Do people really think we are going to give them a free cake. - Page 2

I like that quote!!

If you don't value your work neither will your customers because "it is only cake". 

I just delivered a peacock cake for a bride that shelled out what I asked for the cake - venue was gorgeous - those are the kinds of brides I like.

Hubby and I went to eat at Applebee's right after we delivered the cake.  Their cakes/brownies were $5.49 each.  That is not a cake that is stacked up, painted up, fluffed up into the design the bride chose, in the flavor she chose and delivered to be the center piece of their reception!  I told Barry that if someone took 200 people to Applebee's for desert would they expect to pay $100? 

Not hardly.  And they won't at Cakes So Special either!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeliciousDesserts 


Omg! I've been quoted!! Love it!

Oh THANK YOU!  It was a really nice way to open her eyes.  The women wasn't offended but she couldn't swing the $$ this time - maybe someday - HA!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Annabakescakes 

I am so soft hearted, but when I did cakes for huge discounts, or free in the past, when I got to the venue, I could see that the cake was the only thing they were scrimping on.... You look at the linens, and chair coverings and the wedding dress, and the stretched limo, and see why there was no budget for cake! A-holes....

Ugh!! I hear ya!! I am not so soft hearted, however :-) I don't negotiate pricing, it is what it is. If someone wants a lower price they will get less cake, less decorations, etc.

And while I'm on this tangent, who the heck is telling brides that dummy cakes are super cheap? I have to explain this all the time! If you have a kitchen cake (we don't do sheet cakes) for 400 people and have a 6 tiered styrofoam cake on display, you are still paying for the labor and materials of decorating the thing (actually more because I will charge you for the styro!)! I don't just magically have a display cake that looks exactly like the cake you showed me to rent for 30 bucks! haha

Quote:

Originally Posted by IAmPamCakes 

I agree on the dummies. I worked with a person who did the dummy & sheet cake thing, and I could never wrap my head around it. Not only do I have to make the dummy cake look how you want, I still have to bake enough cake separately to feed your guests.
I was ranting once about this idea, so I sat down and did all the math. I think it actually does come out cheaper to make kitchen cakes & dummies. I can't remember how I did it, but a bride could save a few bucks, the way the person I worked with did it.
How does everyone else feel about the dummy/kitchen cake set up?

But surely it costs more to ice and decorate a tier, than just plainly ice a kitchen/sheet/cutting cake?

My wedding cake was 3 tiers of fruit on pillars, and an extra layer in the kitchen to be cut first. The kitchen cake had plain white royal icing on it, the tiers were white RI with lilac RI flower buds on.  So there was no point  icing the kitchen cake to the same level of decoration.  Whilst none of my cake had a dummy layer, I wanted to be sure to have enough to feed all my guests on the day, and send slices to people unable to make the day itself...AND have some left over for me and the husband to eat after our honeymoon.  We fed 170+ and had the whole top 6" layer plus half of the 8" layer left for us to enjoy I like eating rich fruit cake

Looking back to your colleague, maybe she could ice ahead of time a perfect wedding cake (on dummies) and then 'only' had to bake sheet cakes to serve that didn't necessarily need to be as perfect.  I much prefer icing a fruit cake as the time pressure is off.