I live in Ohio and I got a call on Wed. from a woman in Kentucky that wanted to order a 3 tier wedding cake for Saturday. Okay, no problem. I asked her to email the picture of the cake that she wanted, which was pretty simple, no flowers just dots. I told her that she needed to email me the info and we needed to confirm everything by Thursday morning. I didnt hear from her again. So I thought maybe my price was to high or she just found someone else to do it. Well, she called me a few minutes ago and said she still wants the cake! I asked her to send me the picture and the exact location of her event so that I could give her an exact price. Im not sure I want to do this cake now. Would you? I will have to work most of the night to get all the fondant, BC, and cakes made.

Its a three tier square cake with fondant covering and hot pink and black circles on the tiers in fondant. And will be delivered about an hour and a half to two hours away. I originally told her 250.00. I know Im to cheap. But with it so last minute should I charge her more?

You are better than me. Unless I had the extra cakes on hand, I wouldn't do it; but if you have the free time and want to do it, I don't see why you shouldn't.

Yes, you should charge more for the last minute order. Just my thing, but I require any wedding cake be ordered at least 90 days in advance.

If you do, I suggest getting the cash up front as well. These spur of the moment things never turn out well.

Enjoy your day.

Cash in hand for the right price....I can be talked into just about anything.

You most definitely should have charged her more. The cake fee, the delivery fee AND a rush fee.

Not knocking you though because I think I undercharge sometime.

Also, make sure you get your money upfront or some type of deposit. I don't know how you can do this being she is an hour away, but, this will cover you in case she backs out.

HTH

If you have the time to get it done, then I would would. IF, she will make sure you are paid in advance. Most brides have to pay for their cake weeks in advance. I think I would charge her for a rush order and explain you are going to have to pull an all nighter due to the fact she did not respond in a timely manner. I would also make sure you get something in writing.

Yes,you should charge more.I live in a very rural area in Ky.I'm not sure were this lady is but here a 3 tier buttercream with modest trimmings cost $200 and up,with the exception of walmart the charge $150 but you have to pick that up yourself,no delivery.I am finding that this area seems to be about the cheapest to get a wedding cake too!If you don't mind my asking where is she located,maybe I can help you out a little more with the pricing.oh,and it is very hard to find anyone around here to do fondant,including myself,I just can't get it to taste right or look right to please myself so I just don't do those kind of cakes yet.I'm hoping to learn soon though.Let me know if I can help.

If it's last minute I'll charge a late fee, don't you feel bad to charge her more, she's not going to find a last minute fondant cake for that price anywhere in the world!
Now, your question about doing it or not, is up to you and how you work without sleep, I know I can do it because I'm not a morning person and I rather work at night but I won't do it for less than $400.00 and that's a bargain! Good luck

Definitely didn't charge enough. How many miles away is this place? How many servings of cake is this?

Being so last minute would warrant a PITA fee. I'm sorry, but your (the customer's) emergency does not mean that I have to run around for piddles. If I could do it, I might for the right price, but not for regular price. That's a LOT of work and a late late night for you.

People have NO freakin' clue what goes into a cake, and doing last minute jobs like this without letting them know (via a nice FAT price tag) what a complete pain in the ASS their orders are, we perpetuate the idea that cakes take no time to pull together.

Cash Only!

Cash in hand before you start baking, and you should be charging 500 at least for that cake. Especially since it is on 1 days notice.

You should not make this cake unless you have payment before hand.

4 to 5 hour round trip plus cake plus staying up all night. No thanks, not unless she has paid you in full.

I would also tell her it will cost extra as you will have to work all night.

I would have charged her more for delivery. If you want to be paid say $20 an hour, that is almost $100 not including petrol.

Thinking now about driving that long on little or no sleep is dangerous. Can you get someone else to drive. Then charge her for that time as well.

I fell for that okey doke two weeks ago. my coworker was renewing his vows and needed a 4 layer cake with ribbon and circles, fondant and buttercream. i too was only going to charge $250 (since he was a coworker, but I really need to get that CAKE BOSS software so I can stop cheating myself). I even drove to Memphis, TN (4 hours away) to purchase pans for this event. He came in to work on Tuesday saying he no longer needs it because the "lady at church" wants to make their cake as a gift to them. If that aint some bullcrap!!!!!

I mean, Amen and Hallejuah to the church lady for being so nice but I am out of $75 in gas and $60 in pan cost due to his lack of respect for the small business. This is the 2nd time he has canceled and had the nerve to say I will still need you next month for my son's tennis shoe cake!!!

