What to charge for a wedding cake.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kelly Lloyd on November 22, 2011 at 9:18pm

First, calculate how much your ingredients will cost.  Then, how much you want to be paid an hour to do this cake.  Will it take you 10 hours or 30 hours?  Or even more?  How complicated is the design?  My prices normally start at $3 per serving and go up to $10 per serving.  You never want to under charge.  Hope that helps a bit anyway.

Permalink Reply by Danielle Dyskin on November 22, 2011 at 9:55pm

We are currently in exactly the same position.  You have to remember that people expect to pay a lot for a wedding cake but we always seem to under charge for our cakes.  For 100 people the very minimum would be about $350 but if you are doing something fancy take a deep breath and say at least $480.

Permalink Reply by Miasuzzette on November 22, 2011 at 10:04pm

I say, The same.It all depends on the style of the cake, Ingredients, Fondant or Buttercream, If she wants filling and the flavor...Flowers, ect...You multiply everything by 3. Time,Gas,Light and if you delivery...

Permalink Reply by Jen Montalto on November 23, 2011 at 12:03am

Looks like you'll need to make 12", 10" and 8" tiers. However, you'll need to know if they want to keep the top tier. In that case, i'd suggest presenting them a separate boxed-up 6" tier as you will need all 3 tiers to feed the 100 people. That said, wedding pricing is different than everyday pricing just because it's a wedding. Look up local cake shops and bakeries in your area that are popular for their wedding cakes. Many will list their starting per person price for wedding cakes. In CT, wedding cakes start at $6-8/person (at 1" x 2" each slice). They can go up to $14/person depending on the decoration and flavor choices. I personally charge $2-$4/person (at 1" x 4" each slice when possible). The price variation covers cake, buttercream, filling and fondant covering as well as flavor options. Then I consider how long it will take me to decorate it and multiply the hours by $10-15/hour. Also keep in mind delivery and setup charges. Hope this is helpful!

Permalink Reply by Rhonda Goodwin on November 23, 2011 at 9:16am

Thanks for all the replies... I know I under charged but she is sort of family and I wanted to get my

name out there so I told her $150. The design doesn't look that complicated so I told her she was getting a big discount.

Thanks for all the information though... It is so hard starting out.

you all are the greatest and very helpful.

Permalink Reply by Danielle Dyskin on November 23, 2011 at 4:15pm

Use this as a learning exercise - write down exactly how much time it takes you and the ingredients cost so that you will be able to price better when the orders start pouring in (after they see the beautiful cake you made for her)

 

Permalink Reply by Rhonda Goodwin on November 23, 2011 at 5:35pm

Thank you Danielle,

I guess that is all part of the learning process.

Permalink Reply by Michelle Johnson on December 3, 2011 at 1:04pm

Hi Rhonda,
I know how hard it is to charge but remember this is you talent and business. First few always a lesson to be learned.
I am sure they will appreciate it all the more. I use a program called cake boss to help me see what my materials break down to it help a lot. Thing we don't think of is the boards or dowels or delivery and also cutting the cake or who is going to with all the dowels in it. I am always learning new stuff. When I make a cake I get a referral so pretty soon I am doing strangers ( new ) people and forget to ask for deposit. You know there is just a lot to think about and what I am saying is that we spend a lot of time making sure it perfect of that person so please don't ever feel you are over charging. It's hard to put a price on art specially ones you eat. Its a lovely cake.
Michelle

Permalink Reply by Magdalena Visser on July 4, 2012 at 11:30am

Just by reading all these replies I already learned a lot. It is not easy to get started and we to often allow ourselves to be used. I for one always under quote, because I feel that no one knows me yet. A lot of time goes into the planning an executing of each and every cake. Why are we always to scared to ask our worth? 

Permalink Reply by Mandy Nel on August 3, 2012 at 5:50am

I hear you all!  And I also think that you are so scared to charge what it's really worth because then you may frighten them away and that is not good - especially if it's a cake that you would really really like to make :-)  Oh this wild and wonderful craft - it's sweet but oh sometimes to bitter :-)

Permalink Reply by Del on August 8, 2012 at 6:24pm

Hi All,

Sorry to butt in. My name is Del, I live in UT. I am a kind of self taught cake decorator. I took a couple of Wilton classes but never did all three course. I have taken a few classes from other cake decorators. And have learned a lot on line via google.

I use CakeBoss also. I love it. It really opened my eyes to what the cost really was for me. So now I never give a quote until after I punch in the numbers. Believe it or not since my prices have gone up slightly I have had more orders.

My husband says "If you are worth more then Wal-Mart prices, then that is what you need to charge. And if they want Wal-Mart quality let them go to Wal-Mart"

The questions are:  why do you want to do cakes? what are you worth? Are you competive with other cake decorators around your area who are at the same skill level?

Hope it helps.

Del

 

Permalink Reply by Aronna Sevan on August 15, 2012 at 5:02pm

I personally have not changed for bake good yet since I'm new.......but I do look at it this way. I assume that (most of the time) if someone charges more for their work, then they must be good because if they charge that much, then they must have a clientele that will pay.

versus when something is super cheap then I tend to wonder if something is wrong with it.

but that's me!