Concerned - No Cake Artists At Bridal Shows

Business By Pearl645 Updated 9 Nov 2012 , 2:34am by AZCouture

FromScratchSF Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratchSF Posted 20 Aug 2012 , 9:03pm
post #31 of 54

I even told one of the organizers after the event: You got people here and sold them expensive tickets because of the dress designer and the promise of cake. You got me here because I want to sell cake to the brides. I felt the way the #2 draw of their show was handled was NOT going to help me sell a single wedding cake - which means no cake vendor will sign up for their show in the future, including me.

I hope that didn't fall on deaf ears!

On another note that I guess is a positive - I got to taste some of my competetor's cakes. All do beautiful work so I had high hopes. Am shocked at what some of them tasted like. A few I literally spit out!

Apti Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Apti Posted 20 Aug 2012 , 9:10pm
post #32 of 54

FromScratchSF~~What an awful experience! I'm sure "livid" was a vast understatement.
--------------------------------
From a non-baker business perspective, I can't see any profit to be made from shows like this. (Cambo~~I'm glad you are the happy exception!!) Far too much information is being presented for any bride to make a meaningful contact for future work. (Information overload!)
Additionally, the show promoters are NOT there to promote your business, they are there to make money from the promoter business. The entire bridal show (or Quinceañera show) is geared toward profits for the promoters.

I would think that the same amount of money ($1800-$2500) would be far better invested in targeted marketing of the businesses in your local wedding community such as wedding planners, photographers, florists, venue management, etc. Those are the people who deal with brides on a daily basis and can most easily spread "word of mouth" referrals. Example of a client to florist: "Who makes really fabulous weddng cakes?"

(Chef Angie, I read your post just after I posted mine. This is exactly what I was talking about.)

I would assume that the best wedding planners may already have a relationship with bakers and other wedding vendors, but you can always do a successful sales pitch!

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 20 Aug 2012 , 10:12pm
post #33 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by FromScratchSF



On another note that I guess is a positive - I got to taste some of my competetor's cakes. All do beautiful work so I had high hopes. Am shocked at what some of them tasted like. A few I literally spit out!




This was my experience last week at the show I was at, too. I was horrified at what was passing for "good cake." Except their display cakes looked awful, too.

vgcea Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
vgcea Posted 21 Aug 2012 , 4:36am
post #34 of 54

FromScratchSF I'm so sorry you had such a crappy experience. I am surprised the event was that disorganized. I thought with it being high brow and all, the guests would be better behaved. SMH.

It's good that you reached out to the vendors. At least when they talk to their clients they'll have good things to say about you.

I'm wondering if anybody has tried a hybrid between a bridal show and a tasting event. Where both potential clients and a small number of vendors are invited. The vendors get the opportunity to market their products/services (and try the cakes) while potential clients get the benefit of a tasting, and a mini bridal show. The cake decorator could share the costs with the vendors.

This is just an idea, and I bet it's been done before. Not sure what the logistics would be though.

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 21 Aug 2012 , 11:10am
post #35 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by vgcea

FromScratchSF I'm so sorry you had such a crappy experience. I am surprised the event was that disorganized. I thought with it being high brow and all, the guests would be better behaved. SMH.

It's good that you reached out to the vendors. At least when they talk to their clients they'll have good things to say about you.

I'm wondering if anybody has tried a hybrid between a bridal show and a tasting event. Where both potential clients and a small number of vendors are invited. The vendors get the opportunity to market their products/services (and try the cakes) while potential clients get the benefit of a tasting, and a mini bridal show. The cake decorator could share the costs with the vendors.

This is just an idea, and I bet it's been done before. Not sure what the logistics would be though.