Anywho, I say that to say this...If you are going to do a short notice cake, get confirmation in writing. But I would have to refuse her order or charge her more for such an extremely short notice order. She can always go get some cakes from Sams or Walmart!! If you start baking right now for only $250, you will only be mad at yourself.

Thanks for letting me vent and I hope all works out for you in the end. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

you need that cash in your hand before you bake or do anything. And you will need more than $200...I learned that lesson the hard way...ingredients alone could run you that, factor in your board, box, support...not to mention pounds of butter, dozens of eggs, and so on. I did a wedding cake not that long ago, I was doing it cheap, and when it was said and done, I made $10 for my weeks worth of work, I swore, never again. PS fondant bought or made ain't cheap either for the amount you will need. Oh, and don't forget gas $$$. Bottom line, make sure you aren't going in the red to do it and get pain in full in cash first. I learned my lessons the hard way, and I don't know about you, but my family can't afford the financial strain it put on us, not to mention all the time I missed with them to do it.

Just some food for thought.

Sarah

Since she isn't local, get your payment via PayPal before you bake a crumb! Like others have said - these last minute orders tend to be more trouble than they are worth.

Good Luck & I can't wait to see the pictures

I agree with all of the other posts.

I had a lady call me yesterday and told me she needed a cake for this Saturday, and wanted me to do her cake.

I just told her NO, to short of time to do the cake.

Good luck to you what ever way you decide to go.

Customers like that are very inconsiderate and make me cranky!

I would tell her no it is too late. If we keep making these last minute cakes for customers they will think it is ok to call at the last minute.

DO you think she called the dress maker at the last minute? Or the caterer. No, I am sure most people think a cake is sooo easy and takes a few hours to make.

What do they care about our stress levels or lack of sleep.

If you do make it I would charge her double.

I don't sell a lot of cakes but I think I'd charge $200 for the delivery and rush fee...nevermind the cost of the cake! You'd have to get started immediately and I'd be worried the cakes wouldn't have enough time to rest.

You are an angel. Have you sat down and wrote out the actual cost of ingredient that go into your cakes since everything has gone up so in the recent past. I did that a few weeks ago and a for a small 3 tier buttercream cake...I figured my from scratch cost was about $50. I had to deliever it about 50 miles one way so I charged my best friend at work $75 for my cost only. It probably took me about 4 hours decorating time not to mention power and baking time. I am just a kitchen baker for friends only but I would think a fondant cake would be much much more than that!! And yes definitely get the money up front!! At least don't leave the site without it!!

Okay, well i agreed to do the cake. I charged her 300.00 for a small 3 tier round. I told her it would be more to do the square that she originally wanted, just because I hate squares lol. I think it will take me 4 to 5 hours to make everything and decorate. I got my sister to come be my assistant. That always makes it go faster when i have a cleaning lady..lol. I did tell her that she has to pay in cash when I arrive or no cake! I thought of telling her she had to pay atleast a deposit via paypal or no cake , but stupid me I didnt. Im sure it will bite me in the rear. Ive just got a feeling about this.. and it aint good. I'll post pictures tomorrow. Wish me luck! and thanks for the advise!

Good luck...keep your sanity intact and all will be well.

Good luck to you sweetie and I hope it works out for you.

Hope you get it done quickly!

good luck, yes i would charge extra for the rush, and get a deposit ahead of time, i hope it works out okay for you, let us know.

When you deliver the cake, leave it in the car until you get paid. If you told her cash (can't remember - hope you did), then make sure it is cash. If she tries to pay with a check or does a song and dance then the cake stays in the car.
Hopefully she will not try and pull a fast one, but someone who calls this last minute, well, my fingers are crossed for you.

Well, I quit about an hour ago. I worked on it about 5 hours and still have about an hours worth of circles left to put on. Im not to happy with it right now. I said its time to step away and come back to it in the morning with fresh eyes, back, and feet.

I did tell her cash and I emailed her and will be calling in the morning to remind her again! My husband said if she trys any crap about the payment or the cake hes gonna throw it on the ground... and hes not easily bothered by people.

Well, Im off to bed. I will post pictures when Im finished in the morn.

Thanks for all the good wishes and helpful advice.

The cake delivery went great. No problems on 2 hour cake ride. I wasnt satisfied with the finished cake, which I always see the flaws, but the bride and her family loved it. They even gave me a 20.00 tip. Heres the picture.

Congratulations! I'm glad everything went well after all. I'm sure the cake is beautiful

You are a very brave woman! To have done that overnight and then been confident you will get paid cod-i would never do that. The cake turned out quite nice and no wonder everyone loved it...try getting a custom cake that soon elsewhere. Good job!