So maybe some of you can give words for cheering up.. But I had a wedding cake order that called and cancelled on me last night! I have a feeling the bride lied to me and for some reason I think it was because of what I was charging her. Let me explain what the cake was going to be and then you tell me: 2 tier white almond vanilla with dark chocolate espresso ganache filling, covered in white fondant serving 75 guests. The design was going to be hand cut gumpaste black damask design on front and back of cake, with black and white fantasy flowers as a cake topper. I was going to charge her $350 which was going to include: the cake, a small tasting of her selected flavor, delivery and set-up. I was just so dissapointed that my order got cancelled especially right now with times being so tough. Yes, this is my first cancel so it is a little disheartening. So really I just wanted to throw that out there and vent to my fellow cake goers. Thanks for any input.

You price doesn't sound out of line to me. Thats just under $5/serving. But as you said times are tough and they aren't just tough for you they are for most so people are looking to cut every where.

What i have come to do, is give options. Usually someone comes to me asking for the moon at a walmart price. Frankly i can't nor do i want to do that. So i do give them options. They may come in with a fondant covered cake with gumpaste flowers all over it. And i will give them the option of the picture as is, then maybe buttercream with gumpaste, buttercream with buttercream flowers (if i'm willing to do this option) and the option of just buttercream and them adding their own flowers.

This way they know what they can get and can make the decision themselves. I usually don't wait to give the options i do it right up front so that they can make the decision and they don't have to admit that they really didn't want to spend $500 on a cake.

Well....did she pay a deposit? Is it still several months out from the wedding date? If you hadn't gotten as far as a contract and deposit, don't sweat it. Someone else will come along. Sounds like it was going to be a beautiful cake!

I'm so sorry this happened to you, i pray you will have better luck next time.

Thanks everyone! And no, I had not gotten a deposit yet. And I agree that offering options would be a good idea for the future.

I too have had a few cancellations..It is frustrating especially since you want to count on the extra money.Keep your chin up...more will come along!!

Sounds like a great tasting, beautiful cake. Did she cancel it soon enough before you even started making the cake? Did you charge her a non refundable deposit?

In my understanding, you are saying that, you had a tasting, discussed the design then qouted her the price and she had a reservation--- which was eventually and planned to be cancelled because she never really liked the price in the first place.

In my opinion, I think a non refundable deposit can secure an order... because I'm pretty sure not a lot of people will give a deposit on a cake they are planning to cancel anyway.

Cheer up... people like that are going to come once in a while. Just don't fall for them. Make sure you have security on all orders before you even reserve an order.

This is what had happened.. She lives in another state but was getting married where I live and had heard of me so called to discuss her wedding cake. We spoke a few times and had the details worked out. I told her she needed to send 50% non-refundable deposit in order to secure her order details and then I never heard anything else from her. Two weeks went by after I had sent her 2 emails and 2 phone calls, then she called last night to cancel. That was about it in a nutshell. So thankfully I had not purchased anything yet, started making anything yet, nor had she received her tasting yet.

If you go with options, give them three options and 9.5 times out of 10, they'll pick the one in the middle, so make it the more attractive one. Price the middle one that is so much more in the offer, but not that much more money in the price.

Example: Cake for 100..... (A) $300 (B) $325 (C) $425

Of the three, the thought process will be "Wow, B is only $25 more than A, but C is $100 more!!"

"B" is the one I wanted them to buy. If they happen to pick C, then it's just extra money in my pocket.

I used this method when I sold life insurance and I was in the top 5 in sales within 2 months .... right alongside the 20 and 25 year guys!

Wow Indydebi... I like that a lot!! Thank you so much for the tip!! Being new to the whole pricing thing anyways always stresses me out, but I like your suggestion. I will definitely give a try next time around.

Since you say that the order was discussed and then she never sent the deposit, in fact you had to hound her for it, that maybe she never quite decided (in her mind) to go with you for sure. If you had not kept on top of her about the deposit (as you should have) I would bet this is one that would have just faded away. I think that she didn't really "cancel" so much as she let you know she had decided not to order with you in the first place. You can't win 'em all Don't let it get you down.

OK, I really don't do wedding cakes. I have done one and I have one more that I have agreed to do (it is for a "country girl" and the reception is in the garage) I don't like the stress they bring and cannot stand drama. That said, I would never agree to do any cake without the person standing in front of me so that there was no "misunderstandings". I am sorry this happened to you and I think in this economy, it will probably happen more often as people as shopping around more.

I had the same thing happen to me with a sweet 16 cake. A coworker wanted one for 60 people that her daughter that her daughter. I told her it was 2.50/sl adn 3.50/sl for fondant. And if she wanted a more elaborate it was extra due to the time. She said thats $150 and Im on a budget. I told her thats how much I charge, I needed to here from her by Mon (party on Sat) if she wanted me to do it. Sun she said she did but her daughter couldnt decide what she wanted. Again I told her I needed to know by Mon because I had other cakes to do and I had to plan. Didnt hear from her Mon, Did hear from her Thurs when she emailed me to say her husband got a great deal on cupcakes at Costco but I could make her one of my scrumptious cakes for her birthday. Luckily I didnt purchase anything because since I didnt hear from her so wasnt going to do the cake. But learned that it is important to seal the deal with a nonrefundable deposit. Funny thing is, someone came the following Sat to pick up the seashell birthday cake (in my photos) at work and she was in the hall and had to open the back door for me because my hands were full of cake, and she said WOW, thats amazing! I bet that took alot of work. I just smiled and thanked her for opening the door for me.

Well... Thank you all so much for the kind advice and supportive stories. I would much rather deal with fun celebration cakes then picky brides. But ya live and ya learn right? I did learn from this experience and will know for next time that offering options is a great idea, and 2ndly, meeting in person would definitely be better than wishy washy back and forth phone calls. I'm still a newbie to the business so thanks again to everyone!

I had my first customer cancel. it was actually a co-worker that wanted a cake for her sister. I had bought a topper(jeff gordan choc. race car for jeff gordon cake) for like $3. figured if she didn't like i could just eat it. she said it was good and asked if she could pay me for it. I said hold off and i'll add it into the price. Not a week later she said she had to cancel because her mother-in-law(who lives over 3hrs away) had bought a cake. I had a sneaky suspision she thought I was gonna do it for free and when she found out I was gonna charge, changed her mind. I can't prove it but it was a feeling i got. no sweat though, I made it passive-aggressive clear no more free cakes. unless I volunteer myself.

I know what ya mean.. My friends just "assume" because I do cakes that theirs will be free.. grrr.... Unless I volunteer to bring a cake then why in the world would it be free?! I don't charge them full price either so I think they should be happy... But I had a friend complain a few weeks ago when she wanted a 2d "happy tooth" made for her dentist with lots of stuff on it and I was only charging her $35 that was going to be split between her and her co-workers. Gees.... I swear they think we can snap our fingers and POOF!! Magically a cake appears lol.