I am little fustrated. This is my 1st wedding and I did a contract . In the contract I specifically stated that payment was due on October 2nd. The wedding is October 9th. The birde told me she would send it this week in an email well since the week is almost over I called her today and she told me that she could send it to me today. I told her that she could complete her payment via google checkout . Well half the day has passed and I

Checked my account still no payment. She paid half of the balance in a timely manner but she is delaying this payment. I don't want to be rude.

This is a semi profile wedding and I will make alot of contacts. Should I proceed with delivery ? I don't know. I am trying to be patient but my patience is running thin.

I would tell her that unless full payment is received by the end of the day that you can no longer progress as she has voided the terms of the contract already. I honestly think people think you just pull a three tier cake out of your butt last minute so they can dilly dally around, sheeesh!

My policy is 25% non refundable deposit at time of order. Final payment dues 3 weeks before event. No payment, no cake. period. I won't start a cake without that final payment. Luckily, I've never had a problem.

Thank you ladies for the advice.

If you tell her there will be no cake if you don't have CASH by tomorrow, I assure you that she will be there with the money. This happened to me too, and as soon as you tell her that she's voided the contract and there won't be a cake, she'll perk right up and pay attention.

Just to add that more than once I've had to contact a bride with the communication of "I need to receive the payment by 5:00 today or (name of my company) will not show up at your event." I then referred them to section number of the contract which states these terms.

Thank you for all of your help. This is why I like this forum so much because everyone is so helpful and truthful. I sent her a letter and with a deadline and I was paid minutes later .

nikkig192, Congratulations on your first wedding! How exciting for you. And I'm really glad you got the help you needed AND the payment in full. I hope you get some referrals from this event. Can you please post a photo of your cake on this thread so we may all share in your success?

To the other pros who've done a lot of weddings, just curious, how often does this happen that a bride doesn't pay on time and have to be forcibly reminded? Do they get huffy or are they just overwhelmed with the wedding in general and forget?

How many times has anyone NOT delivered a cake if they didn't pay?

wow, that's really putting you in a rough spot!
in the future, you might want to back up when your final payment is due, since cakes can take quite a while to make and put together. two weeks before should be good to allow you time to plan, and if the payment is a day or two late you still have time. not that it's okay if a payment is late, but if it is, backing up your due date will give you a little wiggle room.

Mine is due three weeks out, since that's when most of the caterers and venues around here want a final guest count. At that point the bride should know if she'll need to adjust the size of the cake, which would affect the balance. It also gives me time to deposit checks and let them either clear or not clear at the bank. It can take banks a while to let you know if you deposited a bad cehck, so if you have everything due one week before you could be in trouble.

It doesn't happen too often that bride will just not pay you. I've had to chase people down for payment, but if you have a decent lead time and you keep an eye on what's due and who's payments are late, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.