How Do You Feel About Making Fake Wedding Cakes For Brides?
Business By cakequeen50 Updated 24 Jan 2014 , 6:34pm by SystemMod1
yes sorry --
not sure what you're reading into my posts--and also i don't fit onto anyone's pedestal -- i don't recognize me in your opinion there--
so again sorry for the confusion
AI used a different baker, my SIL was like "I can't believe that you would pay that much for a cake". Of course I bit my tounge because I know what goes into it and this was before I started to decorate. The woman who made her cake took a loss, she even drove 45 miles to deliver and set up. So when I start baking from home in a few months (CFL) I will be passed up every time because of my prices.
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I like Chik-Fil-A. Or however it's spelled. I used to like it anyway - I haven't had it in more than 20 years but they had an awesome breakfast biscuit. I always used to have that when I worked at Regency Square mall.
It gives me "intestinal upset" so I never go there anyway, but their owners aren't aligned with my political beliefs, shall we say, so I won't give them my money. They're controversial now!
Still waiting for a website link or something...
I've done cakes with dummy tiers and I charge pretty much the same for them, just a little less. The decorating time is what drives my costs.
There have been multiple waves of people trying to do dummy rentals and it doesn't catch on. If it works for you that's great but I don't see it cutting into much established custom cake businesses. Unlicensed and cottage bakers are much more likely to do that on any noticeable scale.
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Still waiting for a website link or something...
I've done cakes with dummy tiers and I charge pretty much the same for them, just a little less. The decorating time is what drives my costs.
There have been multiple waves of people trying to do dummy rentals and it doesn't catch on. If it works for you that's great but I don't see it cutting into much established custom cake businesses. Unlicensed and cottage bakers are much more likely to do that on any noticeable scale.
Kind of doubting we'll get a website to these awesome, elaborate yet very inexpensive dummy cakes. It's like bigfoot -- just enough few and far-between "sightings" to keep the myth alive. 
extravaganza i think was her business name--something like that--
i never got to launch mine--it would of course have been awesome--i'm actually closing it now--you still have to pay tax even if you only part way open and never do any business--♥ me some tennessee
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Norasmom, funny!
Nikko5: Well there's fake tans, fake boobs, fake nails, fake hair, fake smiles, rented tuxes and shoes, fake flowers, fake butter buttercream, so what the heck there's enough fake people to buy your fake cakes. Go ahead and post your business address and your website address, if you're real that is. Let's take a look at your great deals.
And once again we have someone who joined CC, posts and never shows up. Let's all go get Chick-Fil-A
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Original message sent by costumeczar
It gives me "intestinal upset" so I never go there anyway, but their owners aren't aligned with my political beliefs, shall we say, so I won't give them my money. They're controversial now!
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Original message sent by nikko5
I just started my fake cake business a couple of months ago in the southern part of New Jersey and I have to say people are blown away by how smart this idea is for those who want the fondant look but don't want it on the cake their guests are eating and those brides who are on a tight budget. I even get the brides to rent from me even though their buttercream wedding cake is included in their package. Why? because the hall will only give them the amount of tiers needed to feed their guests as with me I'll give them as many as they want for a flat rate. I often rent out the same cake and offer the bride assistance to accessorize it with decorations that can be taken on & off the cake - however if they want to design a cake that has permanent piping work then this rental fee would be more than the one that could be easily modified. But it would still be less than the hall would charge them for an upgrade on the style of their cake which again I 'm certain a bride would rather spend on a cake with more tiers than what the hall will give in their package or in an upgrade. I have one venue who decided to put my rentals in their package and how charges an up grade if they want the entire cake all real - He decided to do this because using my rental is more time efficient than having the staff hack away at those fondant tiers or dismantling a 4 +tier cake with wooden dowels etc. The place could ensure a much fresher tasting cake anyway! The rentals could be dropped off ahead of time when the weather is challenging with snowy streets and it's a lot easier to make room for sheet cakes is what he told me is the best asset to making me one of his vendors. I'm so excited to bring this concept to all the halls in my area - I'm also becoming a big hit with those Sweet 16 girls who want wedding cake styles for their cake as opposed to the sheet cake that comes with their banquet pkg. The parents are thrilled about this concept because renting my cakes gives them an affordable display or centerpiece they would never be able to afford real. It's my goal to mainstream this concept for all birthdays not just milestone banquet hall events. The b-day cake is the next most important thing at a party so why not rent a cake prop that goes with the theme of the party and just have a sheet cake waiting in the kitchen until the candles are blown out and it's time for cake! Why buy an ordinary cake or spend $$$$$ on a fancy cake when you could save by renting an amazing looking cake because at the end of the day the cake looks just like the real thing and you're still eating cake regardless of where it came from.
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Original message sent by kmanning
I used a different baker, my SIL was like "I can't believe that you would pay that much for a cake". Of course I bit my tounge because I know what goes into it and this was before I started to decorate. The woman who made her cake took a loss, she even drove 45 miles to deliver and set up. So when I start baking from home in a few months (CFL) I will be passed up every time because of my prices.