I've done things like this before, and they're just as useless as larger shows.

vgcea Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
vgcea Posted 9 Sep 2012 , 10:06pm
post #36 of 54

LOL! Thanks for the candor costumeczar. For some reason I never got a notification, actually had to search for the topic. Good lawd, so what does work?

cakesdivine Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cakesdivine Posted 10 Sep 2012 , 3:42am
post #37 of 54

I have done 5 or 6 bridal shows over the past 6 years, I have had only one bride book me from one, eventhough I won best tasting cake at each and every one I attended, and my cakes are beautiful. The attendees generally are a year or more out from their events, and by the time they are ready to order they have forgotten who was who. The bride who did order from me, booked 2 years after the bridal show she went to, she found me again by accident. I opened my cupcake shop and she recognized me (mainly because of my mint green chef coat with my Cakes Divine logo) when she came in to get a cupcake. She didn't realize that Cupcakes Divine, and Cakes Divine were the same when she came in. She was happy she found me because she said she lost my card from 2 years ago but remembered she loved my cake. But one order after paying a few thousand in booth fees, decor, literature, and all the free samples is not a good return. The last one I did I paid a $400 booth fee, made 750 mini cupcakes, literature, and decor for the booth. We were told to expect at least 1000 brides. There were barely over 20 brides who attended and most had no idea of a date of when they would be getting married and the few who did have a date were a year or more out. That last one was just that for me...I will NEVER do another bridal fair ever again. They just aren't worth the cost.

costumeczar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
costumeczar Posted 10 Sep 2012 , 10:43am
post #38 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by cakesdivine

The attendees generally are a year or more out from their events, and by the time they are ready to order they have forgotten who was who. .




Heck, they forget who was who after they go home that night! I've talked to brides about this, and they say that they're so overwhelmed after a big show they take the bag of business cards and toss it in the corner when they get home, and then they never look at it again.

I think I mentioned this before, but I've had people call me and insist that they met me at this or that show, and even when I tell them I wasn't there they still insist that I was. Okay, whatever.

Evoir Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Evoir Posted 10 Sep 2012 , 12:30pm
post #39 of 54

I feel like I already posted this - must've been another similar thread. I have done one show, in my second year of business, when I was shifting focus to making more wedding cakes. I went, in typical OTT perfectionist manner, all out creating a beautiful booth, in my business colours, with 4 different display cakes and a cupcake tower, plus display and sample cookies. Ordered in new cards and leaflets.

For samples, I have 5 varieties of cake in thin finger servings I had precut. I was plating portions (with napkins and sporks) as I spoke to clients, and had my daughter luring in the crowds, offering plates when we were slowing down.

I booked about 6 cakes from the show, which was amazing considering there were around half the numbers there than anticipated. Since then, I have not advertised anywhere besides the phone directory (online and hard copy), plus my website. I get all my business through referrals. I WILL NOT ever do another bridal show!

In a similar vein to what costume czar said, I have brides saying they met me at a recent show, and furthermore, every time there is a big bridal show on in my town (currently the spring shows are on) my phone/email is inundated with flow-on enquiries.

What I hated about the show I did:
1. The organizer looked like a sloth instead of a well groomed professional. She was wearing jeans and an old stained polo shirt. During the show she was sitting on the edge of a display table set up as a wedding table, fully decorated, like some overgrown kid swinging her legs, as she was hollering at the attendees into her microphone. Ugh.
2. Awful wedding vendors also exhibiting. There were two other cakers there. My cake samples were the most generous, and had the most variety and tasted way better than the others. This meant I had other vendors STEALING plates of cake from my table when I turned away briefly, and even right from under my nose without so much as a "hello" from the offender. After the show, one particular woman (DJ business) who had fed my cake to all 6 or 7 of her attending family during the show, and her partner came up to me and asked if I had had any banana cake samples left as they "hadn't tasted those". I said "I think you've had enough"...and turned on my heel. The hide of people!!
3. The amount of preparation is insane for cake decorators! And adding in the cost of a booth, plus everything else, while NOT booking cakes for the weekend of the show makes it almost prohibitive unless you are a big cakery.

In my town, the two biggest bridal shows are run by organizations who have a local wedding directory. So you need to first sign up with the directory (min. spend of $500 pa), and then you can buy your booth, IF they still need cake businesses represented.

For me, it's just too much outlay, and not enough ROI. I really don't need to chase for clients that hard.

