cost for wedding cake

[lentil]

Originally Posted by bughut

We catered a wedding bbq last year, and were surprised to see the wedding cake set up on tiers with a selection of gorgeous looking muffins, in paper instead of paper cases with fresh flowers as decor on top. Heavenly. The guests were well impressed

Please explain "paper instead of paper cases". I think paper cases are probably what I think of as muffin cups- the commercial pan liners that are normally found surrounding cupcakes and muffins. How did they use the paper?

As others have said above, they don't like the look of cupcakes/muffins at a wedding, but given the right type of wedding, ie a more casual style, they fit the bill perfectly. I've also heards guests rave about the presentation. To each his own, though, not everyone is awed by it.

My baker tells about her wedding 25 years ago when she was really young. They rented a big function hall with the house caterer. They got a huge tiered cake but were told to only cut "this" part-she didn't understand why until her husband tried to cut from another place. Turns out the entire cake save one part was made from decorated styrofoam. She said that the icing was crumbling off if it! The guests were served from a sheet cake in the back. Heck, she was 18 and said she wanted chocolate with white icing. The styrofoam cake had white icing and the sheetcake was choc with white....

All in all, the sheetcake for guests isn't a bad idea to save some money. The guests will never know anyway.

[bughut]

The muffins were cooked in squares of what looked like coloured waxed paper. the effect was quite rustic

[luvmy2bugs]

Wedding cakes make up the majority of my business...and even in a small town in the middle of Missouri our prices are nearing $4.00 a serving with little or no decoration other than flowers provided by your florist. To most brides the cake is just second to the dress. I have done "fake" cakes for clients who want the large cake look without the large price tag. You might check into that and then have sheet cakes for serving. It would save you much dough.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by lentil

They got a huge tiered cake but were told to only cut "this" part-she didn't understand why until her husband tried to cut from another place. Turns out the entire cake save one part was made from decorated styrofoam....

I did this for my brother-in-law's wedding. It saved them ALOT of money, and I was able to focus more time on making them a beautiful cake (Wedding was in Los Angeles, I live in Seattle)

[lentil]

Originally Posted by Erik

I did this for my brother-in-law's wedding. It saved them ALOT of money, and I was able to focus more time on making them a beautiful cake (Wedding was in Los Angeles, I live in Seattle)

I think it's a great idea for the couple to be able to save $$, but this couple wasn't told that the cake was fake beforehand. That's the part that I thought was strange. :-)

[CakeScraps]

Originally Posted by damack

i mean i know it dose take a lot of work, but really is it really 1000$ worth of work or do bakers know that wedding are expensive and they want in on the money.

i have been working the kitchen for 8 years now and it just seems like im getting taken. all i want is a 3 teer butter cream cake, not sure on the filling but im not asking for something thats very hard, im thinking about trying to make it my self but i know im going to be very busy.

Originally Posted by kuan

You know, you can't bang out wedding cakes. Part of it is spending time with the wedding party to make sure they get exactly what they want. Part of it is transportation and assembly.

Sheesh! Why does nobody ever complain that the caterer, photographer or florist is trying to rip them off? Especially when the photographer is usually twice the price of the cake! Why is it just the price of the cake?

As a cake decorator, I don't charge what I do just because I "want in on the money". I am a business just like the local auto mechanic, lawn care guy and day care provider.

When was the last time you priced ingredients? Butter here is close to $4.00 per pound. Eggs are almost $3.00 a dozen. Milk is $3.89 a gallon. And quite frankly, I refuse to bake and elaborately decorate a wedding cake or any other cake and give it away simply because someone who has no idea what the ingredients that go into that cake cost nor the time involved, yet thinks that it should serve 200 people at the cost of a case of beer. No way. I use the best quality ingredients in every cake I bake and those ingredients cost $$$. And when I spend 12-18 hours on a wedding cake, you bet your butt that you are going to pay for my time, too. Then consider the utilities I use, the cost of the boards, support structure for the cake, cost of gas for delivery (sorry, but, I don't deliver a cake for free. Gas is almost $3.50 a gallon), and my time for set up of said cake. If I did all of that for free, then I'd be extremely popular, but, I'd also be out of business. Think about it, would you go to your local dentist, find out you had to have a tooth filled and then question what it would cost? No, you wouldn't. And why not? Because he/she charges that to fill a tooth and that price covers their time and supplies. Period.

I am also a "You get what you pay for" believer. And, if you want a quality product, then you are going to have to pay for it. If you want cheap, then the local grocery/membership club is where you should go.

I apologize if this sounds harsh, but, this is a never ending debate between bakers and brides. I'll never understand how a bride has no qualms what-so-ever about spending $2-3,000 on a gown they'll only wear once, $1-2,000 on flowers that'll be dead the next day, $10-15,000 on a catered meal, upwards of $10,000 on the hall and the amenities to decorate it, $2,000 for a photographer and $500-$1,000 for a DJ/Band for 4 hours and never gripe about forking out the $$ for any of it, but, hear $500-$1,000 for a cake and we're the ones ripping them off!

