I have a bride that sent me several pictures of different wedding cakes all three tiered. The email detailed the different elements she would like to have participating in the final product-  whats tripping me up is the fact that she wants a three tiered cake for 8 people! She wants a cake small enough to accomodate the wedding party and just have sheet cakes for the rest. What would you all suggest? I've attached a photo of the type of cake she wants(minus the toppper). Any help would be awesome! Thank ya!

AMake then really small tiers like the biggest is a 6inch cake and like cupcake size for the top tier... And the sheet cake for the rest of the guest.. never heard such a thing but wish you luck.

You could use styrofoam (fake cake) for two of the tiers.

AI don't sell, but isn't that the same amount of work? How much is she really saving if she wants that much detail? I would think the smaller the cakes, the more difficult it would be to scale down those details and make them look great.

styrofoams a great idea. I've not priced them though. Does anybody have a range they could share?

Ok this doesn't make sense, is 8 a typo?  No matter how small you make this cake you are going to have too much cake.  Honestly when people come in with weird requests like this we don't waste time working out a full quote we just hit them with a ball park of what the cake is going to be plus the sheet cake then point out in-the-nicest-possible-way being as sweet as pie - that their request is a very expensive way of going about this.  We call it "bursting their bubble" or "bride whispering" they're our short hand terms in the kitchen for unrealistic requests.

Have you established what kind of budget she has yet? That would be the first thing I would do. Does she think this is a cheap way of getting this cake ie. does she think as this cake is going to be mostly styro and the rest of the guests just have sheet cake it will be cheap? We all know this is not true but she may not. Before I wasted another minute of my time I would talk to her and figure out the "Why?" behind this request, if it is the money angle as I have suggested you need to get in there and burst her bubble, ball park quote her on how much more it will cost to have both this cake and sheet cake rather than use the whole cake and less sheet cake.

If she does want this cake just for the wedding party only and she has the budget to pay for it I would make the bottom tier cake and the top two styro, after all if she is paying a small fortune for a whole lot of nothing she may as well have a big piece of cake, or seconds.

AIt's a really cool cake, but.......

A) I would make it a policy to NOT do sheet cakes to supplement unless there is a NORMAL size three-tier cake (my policy is not to do them unless 75-100 servings (6", 8", 10") are ordered for the stacked cake.

B) If you do sheet cakes, do them layered, to be 4+" tall...just like the regular cake. They take up less room, they look nicer, and you can charge the same/about the same as you would for the wedding cake. Sheet cake pieces are generally cut 2x2...you are getting the same amount of cake either way. And they look cheap, which you can convey to the bride.

C) If the bride doesn't like your policy, explain kindly that you are building a reputation of providing high-quality, high-end cakes and you don't feel that sheet cakes scream quality because those can be purchased at a grocery store.

NOT KIDDING you...I delivered a small (4", 6", 8") wedding cake + 2 doz cupcakes this past weekend. Only to discover when I got there no less than 10 (yes, T.E.N.) cookie sheet pans of texas sheet cake covered in plastic wrap still IN THE PANS! ALL lined up on 2 (yes, T.W.O.) 8 foot long banquet tables. I was a little mortified, but it was a very DIY wedding, rustic, etc. Whatever.....it was so obvious that it was homemade that I got over it quickly.

Now if they were sheet cakes from a grocery store, I would have remained upset. That happened to me once, too.

But what can you do?

I guess we can start off with "how many people are you inviting?" That way, when they say they only want cake for xx people, you know they are up to something. If it bothers you, you don't have to take the order.

Thank you for the responses! This is why I love cake central for relief, nobody ever realizes how long and how much it actually costs to create these cakes! 

AMy guess is that she thinks sheet cakes and a tiny cake will be cheaper. I'd let her know it's $X.XX per serving no matter what.

AIn my world, she pays a premium or minimum for the miniature cake, my 4" filled sheet cakes cost the same as stacked cakes, styro dummies cost 80% of real, and my contract says that if there is cake present from any other source I leave with my cake.

A

I like the last sentence and will be adding it to my contract. I was going to say that in my post above that it would be nice to tell people that but just thought they could always have them hidden or delivered after I dropped off my cake. And if I left with my cake they would sue me for not giving them what they paid for regardless of what the contract said.