Wedding Expo opinions - Page 2

I wish I could say I did, but I am not that good, or organized!  I knew I wanted about 1,600, because I had leftovers the first show I did, and it was about 1,100, for a 1 day show, so I figured about 800 a day, each day. I just made 4 cakes, estimating about 300 per cake for each 11x15 (1x1x1 with the side crusts cut off. I cut a little smaller and got more) I brought half the first day, and around 1:30 my husband went home and got the rest, because we were almost out! We went home and made about 400 more, for Sunday ;-)

 

The show had a lot more traffic each day, than the first day. If I had to give a recommendation, for a 2 day show, I would go ahead and make 1,800, bring them all, and be prepared to make more for the next day,  but no more than a couple hundred. You won't need as much the second day as the first. I think it was about 1,100 the first day, and 900 the second.

The big show I do has anywhere from 600-800 brides (depends on weather).  I have made 1000 samples each year and it worked perfect.  Not everyone eats cake or is shopping for cake that day.  But, yes, there will be some people that eat 3 cupcakes.  I would make around 1200 - 1500 mini cupcakes if I were you. and bring them all the first day. Don't just bring half - come prepared.

 

Since you have a 2 day show you should be able to gauge how many you need on day 2 based off the number you went through on day 1.  If need be you can make more the night of day 1.  You will be tired but that is better than having 1000 left over mini cupcakes.

 

I don't like cutting cake at the booth UNLESS you have a double booth and can put a table in the back to cut the cake.  It gets messy, makes the table messy and is time consuming. Plus without a double booth you will be taking up prime space that could showcase your work.

There was a vendor at this last one who used 4 oz cups, and they looked ridiculous! It looked like a full on dessert, not a sample, and I think they take more than twice the room to transport. Remember it comes in a medium size box for lids and another for bottoms, but when they are full, they take up TONS more space! I got 77 in a 11x15x3.5 box, 4 rows of 6, stacked 3 tall, and then 5 on their side along the front in the space there, so for 2000, you need 26 boxes full.

 

Those 26 boxes take up a LOT of space, and with the larger cups, you will need WAY MORE than that. You'll be able to stack 2, at the very most, in the same amount of space, and maybe get 12 per box with 2 rows of 3, stacked 2 tall. You may be able to squeeze a few more in there, but maybe not. Best case scenario, you get 25 in (probably not going to happen) and you will need 80 boxes for that same 2000! Worst case, and you get 12 in each box, and you will need 166 boxes. 

 

Plus, you will need to make twice as much cake!

Okay, I just checked dimensions of the 4 oz on Websturant Store. I was wrong, a bit! But I panicked! Sorry to math you out, but  the 2 oz cups I have are 2.75 x 1.25 inches, boxes I had are 11x15x3, so if we look at my last post, you will see how many fit.

 

The 4oz cups are 2.875 x 1.81, so if we divide 11 by 2.875, you will see that only 3 rows, rather than 4 will fit. Then 15 divided by the same, would be 5 columns. That is 15 in a layer, of course. Then 2 layers will fit. And, you will be able to get 1 more row on it's side, toward the front, for a grand total of 35 per box. That is 57 boxes! Not quite as bad as I suspected, but still a great number of boxes.

 

At best, you will be able to fit about 18-25 under your table, and about 2-3 on display. My tables had cross beams, and I had some other things hidden under there, and it was 6' long. I think I fit about 12 under 1 of mine, and left the rest in the van,  until needed (in January, in the midwest= cold). But your whole van will be filled with boxes! And if it is warm or hot, you will have to bring them ALL in, if you bring them all. 

I put all the mini cupcakes in 4 oz souffle cups, then pipe a little icing on them, put the lids on and stack them in egg boxes I get from the grocery store.  The boxes are very sturdy and the cups fit perfect.  I am trying to remember...I think I get around 300 cups in each box.

 

Then at the venue I uncup (I don't think that is really a word) the mini cupcakes (use gloves to keep the icing from getting on you for easy clean up) (by then the icing has crusted and you won't damage them taking them out of the cups).  I place them on my cupcake stand.

 

The attached picture is from the show a couple years ago.  I like the layout I do now better (better display of the cakes) but I don't have any pictures from recent shows.

 

 

 

 

bridal show 2e.JPG 3,514k .JPG file

I would kill myself if I had to put them all in cups, lid them, and then get to the venue and take them all back out again. TWO THOUSAND TIMES! If I can get the stupid uploader to upload, I will share a picture of what mine look like.

I am a CFS baker too. By now I have a system down that works for me. For 1100 mini cupcakes it takes me 12 hours. That is from the time I start getting out my ingredients to when I  taping shut the last box. So you could knock out 2000 in 2 days easy.

 

I have a 6' or 8' table (I forget) at the show. I can fit all the boxes under the table, but you won't have to because you will empty at least 1 box right away just setting up the design. Once a box is empty I tear it down and throw it away.

 

the stand I have is built on a lazy susan which allows it to spin. When one side gets low on supplies we just spin it. The stand then always looks full and is easy to refill. I have someone standing behind the table with an open box by them that refills the stand all day.

 

No reason you couldn't leave the samples in the cups with the lid on. You just won't be able to fit as many samples in the stand.

Sorry I just saw this! 

 

039.JPG 3,021k .JPG file

 

I had signed up for a 10x8 booth but they ended up giving us a double booth, and in no way were the booths 8' deep!  We had a eight foot table and a 4 foot square.  I actually did the show with my mother, she makes hand rolled chocolates, granola, and assortments for favors so we coordinated those with my cakes.  I plan on attending a few more shows next year so I went ahead and bought bookshelves at Lowe's and used those as a display for my cakes.  I've attached a picture of it for you to see, this actually worked out great.  The brides were able to see everything at eye level and it was open in front of it. 

 

For the samples, I torted a sheet cake and cut them 1"x1"
 

I stack my samples, since they are a nice small size, and have lids. We did the first 1600 samples in about 7 hours, and the last 400 in 3, not counting cooling times. I had my husband's and 2, 12 year old boys' help (which is like half a 12 year old boy's help!

The stand is a silver cake stand. Just google it. About a thousand different ones pop up.