Wedding Cake For 500! Help!!!

Decorating By lrstone98 Updated 11 Aug 2006 , 4:06pm by lrstone98

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lrstone98 Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 2:34pm
post #1 of 16

My church has asked me to do a wedding cake for their upcoming marriage conference in October. They expect around 500 people. I have done a few wedding cakes before, but nothing this big. I need some good ideas on a simple, pretty cake that will look nice even though it's so big. Also any tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

I also have a couple of friends that will be helping me so I'm not completely alone on this.

15 replies
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nefgaby Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 2:41pm
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Hi, good luck with your cake, it sounds like a LOT of work... here is what I would do! I would decorate a nice beautiful 3 or 4 tier cake, have it out where all the people will be for them to admire. Then make sheet cakes to have in the back or kitchen so you serve all the people not only some of your 3 tier cake but also some of the sheet cake, this will save you time and energy and NOBODY would be able to tell that all the cake did not come from the same pretty one you had out. Good luck!!!!!!

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Loucinda Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 2:52pm
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I just did a wedding for 350. It would not be that hard to make it for 500 - just up size some of the cakes. It got a lot of positive feedback - and one of the biggest surprizes for me was a man who made the comment that it was nice to get a piece of the "REAL" wedding cake instead of one that was hidden in the kitchen. I never thought about what the guests thought of what cake they were getting until I heard that one. Something to think about, that is for sure.

Anyways....here is the one I did. Fresh flowers - just stringwork and zigzag ruffles on them.

Image

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goal4me Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 3:03pm
post #4 of 16

What is the church allowing you for a budget???

I have done the tiered cake for presentation and same cake in sheet cakes served from the kitchen, so the product is the same. To avoid confusion or having people feel they are getting the kitchen cake instead of the display....take the display cake to the kitchen (if it is a cake dummy) and no one will be the wiser..... or have the satelite cakes surrounding as also suggested and with a simple but nice decoration...

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nefgaby Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 3:26pm
post #5 of 16

Yep, you NEVER cut the cake in front of everybody, let the bride and groom do their thing with the cake and then take the cake to the kitchen, where the sheet will be at and serve like that, pass it to the guests served and NOT a person will be able to tell the difference! Promise! =0)

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lrstone98 Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 3:32pm
post #6 of 16

Thank you, thank you, thank you. These are all great ideas.

I'm not sure about the budget thing yet. My friend and I are getting together tomarrow to discuss what we want to do and how much it is going to be and I'll take that to the lady at the church. I think they will be willing to work with whatever I decide. Obviously since this is such good advertising for me and it's for my church I won't make as much of a profit as I would if it were for a regular customer. But I have read enough on here to know to not underprice myself too.

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nefgaby Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 5:27pm
post #7 of 16

Hi Irstone98, Good Luck and you are right about one thing... It will be GREAT advertising for your business, so just brace yourself, you'll be getting tons of orders. I did some like this but with a birthday (only about 30 people attending), and sure thing, I got 4 orders that day, so it is great!!

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Monica0271 Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 5:31pm
post #8 of 16

I just wanted to tell you good luck thumbs_up.gif . I know you will do great.

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lrstone98 Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 5:34pm
post #9 of 16

You guys are so nice. Thanks for the encouragement. I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes.

Thanks for the heads up nefgaby.

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Loucinda Posted 10 Aug 2006 , 6:55pm
post #10 of 16

I made a post about making sure to have lots of business cards available - but it somehow got lost in cyberspace!

You'll do fine, and we're looking forward to seeing the pics.

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indydebi Posted 11 Aug 2006 , 2:43am
post #11 of 16

Is it a regional thing about cutting the cake out of sight? Because in my 50 years, I've never been to a wedding around here where the cake was taken away to be cut. It's always been done right there....I know some guests who consider it a "show" to watch the skill of the person taking it apart and cutting it. Just curious......

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fearlessbaker Posted 11 Aug 2006 , 5:57am
post #12 of 16

i know people use sheet cakes but I have never seen it done in Southern Cal. I think the sattelite cakes are the answer. You can freeze them way ahead of time and make them simple and elegant(sp)/

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cupcake Posted 11 Aug 2006 , 6:02am
post #13 of 16

I think this is a great way to show off your talents. I think anyway you decide to do this would be fine. As to the gal that asked about whether it is a regional thing to cut the cake in the kitchen. I think the sheet cake in the back was started because one there is often not alot of room on the cake table to cut alot of cake. Second, it is cheaper for the bride to do it this way. Thirdly if it is a large wedding, after the couple cuts the cake and does the pictures, if the cake is cut and plated in the back, someone can cart out the cake to get the guests served as soon as possible. Meanwhile you still have someone cutting on the main cake.

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Jorre Posted 11 Aug 2006 , 6:13am
post #14 of 16

If you are looking to get a lot of future business from this, I would say that a small cake w/sheet cakes in the kitchen will not have the same impression as a large one that feeds 500 will.

You want it to be memorable so that when it's time for them to order a cake they definately remember your cake instead of them vaugely remembering a small wedding cake at the event they attended

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Loucinda Posted 11 Aug 2006 , 1:53pm
post #15 of 16
Quote:
Quote:

If you are looking to get a lot of future business from this, I would say that a small cake w/sheet cakes in the kitchen will not have the same impression as a large one that feeds 500 will.




I agree with that 110%. Taking the time to make the big cake will have a much bigger WOW effect than having a small cake on the table and 5 sheet cakes in the kitchen. I am not posting this to "bang my own drum" here, but there were people that told me that they had never heard so many folks at a wedding reception talking about the cake as there was with that big display I posted the picture of. (I got feedback from several people with that comment) Yes, it is more work - but worth it in the long run? ABSOLUTELY.

I also have never attended a wedding where the cake was removed to the kitchen for cutting. Do they have to dismantle the cake first?

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lrstone98 Posted 11 Aug 2006 , 4:06pm
post #16 of 16

Well I just met with the girl I am doing this with and we have decided to definatly do the large cake with whatever number of satellite cakes we need with it. We will incorporate them however we need to. We are going to keep it simple, covered in bc with a fondont ribbon around the bottom. We are still trying to decide on what to do for deocorations on top. We have talked about flowers (bc, royal, fondant, real etc...) or I saw one cake done with chocolate cutouts of leaves (since it's in the fall). We just didn't know if the chocolate would melt too quickly....?

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