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How much should I charge for this cake?

post #1 of 6
9/30/12 at 2:05pm
Thread Starter 
Hi Everyone!

A customer was wondering how much I would charge to recreate the following cake:
http://pinterest.com/pin/151996556145027001/

The customer said that she wanted the top tier to be real cake while the other 3 tiers can be dummy layers (I would just insert some cake on the bottom tier which they can slice during the reception). From the looks of it, it seems like the cascading flowers will take a great deal of time to make. I am a fairly new to wedding cakes so that means I will have to buy new supplies as well as fondant and gum-paste. I tried to calculate the cost of everything and it all added up to around $150 (if i purchase a big tub of satin ice and gum-paste). How much do you think I should charge for this cake??
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post #2 of 6
9/30/12 at 5:59pm
That's a WHOLE LOTTA FLOWERS! I don't know what formula you use to determine your prices, but I find $150 to be low. These are HAND-CRAFTED FLOWERS! A WHOLE LOTTA THEM! I'd go in the neighbourhood of $250. And PLEASE recreate exactly!
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post #3 of 6
9/30/12 at 6:27pm
$150 for the cake and not for the flowers I HOPE!!!!
For that type of cake, in my city, Chicago, it would not go below $400 minimum!!

This about it, you will probably stay 3-4 days to work an so many flowers. How much money do you make per hour if you are charging $150??
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post #4 of 6
9/30/12 at 6:31pm
There are at least 20-25 full large roses there and 30-40 hydrangeas. Those alone would be worth $150 in hourly wages. And remember just because the cakes are dummies, they aren't free. I've heard of people only lowering the price to 80% of their normal per serving price for dummy cakes.

I'm not exactly sure what sizes the tiers are, but you need to look at pricing it upwards of $500 imo.
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post #5 of 6
9/30/12 at 6:33pm
Yes, your calculation for supplies/ingredients is low. What you should be worried about is factoring all the DAYS that you will be working to make those flowers. You are looking at at least $250 in labor to make the roses only (that's a ridiculous amount of roses), then your supplies/ingredients, then the amount of time needed to cover all those dummy tiers in fondant. I'd say minimum $700. I really hope that you are super confident that you can execute this cake also, otherwise you are going to be the one paying the bride for a cake that you couldn't deliver on. Hope all turns out well.
Cake just happens....
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Cake just happens....
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post #6 of 6
9/30/12 at 7:41pm
How much do you normally charge per serving for wedding cakes? I'd say a minimum of $400 for BC -- double for fondant -- BEFORE adding the cost for flowers.
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