Ursula40 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Ursula40 Posted 10 Sep 2012 , 1:09pm
post #40 of 54

I think, unless you are willing to take a loss, these bridal shows nowadays, and in my case "exhibitions" are not something that will bring in a lot of revenue. I was just asked whether I would participate in an exhibtion for a typical European christmas basar, in a location of potential 50,000 people for the period of 20th Dec- 1st of Jan. In other words, pay for a booth (expensice here in Shanghai), have samples, give aways and all the promo material out of my pocket. All they do is rent me space, deco is mine, time is mine and all other expenses as well, cause even if I offer cookie or cupcake decoration, that would have been out of my ppocket, they wanted someone to take care of the kids, and the only one earning something would be them. Had they offered to pay me, hell yeah, but I won't pay them to let me work for free and all expenses would be mine as well. And 50,000 wanting free samples???? NO WAY!!!

And why on earth would they have a christmas exhibition until the 1st of January????

KoryAK Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
KoryAK Posted 10 Sep 2012 , 6:09pm
post #41 of 54

I have had such a different experience than the rest of you guys! There are 2 main shows here per year that I do. There are a few others that I have done in past years but decided were too small and don't do anymore. One of them was just yesterday. We put all of our samples (3 different flavors, all filled) in 2oz portion cups, drag in the dummies from our shop, and Command Strip a few large pictures from the shop to the walls around our booth. I bring my laptop and run the slideshow from my website as well as having our photo books onsite. I do a drawing for a gift certificate as that will get people to stop by the table and spend a moment for sure.

In a 5 hour show that cost about $300 (booth fee only) I got about 18 names of brides who would like to set up consultations now. I will call all of them over the next few days. Probably 12 will actually book consults and 6 will book their cakes then. I will typically get another 3-4 cakes booked over the year where brides will cite that show as where they heard of me. Since our average wedding cake is over $700 and I'm also getting samples in the hands of the other vendors and the non-brides there who will need random cakes throughout the year - I think they are a damn good investment of my time icon_smile.gif

In my area, when I see that a cake person isn't doing shows, I figure they are on their way out.

sweetlayers Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
sweetlayers Posted 15 Sep 2012 , 1:57am
post #42 of 54

The tricky thing about the bridal show outside of money, time and samples it costs you, is the follow up process when the event is over.

I did a bridal show once and the turn out to the show was great. I got a lot of compliments on my booth but I didn't get anyone to sign up for a wedding cake during the event.

I had to use that bridal show as a place to advertise a more in-depth cake tasting and showing with just me and my company. It was a follow up show.

The follow up event was much better because the people that came were serious about a wedding cake.

I signed 7 clients at the follow up event. That was the good news.

The bad news is, when it was all said and done, I think I only broke even because my contracted prices ended up being too low.

Sigh... You live. You learn.

JohnnyCakes1966 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JohnnyCakes1966 Posted 15 Sep 2012 , 2:59am
post #43 of 54

No more shows for me, either. But for those who want to do them, I highly recommend that YOU get the names and contact info of the brides who stop by your booth. That way, you can call them to set up a private tasting, etc, after the show. If the wedding is in a year, put it on your calendar to call them in a few months. Handing them a card and hoping they'll call you gives you absolutely no control of the sale.

Someone else suggested hosting a tasting for wedding planners in hopes of becoming their preferred caker. I think that's a better idea, but be careful because some of them will want you to sign crazy contracts that basically leave you with no profit and lots of work!

What has worked for me is, I've "partnered" with a local florist and a photographer...both of whom are amazing and appeal to the same clientele as I do. When one of us is contacted for a wedding, we always refer the others. Doesn't mean we all get the gig...some brides pick me for cake but go with a different florist, for example....but it has worked out well for all 3 of us in at least getting people to consider us.

de_montsoreau Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
de_montsoreau Posted 15 Sep 2012 , 9:40am
post #44 of 54

