Cake Flavor Tags For A Bridal Expo
Decorating By I_AM_PAM_10 Updated 3 Jun 2014 , 6:37pm by petitecat
Hi. I plan to use cake flavor tags on my cake table at a bridal expo. What do you guys put on the tags? Just the title of the cake, filling, frosting and add allergen possibilities? Do you describe the cakes, such as WASC - Rich, moist, dense, white cake? Thanks for your input.
When I did this I just put the flavor of the cake and the filling in it. At that time there was little hubbub about allergies but I did have one person not take a sample because the cake had wine. They came back later when I had a different flavor out and ended up booking me for a nice, lg cake :)
When I do mine, they are packaged in a 2oz portion cup with lid and a label that has me logo, website, and cake and filling flavors. At a show, you are standing there talking to people so they can just ask if they want more info. And if they have allergies and eat random food WITHOUT asking, that's on them.
I plan to use the 2 oz containers for my tasting at the expo, but how do you get all that info on a 2 oz lid? Thanks, all!!
P.S. This is my first show. I'm really nervous!!
I use the Avery 8195 labels. They are 2/3"x1 3/4" and come in a pack of 1500 for about $13. You can download their templates online and enter the info in Word. I just checked mine and it's a 7pt font for the phone number and web addy (on the left under my logo) and a 13pt bold font on the right with the name of the cake. Just a few words though, "wedding white" "chocolate fudge" etc.
How many flavors do you typically offer at an expo? I'm thinking of doing a bridal show either this winter or next summer. How many cakes on display do you have and do you have any tips on setting up your table?
Sorry so many questions!! Can you tell I nervous???
ACupADeeCakes.blogspot.com She's a CC member and has several articles on Bridal Shows, really helped me with my first one!
I made 3 sheet cakes and used portion cups with those cute mini bamboo sporks. I used labels in mini photo frames but my next one I'll use labels with my business name. I had pamphlets and cards. I rented a huge booth though so I had a lot of display cakes. It's a long day but I looked at it as an investment and with two orders I made all my money back (well some of the display cakes were already made) but booth rental, ingredients, and supplies. I was in a fairly small town too and the next day the person who organized everything gave me a list with all the brides names, addresses, phones numbers, and wedding dates. I sent out Thank You's to everyone from that list along with cards (I figured they didn't all stop at my booth). I also had a little box on my table, I did a drawing for several small gift certificates-I didn't realize I would get that list but I imagine it's standard.
I was glad I did the portion cups though. There were two other decorators there, one was cutting cake the entire time and the other one acted like she didn't want to be there-this woman smiled at no one! I dropped samples off and introduced myself to some of the other vendors anything to get my name out there. A lot of these are suggestions I originally read from Dee's website, she's got tons of good tips.
How many flavors do you typically offer at an expo? I'm thinking of doing a bridal show either this winter or next summer. How many cakes on display do you have and do you have any tips on setting up your table?
Sorry so many questions!! Can you tell I nervous???
Hi, sixinarow, I did a bridal show last April and I have really mixed feelings about it. First, though, to answer your question...I offered 3 flavors in little covered 2 ounce cups. Each cup had a little square of cake and a squirt of buttercream.
There's pictures of my set up on my Facebook page. I only had 5 display cakes but my booth looked really nice. I had 2 helpers. We had baskets that we kept filled with the samples and I was in front of the booth the whole time, talking to people and handing out the samples. Also gave them a cute little tasting fork and a napkin.
The good: I love planning those types of things so that was fun. I got TONS of positive feedback from other vendors, brides, even the show promoters. They loved my booth, my aesthetic, how we were dressed (me in a chef coat, my assistants in matching aprons, all of us in black pants), how friendly and interactive we were, my display cakes, how my samples were packaged, how my cakes tasted, etc. I left there on cloud 9! 
I have booked 2 weddings and have another consult coming up as a result of contacts made there.
