhibitors put into their cakes. Grrrrrrrrrrrr....

Stupid people shouldn't breed.

My mom and I were at a mall and two kids (5 & 7) were throwing a complete fit. Parents just sat there and allowed this to happen. I looked at my mom and asked "Did we ever do that in public?" She replied "Do you think you would have survived this long if you had?"

All she ever had to do with all 6 kids is just look at us and we would stop instantly. I now have that look for my kids. They know if they act up we leave and they will be lucky if I don't put them under the car. Just kidding--sort of.

Your friend was a dear to help the bride and family out and I so would have demanded money from the drunk idiots immediately. If they didn't have the money right there I would have sold them to the circus. Tigers gotta eat and all lol.

That couple probably should have been asked to take their children elsewhere. I am one of those parents of a very hyper active 5 yr old but we work really hard to keep him under wraps - or just leave him with a sitter for something such as that. HOWEVER, when we take him anywhere there is a cake, he's pretty much an angel and doesn't even go near it. He swiped the basketweave off one of my cakes (at home) a couple of years ago and I had to call my husband home from work as it would have been a sin for me to punish him as angry as I was. From that point forward, he has a HIGH respect for all cakes....lol....at least we've got one thing under control!

Oh man! i can't believe the gull of some people... to not even apologise right off and offer to pay or anything??? ugh... people.

LMAO!
No kidding....some people.
I am just glad it was not my cake...I would have been a lot less classy for sure.

I can' never figure why kids that young need to be at a wedding/reception anyway. They are bored, don't know why they are there, and in so many cases act up and make things miserable for others.

When I told some friends my wedding was to be kid free I actually got shocked stares! Why? It is a grown-up party, not a Chuckie-Cheese.

I felt worst for the bride, to have her lovely cake ruined, and I hope the yelling we heard as we left ended with the non-caring parents paying up and heading out. It certainly sounded like they weren't going to get away with it!

I have many children and at a recent wedding I was asked why they were not with me.
Duh, because they are young, tired at this time of the day, it is a long party and this isn't about my cute kids...it's a special day for the couple. I never take them to places where their behavior would distract from the purpose of the event. Why make us both uncomfortable.

And any party serving alcohol is not an event where children should be present. That was their first mistake. One of them staying sober to rein in the children was there second mistake. There was a landslide of mistakes that followed.


Your friend has class and more patience than I can imagine. Kudos to her for calm under pressure.

mommachris

Here's one I will never forget. My nephew passed away 10 years ago when he was 10 years old. ANOTHER SIL brings her 2 small kids to the funeral. As soon as I saw them I wondered why she didn't get a sitter. Anyway they are running around and she keeps telling them to stop. Of course they are not listening. One of them runs into one of the flower arrangements and it topples over onto the next one and so on like a row of dominos, the last one SMASHES INTO THE COFFIN WHERE OUR NEPHEW IS LAID OUT!! Then she takes the kids outside to scold them. It was unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone was so upset!!

I just can't figure out some people, even relatives

ugh.. some people's parents just don't raise them with any sense, do they?

i think there is a HUGE difference in a 1 (or under) child (who may or may not be nursing) and a 3, 4 or even my 6 1/2 yr old. if they are able to run around like that, maybe the best place for them is not a funeral or a wedding. as a pp stated, weddings & funerals are NOT chuck-e-cheese. don't get me wrong, i adore my children (and most young children), i am a preschool teacher. but there is a time and a place for small ones. and if parents aren't going to have any control over their little ones and treat these events as if it's just another day at the park, they shouldn't bring them. i have NO qualms mentioning on an invite that a particular event or evening is "adults only".

btw, you friend is SUPER classy. she went way above and beyond what she needed to do. i hope that bride's day wasn't ruined by a couple of miniture hooligans!

Your friend in an angel.

While I completely agree that children should not be allowed at formal events unless thier parents can control them...many adults should not be either.

A friend of a friend showed up to the funeral of a very close family member drunk out of thier mind. Thank god I was too upset at the time to even notice (I was told later) because I would have had no problem being the one to escourt them out and telling them to never be seen at a family event of mine ever again.