SO I just received a not so happy phone call from a lady saying that she was at a wedding last night (Friday) and there was no cake.... she told me her name, I recognized the last name and I realized that the cake I had just completed decorating that I was getting ready to go deliver for tonight ( Saturday) was actually supposed to be for last night. I am mortified and my stomach hurts... apparently they tried calling the bakery a million times last night but naturally I wasn't  there. I called the bride and left her a long message explaining how sorry I am  and that I will be mailing her back her refund in full.

I also emailed her a long long long apology... I told her to call me if she still wanted.

i'm not sure at what point I wrote the date down wrong.

please tell me i'm not the only person this has ever happened too....

Ach! I feel for you. (Wasn't yesterday Friday the 13th?) We all make mistakes. I'm so sorry this happened, but I bet you'll make sure it never happens again.

Oh wow, sorry this happened! What date does your contract say?

AThis almost happened to me, and it's the worst! I'm so sorry this happened to you. I hope the bride understands. It's not the first time it's happened and it won't be the last. I think we just have it programed in our heads that wedding = Saturday.

A glass of wine on me.

AI would also offer her a huge discount on a future order.

Hasn't ever happened to me, but I am a Type A personality (and totally OCD) and have to check details a million times just to make sure.

I even lock my front door and have been known to walk back and check it - not once, but twice.

Ugh! I feel so sorry for you. We all make mistakes. I can't imagine how you must feel. I would be sick as well. I know it was your mistake, but knowing how I was as a bride, I called the baker before the wedding to make sure I had all the details correct and made sure she knew what time the wedding was and what time the reception was. Seemed like the bride wasn't worried! Just chalk it up to something you won't ever do again. EVER! :)

Hi Bittersweety,

you'll be glad to hear that you're not the only one - it did indeed happen to me also, about two years into starting my wedding cake business.

We got a phone call from the wedding venue at 4.30pm in the afternoon (thankfully) to say that no wedding cake had arrived and was it on the way? We freaked out completely but managed to get the bottom tier which we had iced and ready for the next day, plus three dummy tiers from a display cake, stacked on top, to the venue across town through Friday evening traffic for 5.30pm, just before the guests were being seated for dinner. It was a nightmare!

In the meantime, my colleague got to work ferociously on the other three cake tiers and we had them delivered to the venue for 8pm (the wedding cake was being served at 10.30pm with coffee and sandwiches for the evening guests).

We saved it in the end but the stress was unbelievable. It happens so easily because wedding cakes are nearly all "weekend" orders and up until that point I had tended to lump Fridays and Saturdays together as "next weekend" for example.  Now when I fill out a booking sheet, I always say the day first, followed by the date, eg Friday, September 13th 2013 and I use this in the subject line in all emails to the couple (including the venue.....I've also made that mistake.....that's another day's posting........!!!)

Oh my gosh - what a nightmare! This happened to me once, but I was lucky and delivered the cake a day early. Now on Tuesdays I do email confirmations. I try to put it in a way where it can't be misread, as in "this coming Saturday, Sept. 15 to 1234 Cherry St. between 1-2 pm"

You poor thing it does feel terrible when something like this happens.  We have a system where if a wedding cake or similar is on any day other than Saturday the day is printed largely across the top of the order ie FRIDAY so it is the first thing you see when you look at the order sheet.

A

the checking the door twice --- me, too!! at least i'm not the only one!

Wow! I thought it was just me! I just got a call from the bride, friends & family few hours ago asking for the cake...of course I have it on my fridge, 4 tiered naked cake ready to be decorated early tomorrow morning since I have it on my calendar for saturday and not friday!. They said they were calling me but didn't get the calls after the reception was almost over. I was very apologetic to the bride. The mother in law took over the call and was very nasty. I was still apologizing inspite of her yelling...Then I went back to my emails and it was confirmed for the 28th, saturday.  It was even confirmed twice, one in July & the 2nd time was end of august. I feel so awful but I don't think the problem was at my end since she gave me the wrong date. I just sent her an email and offer her to give a partial refund. I just think it's fair that I should deduct the cost & time I spent so far with the cake.

AHow do people not know the date of their own wedding? It's bizarre.

AYou have a bakery, correct? What sort of paperwork do you do for your orders? Surely the client signed off on the contract?

AI almost had that happen, but I ALWAYS call 72 hours prior to the event to confirm the order one last time. I confirm the name of a contact person if it's a wedding since the bride will be busy with other stuff that day, the order in detail, delivery or pick up time, deposits, and total. A mistake like that (especially if you have a signed contract agreement) can cost more than a full refund and an apology. A lawsuit, bad business rep, etc. Hope it works/worked out for you. God bless.