Hi all!
I am a newbie to the business. Completed the courses thru Wilton, etc. I have had orders from friends, family, friends of friends and family etc.
Last weekend I took my wedding dress to a new consignment shoppe in my local town (Fredericksburg,VA) and while talking to the owner I mentioned my cakes.
I got a voice mail, text message and a Facebook message from her this weekend...(I was camping where there was NO signal) about a business offer.
She is as I said, A consignment shoppe.....she has a florist, photographer, etc on board to offer a PACKAGE deal to brides...and she wants to use me as her cake person.
She is asking what type of cake can be between $150-$250 with 3 options to offer.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any help is appreciated!
This would be a great boost to my business...as long as I am still making a profit.
Any input is appreciated!
Thanks, Di

Well, what kind of cake can you offer brides for $150 - $250? What is your price per serving?

Will the shop owner want a cut?

Will you be meeting with the brides or just being passed the orders to fulfill them? (I once knew someone who had a setup with a wedding chapel where the chapel owner simply sent my friend the order specifics for the cake, and my friend never actually met with the brides.)

Properly set up, this could be a good deal. But there's the rub, you need to set it up properly, and there's a lot more info that needs to be gathered.

I don't know what you normally charge or what prices are customary for your area, but if around $3.00 per serving is supported for somewhat simple cake designs you could consider offering something like this...

$150.00 for a 10" and 6" --serves 50 ($3.00 pp)
$200.00 for a 12" and 6" --serves 68 ($2.94 pp)
$250.00 for a 10", 8", and 6" --serves 74 ($3.38 pp--slightly higher for handling 3 tiers.)

First, they choose the size/price cake.
Next, they choose the cake flavor (white, chocolate, or yellow only, for example).
Last, they choose from three design options like...
a smooth-iced cake with one color of choice ribbon and flower(s),
or a rough-iced cake with one color of choice flower(s),
or a plain-iced cake with Swiss dots.

ALL cakes include buttercream only (no fondant option).

There are some similar photo examples of designs I'm talking about that Freed's Bakery offers on their "Bride on a Budget" line of cakes in Las Vegas (although their prices are higher).
http://www.freedsbakery.com/bride_on_a_budget
Check out "Magnolia Pink", "Painted Peonies", and "Swiss Dot".
(To be clear, I'm not saying to steal their photos, just to view some examples of what they consider fairly simple to help you decide what you might also find easy enough to include in your base-priced offerings.)

I have found that the less I connect with the actual bride, the more miscommunication that will occur. Long ago, for about a one month period I entered into a similar deal with a small wedding venue. I found that the venue staff was promising the bride the world, since they weren't making the cake. I was still locked into that budget price however. I didn't sign a contract, so I ended the agreement after a month (they wanted a $ cut too -- hmmph!).

And I know people hate bringing up licenses and legalities in these threads, but if you decide to do this and you don't have business insurance I would highly recommend it. If the bride doesn't get the cake she is expecting on her wedding day she is more than likely going to come back to you.