The bad: $$$$$ Doing an expo is expensive! Not only do you need to pay for your booth space, you need the samples, plenty of business cards, brochures, tasting forks, covered cups and napkins, the cost of your dummies and decorating them, booth decor, signage, attire and I paid my assistants. Of the first 5 consults I scheduled from the show, they all cancelled at the last minute or were no-shows (yes, I was left sitting at Panera with all my cake stuff). You can't really trust the promoters...I was promised they only book 2 of each kind of vendor so there would be just one other cake company there. Not so, there were 2 other cakers and when I asked about I was told that one of them does CUPCAKES so doesn't count as a cake decorator 
. Um, not in my book.
Would I do it again? I'm still undecided...
Thank you so much for all the info ladies! I'm a little on the fence as to if this is something I want to do, but I can also see it helping me break into the wedding biz if I do a good job. It totally freaks me out thinking of all the prep that goes into it, but I have months to prepare and get everything in order.
If you could have done something different, what would you go back and re-do?
Let's see...something I did that I wouldn't do again: I ran a "special" of sorts. If the wedding couple booked a consultation while at the show and then booked a cake, they would get free delivery. It was too much on top of everything else. Plus, even though I confirmed with all of them ahead of their appointments, those were the ones who cancelled or didn't show.
Something I'm glad I didn't do: donate for the door prizes. It was so loud you could barely hear which vendor names they were reading/promoting.
Something I was REALLY glad I did and would do again: even though I didn't have a lot of display cakes, they were absolutely pristine. The other cake decorator had a lot of display cakes but they were getting old and tired looking. Dusty, chipped, etc. The cupcaker's sample cupcakes had peeling liners which I'm sure was unappealing to potential brides. That being said, in a way I was lucky in that because I know there are better decorators here in my area 
.
I guess I should have come back in here after the expo to let folks know how it went. It's been over a year now. So sorry, especially after all the good advice. Shame on me!!
We got to the expo and were shoved to a back room, not the main room. I was disappointed...at first...then was thrilled!! It was so loud in the main room that when I visited other booths, I couldn't hear anything anyone told me. There was another cake decorator in the main room. Her display cakes were dry and chipped. She had no idea who I was, but when I walked up to talk to her, she just continued talking to her helper, offered no hello or advice. I saw nothing anywhere that identified who they were. They offered mini cupcakes that were D.R.Y!
My hubs and I set up our table. I had 2 dummy wedding cake displays and a real bridal shower cake with matching cupcakes display. I had gone to thrift shops and made pedestal cake plates and placed 3 flavors of cakes in 2 oz lidded cups, red velvet, vanilla and GF chocolate. I did use the Avery circle labels and had my name, phone number, website and name of cake on there. It fit perfectly with a #8 size font. People tasted samples at the table and I insisted they take home samples "to taste later when they are home relaxing from the confusion of the day". I even dropped some of them into their tote bags when they walked away with my biz card and a brochure. THEY HAD MY NAME ON THEM!!! lol
They were carrying a 4 x 4 clear plastic box with 4 mini cupcakes inside. I saw no identification on them. I specifically asked who the vendor was. They had no idea. It excited me. he he
What would I change? I wouldn't take my electronic photo frame or my computer with a PowerPoint presentation of my cakes. No one took the time to look. I worried they would be knocked off. I would make less samples of each flavor. It was an open expo and the venue had no idea how many people would show up, I was prepared with 100 of each flavor. As pretty as the display plates were, the sample cups kept getting knocked over, so I would just use a basket next time and not worry that they need to be nicely stacked.
I gave a couple of gift certs to the venue as door prizes. They've never been claimed. I offered a free $50 value groom's cake in a drawing (at my booth). The winner placed a HUGE wedding order with me.
My husband talked to all the grooms-to-be. He was amazing! He made them feel important THAT day, because everything is about the bride. He joked that they can give their ideas, but ultimately, the bride will make all the decisions and the guys were just along for support. Everyone of them agreed and the conversation started. He got THEM to fill out the tickets for the drawing, so I had their contact info.
The venue personnel were super impressed with us, that being our very first expo. They said that people talked about how nice we were and helpful and how delicious my cakes were!
We talked and talked to everyone and made them feel at ease. I did not set up any consults that day. That was a bit distressing. I got home and used that contact info to send BOTH emails AND thank you cards for stopping by my booth. I've gotten 7 (SEVEN) wedding cake orders from that expo. No one ever cancelled. Thanks for all the ideas!!
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