Sure you'll be passed up by the cheap clients that aren't going to pay you enough to make it worth your while, leaving you free to take the one or two orders a week that will make you as much or more than six cheap orders would have.
There's no money in taking a loss.
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Original message sent by kikiandkyle
Sure you'll be passed up by the cheap clients that aren't going to pay you enough to make it worth your while, leaving you free to take the one or two orders a week that will make you as much or more than six cheap orders would have.
There's no money in taking a loss.
You are so right. I have got to learn to start thinking like this instead of getting bummed out about it! Thanks, you just opened up a door for me.
I recently made a cake that had 1 big fake tier and the other 2 were cake. According to research I did before quoting a price the accepted amount was 20% less. Big Mistake. I did not find the work lessened that much to merit a 20% discount. Lesson learned.
The thing I find funny about most of these requests is that the bride actually assumes I am going to make her a CUSTOM fake cake.
Now, that's not my line of work, I do real cake that people want to cut and eat, not fake cakes. (insert Seinfeld's "not that there's anything wrong with that" here)
But when they find out that people save money because they are renting a cake like they are renting a tux, they usually back down. No one (here) wants that. And let's say I make the cake, have rented it out to 5 other couples (assuming it comes back in perfect condition), then for EACH couple I have inserted a REAL cake slice that they have then cut and eaten, then returned the cake to me and I have sent it to another couple who have had another cake slice inserted into the SAME SPOT.....
Anyone else think that sounds kinda like a 7th grade health class lesson?
Sorry.
The cake slice scenario always gets me in the end.
Kind of doubting we'll get a website to these awesome, elaborate yet very inexpensive dummy cakes. It's like bigfoot -- just enough few and far-between "sightings" to keep the myth alive.
Well said. CC has far too many posters who brag about exploits with nothing to back up claims. What amazes me, though, are the number of members who believe them and perpetuate these myths.
AEleganza! That's the dummy cake site.
AAnd yeah, there's no savings with me doing dummies. If I can fit all their servings into a let's say, three tiered cake, but I have to make a three tiered dummy, and bake and fill and ice a couple of kitchen cakes, that's costing more. It's more work, plain and simple. Even if it's only getting a rough ice, or smooth finish, it's still work, and it's still boards and boxes, and storage, and delivery...blah. no thanks.
AI'm not seeing the real savings with that plan. So you pay $100 for the 3 tier dummy cake..but you still have to pay for some other dressert or kitchen cakes....I don't get It but good on here for making it work.
The rental dummy thing has been around for years, it's not some new up and coming threat to all us poor lil helpless cake makers.
The slice thing grosses me out as well. I do dummy cakes, they cost the same as my cakes minus what I charge for the baking/torting/filling etc. They take me way less time than a real cake, but I don't need to tell a bride that.
Which means on an extravagant cake, a bride might save a couple hundred, but I don't sell them alone. If my dummy cake is there, then real cake made by me is being served as well.
I love those orders! I can get the cake done ahead of time, then just whip out some really easy/fast kitchen cakes.
AYeah, dummies are not some new thing. It's just like all the other recycled vomit that pops up on so called advice sites, written in many circumstances by people who have NEVER made a cake. They get paid for writing articles, nevermind what the subject matter is.
AIt seems to me she's going after a totally different market right? People who are looking into that are.not likely to pay custom cake prices anyway
AI remember one particularly ridiculous article, full of stupid advice. I mean there's a million out there, but one in particular just chapped me. The "author" was a part time accountant, who was a racing bike enthusiast. No mention of cake decorating, or baking, or anything wedding related in their bio.
Yeah, dummies are not some new thing. It's just like all the other recycled vomit that pops up on so called advice sites, written in many circumstances by people who have NEVER made a cake. They get paid for writing articles, nevermind what the subject matter is.
Exactly. Many are writers looking to make a few bucks because in their real (paid) profession, jobs have dried up. Lost, actually, to one of the bazillion bloggers who don't get paid since all they want is the glory of being published. So the downward spiral continues.
The only way you could make a dummy rental business work is if you had them all done up and no one gets to change them. You rent them a bunch of times to make the money you put into them back. People buy sheets to feed their guests and they may save a bit, but that cake in your pictures was at 5+ other people's weddings too. A fully custom cake, even if it's a dummy, is going to cost about the same as a real cake. I only discount 20% for dummy tiers. You'd have to take a deposit and charge for any damage too.
And there are no downsides to the custom cake business, either right? It's just a different business model for a different customer. Who cares?
I do agree that bloggers and other wedding writers get it all wrong. It's just that we happen to know they're wrong and then brides come to us the wrong idea. But this is true with copy writers all over the internet - do you believe anything you read anymore? I'm hoping that more and more people will realize this problem with copy writers and that need for clicks outweighs the need for writing any kind of accurate information.
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