[chefjune]

You are SO right, Cakescraps! In fact, with the huge rise in prices for raw materials, I'm guessing the $500 wedding cake is pretty much a thing of the past. Unless it's very small, and completely devoid of decoration.

Gorgeous, delicious wedding cakes are works of art, and should be appreciated as such, and paid for gratefully. Or, as you said, there is always Wal-Mart.

[damack]

well i got a friend who had made several wedding cakes in the past make it for me. im going to pay her but im not expecting her to charge us 1200 or anything like that.

[jbd]

Originally Posted by damack

well i got a friend who had made several wedding cakes in the past make it for me. im going to pay her but im not expecting her to charge us 1200 or anything like that.

Unless your friend has an approved kitchen/bakeshop and any business licenses required by her state she would be in violation of state regulations or laws pertaining to commercial foodservice if you pay her any amount of money.

[lentil]

Originally Posted by jbd

Unless your friend has an approved kitchen/bakeshop and any business licenses required by her state she would be in violation of state regulations or laws pertaining to commercial foodservice if you pay her any amount of money.

Of course he knows this. He's in foodservice! Maybe can't afford/doesn't want to pay thousands for a wedding cake. I understand that having non licensed bakers make wedding cakes seems to take away from the pros, but face it, damack isn't going to pay thousands, is he? The high price of wedding cakes isn't disputed. It's whether or not someone can or will pay that price. Perhaps he'd prefer to put the money elsewhere.

Damack, congratulations on your wedding. I know you'll be happy with your friend's cake and she'll be happy with what you pay her.

[lentil]

Originally Posted by jbd

Unless your friend has an approved kitchen/bakeshop and any business licenses required by her state she would be in violation of state regulations or laws pertaining to commercial foodservice if you pay her any amount of money.

Of course he knows this. He's in foodservice! Maybe can't afford/doesn't want to pay thousands for a wedding cake. I understand that having non licensed bakers make wedding cakes seems to take away from the pros, but face it, damack isn't going to pay thousands, is he? The high price of wedding cakes isn't disputed. It's whether or not someone can or will pay that price. Perhaps he'd prefer to put the money elsewhere.

Damack, congratulations on your engagement. I know you'll be happy with your friend's cake and she'll be happy with what you pay her.

[lentil]

Originally Posted by jbd

Unless your friend has an approved kitchen/bakeshop and any business licenses required by her state she would be in violation of state regulations or laws pertaining to commercial foodservice if you pay her any amount of money.

Of course he knows this. He's in foodservice! Maybe can't afford/doesn't want to pay thousands for a wedding cake. I understand that having non licensed bakers make wedding cakes seems to take away from the pros, but face it, some folks aren't going to pay thousands, are they? The high price of wedding cakes isn't disputed. It's whether or not someone can or will pay that price. Perhaps damack would prefer to put the money elsewhere.

Damack, congratulations on your engagement. I know you'll be happy with your friend's cake and she'll be happy with what you pay her.

[damack]

Originally Posted by jbd

Unless your friend has an approved kitchen/bakeshop and any business licenses required by her state she would be in violation of state regulations or laws pertaining to commercial foodservice if you pay her any amount of money.

o i understand that she would be in state violation and so dose she, the state really dosnt care unless a food disess happends or some one end up in the hosipital. and we dont care eather.

if she is going to make one cake and i know it will be good, i have also seen her cakes and i really like them too. and the prices that they quoted up in the above were no where near to the cost of my wedding, i have talked everyone down so far, and im getting wholesale flowers. yes our catering bill is one of the most expensive things but still at less then 30$ a head thats good,

i would rather spend the money eles were and have a good hunnymoon or something like that.

im not saying that you guys dont do good work its just way out of my price range for my bugdet on a cake

[RSteve]

Some interesting posts. In the last few months, I attended, as a guest, two weddings that I know cost the families over $200K per wedding.

At each wedding, the wedding cake was small, basically symbolic, but each had a gorgeous dessert buffet.

For chitz and grins, I chatted with the catering manager at one event, asking why no wedding cake. He replied that he advised the families that a very high percentage of wedding cake served at upscale weddings, is left on the dining tables, and that they'd be happier with a variety of desserts. They certainly saved no money going this route, but, perhaps had a more celebratory experience.

The comment: There's always Sam's Club or Costco. I think you'd be surprised at how many of their full sheets frosted with premix are used at weddings every day.

[lentil]

RSteve, since the discussion was about cakes, I hadn't thought of the dessert route. At 1 of my summer weddings, the bride has opted for a small cake for the cutting ceremony and decorated cupcakes and lemon squares for the guests. The other has chosen a small cake for the couple and desserts including individual cheesecakes and other assorted desserts.

My desserts are less expensive by a mile than a full out wedding cake. That said, we don't do fancy desserts as a rule so I may be comparing apples to oranges in this case.