As I am in Germany my experience is not that relatable to the US but over here, especially in my densly populated, affluent area, wedding fairs (as we call them over here) are extremly popular and the 2 big ones I attend (albeit expensive, the booths I book are close to 1.000 $ each) are the only marketing I need to do each year. During wedding season I am completely booked and I turn away orders almost daily. 75% of the bookings are related to the fairs. As we Germans are such organised people icon_wink.gif) most brides plan their weddings meticiously with folders and binders where they organize all their ideas, vendors, business cards etc. I had brides contacting me almost 2 years after the show where they saw my booth!
My booth is usually elegant and simple with 5 dummies as the main focus and 2 high tables with photobooks and some promo material on them. I give out mini cupcakes as samples (just 1 flavor), but I control who I offer them to. Sometimes people try to grab one behind my back without asking which really pisses me off! I am usually not very nice to them - people like that are not my customers anyway.
Also, the good fairs are usually over 2 days with quite different crowds on Saturday and Sunday. They are very exhausting but I love them! And, as some have mentioned already, networking with other vendors and especially venues is quite important as well!

My next fair is in early November and I am already planning my dummies!

sleepy20520 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
sleepy20520 Posted 22 Sep 2012 , 5:30am
post #45 of 54

I have to say i was VERY scared to do a bridal show but in Jan of this year we signed up for one. Now the city i live in is about 30-45 min outside of a LARGE city (KC) and in KC they have the really expensive shows with a TON of vendors (including cake people) and their lowest cost is $1,000/booth. We definitely werent doing those shows...no point. So we looked around our city which is considerably smaller than KC and a college town lol. Anyways they have 3 bridal shows here a year and the most expensive was $300/booth... and the leas $150. Needless to say we signed up. Now we try to ask all of our customers how they heard about us... with that being said...The first one we did we only put fliers in the bags and did not attend. We got zero business from that. Waste of about $150 (flier cost plus $50 to put in bags).
The 2nd show we attended, cost us $300/booth and being our first show was alot of work and even more cost for signs, displays, etc. But, it was a HUGE success. We ran out of cake samples halfway thru and we brought ALOT! We booked 11 wedding cakes and got a ton of referrals from those brides.....plus met alot of local vendors.
After that show we decided since we already had all the displays,etc why not do another show. So we signed up for the next one (another $300) and this one was not nearly as successful. We did book i think 3 or 4 cakes and def got our name out there for other orders but i think overall this bridal show was just not as good. Plus we were in an akward spot you could hardly see lol....

Now we are actually going to be in the cheaper $150 show in a month....so we will see how that goes *fingers crossed* icon_razz.gif

I can honestly say our BIGGEST advertising has been referrals.... over google (and we are high on the search engine-FINALLY), ads, etc... referrals referrals referrals. Friends on facebook, meeting other vendors, take them some cupcakes, etc...they love it!

EdieP Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
EdieP Posted 23 Sep 2012 , 2:57am
post #46 of 54

We did a venue open house a couple of weeks ago. We were promised 200 brides and barely got 50. We lost a lot of product and did not even get a booking from it. We will not be doing a bridal show again..we are too busy from all the referrals we receive..and that is free

KAMI_Cakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
KAMI_Cakes Posted 24 Oct 2012 , 1:13am
post #47 of 54

I just read through this whole thread and I am scared! I was a homebaker for two years and opened up my shop this past June. We are well known for our celebration cakes but have yet to really touch on the wedding market in our are. I saw an advertisement for an expo coming up and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get our name out there. The show is next week. We shelled out $1200 for just the booth alone, never mind my new dummies, cost for samples, and blocking off the weekend from other orders.
After reading all of this, I am so afraid I may have wasted capital. If anyone has any advice on how I could break even or make it as much of a success as I can, it would be very appreciated!

FromScratchSF Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratchSF Posted 24 Oct 2012 , 3:42am
post #48 of 54

Nothing that hasn't probably been posted on this thread! Good luck!

KAMI_Cakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
KAMI_Cakes Posted 24 Oct 2012 , 4:13pm
post #49 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by FromScratchSF

Nothing that hasn't probably been posted on this thread! Good luck!




Thank you!!! I should've returned to Cake Central long before I decided to put money into that. However, I have to make the best of it. So hopefully I will have some good news to report next week.

mburkett Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
mburkett Posted 24 Oct 2012 , 5:26pm
post #50 of 54

I'm fairly new on the biz end of caking. While I'm doing OK, I really want to expand my biz. Wedding is my next step, I just don't have that much experience with them yet. I had two brides cancel their booked weddings (one because the groom went prison so I'm sure it was a blessing in disguise) and the other decided to elope because they can't afford a wedding. Oh well....moving on.

