I am sure some of you will have your jaws drop open by what I just said to a client, but I tell you what, it felt awesome. Also, this wedding has solidified my decision to not do weddings anymore. For some reason, people think this gives them license to treat others terribly.
So today I made the wedding cake for the lady who gave me all the problems with the gluten free cake. Everyone kind of thought she was more trouble than she was worth, but I did the order anyway. Also, to summarize, I never met them in person. This was all over the phone and email-no tastings, etc.
I show up at the reception hall and there was a woman there screaming on the phone. They are mad about the flowers, and are being extremely abusive. I kind of bristle, put the bottom tier of my cake down, and go back to get the next layer. When I come back, she is now screaming at someone in the room, who had just put up some pretty gauze around the room with twinkle lights. It was beautiful, just gorgeous, but they were telling him it looked horrible, that he had done a terrible job, that he needed to fix it NOW. The man was pretty flabbergasted, and was trying hard to make her happy.
I get to work on my cake, and they make their rounds over to me. They are angry about the color. In my defense, they told me they wanted "red". That was it, just red. She never sent a swatch. So, I dyed my fondant Super Red, and then dusted it with Super Pearl to make it look like ribbon. It cut the brightness from it, but was still red. The color of the flowers was a dark, deep, almost black red. But like I said, they hadn't told me this or sent a swatch.
The grandma of the Bride was there, and started screaming at me. Telling me it wasn't red, and I told her I had dyed the fondant red, but it just wasn't super bright because I dusted it with shimmer powder. She was furious, told me the whole cake looked like crap, that it was ridiculous. She then started going to other people in the room saying "She didn't order a cake to look like this!" and "What color is this?" Someone remarked that it matched the color of one of the flowers in the arrangements, and she said "Well, I guess that is the only positive thing about it."
She was standing next to my table while I was working, and continued to bring people in, show them the cake, and tell them it was hideous.
It was ugly, I did a terrible job, I was a HORRIBLE decorator.
Finally, I can't believe I said this, but I put my piping back down and said
"Do you even want this cake?"
And she stared at me and I said "Because if you are so unhappy with it, maybe I should just take it with me."
She said "Well what are we supposed to do?"
I said "You can go down the street and pick one up at Albertson's. You guys didn't give me a fabric swatch to match, you just said red. And this is red. I'm not a mind reader, and the way you are speaking to me is very disrespectful."
She paused for a minute, and then said "No, we want it."
So I said "Well, you need to leave me alone then and let me do my work. Otherwise I will be taking this cake with me, and I will send you a refund minus the deposit."
Hmph! After that, the guy who was hanging the gauze told the grandma she had to leave, because we were working hard and she was distracting. She didn't leave, but did come up to me and compliment me on my armadillo.
When I was leaving, the man with the gauze was waiting outside for me, and told me this woman had been a nightmare from day one. He said he had never been treated so badly EVER, and patted me on the back for telling her to back off.
I hope this didn't get me into more trouble, but I tell you what, it felt awesome!!!
Here are the two pics. The red is a little off in the photo, but I promise it WAS red (DH vouched for it when we saw it, and even commented on the red bows. The white fondant here in the pic even looks yellow). And also my adorable armadillo.
So today I made the wedding cake for the lady who gave me all the problems with the gluten free cake. Everyone kind of thought she was more trouble than she was worth, but I did the order anyway. Also, to summarize, I never met them in person. This was all over the phone and email-no tastings, etc.
I show up at the reception hall and there was a woman there screaming on the phone. They are mad about the flowers, and are being extremely abusive. I kind of bristle, put the bottom tier of my cake down, and go back to get the next layer. When I come back, she is now screaming at someone in the room, who had just put up some pretty gauze around the room with twinkle lights. It was beautiful, just gorgeous, but they were telling him it looked horrible, that he had done a terrible job, that he needed to fix it NOW. The man was pretty flabbergasted, and was trying hard to make her happy.
I get to work on my cake, and they make their rounds over to me. They are angry about the color. In my defense, they told me they wanted "red". That was it, just red. She never sent a swatch. So, I dyed my fondant Super Red, and then dusted it with Super Pearl to make it look like ribbon. It cut the brightness from it, but was still red. The color of the flowers was a dark, deep, almost black red. But like I said, they hadn't told me this or sent a swatch.
The grandma of the Bride was there, and started screaming at me. Telling me it wasn't red, and I told her I had dyed the fondant red, but it just wasn't super bright because I dusted it with shimmer powder. She was furious, told me the whole cake looked like crap, that it was ridiculous. She then started going to other people in the room saying "She didn't order a cake to look like this!" and "What color is this?" Someone remarked that it matched the color of one of the flowers in the arrangements, and she said "Well, I guess that is the only positive thing about it."
She was standing next to my table while I was working, and continued to bring people in, show them the cake, and tell them it was hideous.
It was ugly, I did a terrible job, I was a HORRIBLE decorator.Finally, I can't believe I said this, but I put my piping back down and said
"Do you even want this cake?"
And she stared at me and I said "Because if you are so unhappy with it, maybe I should just take it with me."
She said "Well what are we supposed to do?"
I said "You can go down the street and pick one up at Albertson's. You guys didn't give me a fabric swatch to match, you just said red. And this is red. I'm not a mind reader, and the way you are speaking to me is very disrespectful."
She paused for a minute, and then said "No, we want it."
So I said "Well, you need to leave me alone then and let me do my work. Otherwise I will be taking this cake with me, and I will send you a refund minus the deposit."
Hmph! After that, the guy who was hanging the gauze told the grandma she had to leave, because we were working hard and she was distracting. She didn't leave, but did come up to me and compliment me on my armadillo.
When I was leaving, the man with the gauze was waiting outside for me, and told me this woman had been a nightmare from day one. He said he had never been treated so badly EVER, and patted me on the back for telling her to back off.
I hope this didn't get me into more trouble, but I tell you what, it felt awesome!!!
Here are the two pics. The red is a little off in the photo, but I promise it WAS red (DH vouched for it when we saw it, and even commented on the red bows. The white fondant here in the pic even looks yellow). And also my adorable armadillo.