Anyway...I thought about doing the little local city sponsored show but didn't. Turns out no cake vendor showed up. So I thought about another larger one. I knew only one one "finger dessert" vendor would be there. I went to the show to check it out and thought maybe I'd missed an opportunity. The show promoter was going to give me a pretty good discount because he had no cake vendor and it was less than one weeks' notice. This particular promoter gives a discount to cake vendors (about $200) since we have the extra expense of the cake samples.

I've been thinking of two upcoming shows (one in Nov and the other in Jan) but I'm scared to death....especially now after seeing this thread. I need to get my name out there and start building the business. I know eventually referrals will come but until then, I need to get in front of more brides. These two upcoming shows though have very experienced cake vendors already lined up. I'm just bummed I didn't take advantage of the other two shows where NOT ONE cake was on display.

I'm curious to see how Kami Cakes does. You'll have to let us know.

KAMI_Cakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
KAMI_Cakes Posted 8 Nov 2012 , 3:59pm
post #51 of 54

Hi all!

I just wanted to update you guys on how our bridal show went. A little over 400 brides were in attendance and about 2000 in total including friends and family. Going into the show, I was so nervous specially after reading this whole thread. But I enjoyed it! Yes it was a lot of work but what made it feasible for me is that I had help.

Recap of the show:

 

We had a total of 7 display cakes + display cupcakes & french macarons for all those interested in dessert tables. As far as samples, I baked 3 really thin layers of sheet cake (three different flavors: Red Velvet w/ Cream Cheese, Vanilla w/ Oreo SMBC, and Chocolate Fudge with Choco PB Ganache), iced them with a thin layer of frosting, cut them up in 1x1 pieces, and boxed them in 1.5 oz souffle cups w/ lids. My parents and brother helped me do this 2 hrs prior to the show so everything was really fresh. In the meantime, my husband was loading up the vehicles. 

 

At the show, I had a friend of mine who has a background in sales help me speak with brides. She was also responsible for taking down people's info. My mom passed out the samples which were all gone half way through the show. So many people kept coming back telling us they were told we were the ones to check out. Brides were lining up to speak with me. Being new in the business and all and this being my first show, I was completely overwhelmed by people's responses to my samples and cakes. I always find that I am my worst critic. I always second guess myself whether or not things taste and look good. It was very gratifying and humbling to get those responses from that many people. 

 

Anyway, I ended up scheduling 5 consultations that day which seem to be pretty solid. We didn't raffle off anything or do any other giveaways. So from my experience, the money and time was worth the exposure. :)

 

 

 

 

 

KAMI_Cakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
KAMI_Cakes Posted 8 Nov 2012 , 4:00pm
post #52 of 54

I dont think I uploaded the photo right.

 700

Elcee Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Elcee Posted 9 Nov 2012 , 1:37am
post #53 of 54

KAMI_cakes, thanks for posting your positive experience. I recently signed on to do a show in April. I've weighed the pros and cons and have decided to do it. Like you, I'll have plenty of help and I've allowed myself plenty of time to get ready. I went and scoped out a recent show (by the same planners) and a very successful and well-known local cake decorator was there; I figure if she is doing a show, it can't be all bad. I really want to focus on wedding cakes and feel like doing a show will get the "word-of-mouth" ball rolling.

 

Your booth looks great and your display cakes are beautiful! I like your idea of adding some desserts. Maybe I'll do a dessert table, too.

 

Thanks again for posting!

AZCouture Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
AZCouture Posted 9 Nov 2012 , 2:34am
post #54 of 54

I think everyone should do it at least once. You can say you did it. In some markets. it's just not necessary, and others I don't think you can afford *not* to be at them. They did away with the only worthwhile one held here, (that I loved going to) because the city decided they needed to jump into the events business, and it was too close in dates. What a cheesy show it is. I won't go. It's loud, and geared mostly towards Quince's which mean one thing. Big cakes wanted for cheap and either zebra printed or washed in Pepto Bismol pink. Blargh.

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%