Wedding Cake Fiasco

concord

concord

Helen
Jun 3, 2009
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Concord
www.concordflowershop.com
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Ma
I had a small wedding to deliver today that should have been a stop and drop. Personal flowers and nothing else except for some silk flowers for the cake. The cake was very important to the bride and she had a picture of exactly how she wanted it done. The cake was supposed to be seperated layers with silk hydrangea placed facing out from in betwen each layer. Unfortunatley, the baker didn't get that memo and all the layers were stacked with no spacers. They had no idea what to do and after much discussion they finally agreed to attempt to seperate the layers so I could decorate it like the picture I had been given. Ofcourse this all took time and I had very little time for my part. The layers were not far enough apart still but I did the best I could and ducked out the back just before they arrived for the reception...aaaah! Here's a picture.
 

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I generally stay clear of cakes, too, but it wasn't going to get done the way she wanted if i didn't get involved. Also this place refers me a ton of weddings so I felt I should try to help them get this right for everybody's sake. The same place once froze wedding flowers(not mine) by putting everything in the freezer and called me 2 hours before the wedding to replace it all. It looked like a DIY job so our rush job looked much better than the original which was bad even before it was frozen. They paid us for the replacement and sent us a gift certificate and have been referring me business ever since.
 
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We'll see about the hero part. The flowers should have been placed in deeper to truly look like the photo, but there wasn't enough room the way they had to seperate the layers at the last minute. The Bride knows the cake was wrong because she saw it before I arrived and told them, so at least it won't be my fault.The extra 90 minutes not charged for is one reason I wonder why I do weddings.
 
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concord said:
We'll see about the hero part. The flowers should have been placed in deeper to truly look like the photo, but there wasn't enough room the way they had to seperate the layers at the last minute. The Bride knows the cake was wrong because she saw it before I arrived and told them, so at least it won't be my fault.The extra 90 minutes not charged for is one reason I wonder why I do weddings.
Click to expand...

I think that you should be congratulated and elated that it WASN'T a total fiasco, but, a controlled de-railment! :)
 
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Cakes have become one of the most time sucking parts of weddings, so many are not on time and the waiting is rediculous. I love doing cakes one of my favorite parts, but I am getting to the point that I want to give the flowers to the baker to do that part for several reasons...

1. the costs of the cakes is sometimes the same or more than I am paid and to refund the money for something I did scares me...
2. the cakes are sometimes not made well and I get scared that if I touch it it will fall, slide or something else..(cakes have the same amount of basement bettys in their arena as we do)
3. they are often very late, they run so behind and I have to wait and I charge up front for this because it happens so often...
4. miscommunications like the one you had, there are just too many people involved at this point and things like this can happen..

My brother and SIL had a cake made by a budding cake person that came with a cake that was so less than perfect that I wanted to cry...I had made a custom cakeboard and was doing a lot of flowers all over the cake,but when the cake came it wasn't done, I had to wait to decorate it, it was crooked had to hide that, the swiss dot pattern was so off it was rediculous, the frosting was mottled instead of mixed properly, and the buttercream was not even spread flawlessly...I was lucky to have brought a whole lot of extra flowers and I fixed the whole thing, but this was for my brother so I just did it, if it was for a real bride I would have lost on that deal...big time..
 
The saga continued when I arrived at work today I had a message from the reception venue. They broke the cake top Love Birds when they moved the cake to cut it. They wanted to get another one from me to replace it. Ofcourse the Bride bought it somewhere else, but I had the box with a web site address for them. They did say the Bride was pleased with the cake ...but I'll believe that when I hear it from her. Mother of Bride from my Sat wedding called to say how much they loved the reception flowers I did. That wedding was 3x the price and 1/2 the aggravation. No weddings over the 4th thank goodness. I need a break !
 
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I love taking care of decorating the wedding cake.
I am uneasy about leaving such an important part of the decor to a cake maker. After all, they would never ask me to bake their cake.
I find that I can take a plain undecorated dessert, and turn it into a showpeice.
Sometimes, I talk brides into placing the decorated cake right inside the entrance doors of the reception room, so the guests have to walk around it to get to their guest tables.
I, too have had a couple of troubles with cakes, but only twice in almost 25 years.
Once with a company who delivered the wrong cake, nothing at all like what it was supposed to be, so I didn't touch it, and let the bride fight that one out with the cake guy.
The other was when a family member made the cake, and it was so bad that the mom called in tears, and said "Just fix it!!"
It consisted of one 10" round, and looked like my 8 year old had iced it.
We quickly covered 2 round forms with galex leaves to make 2 extra teirs, put a 54" round just inside the reception doors, and draped the linens with lots of individual flowers, and covered the cake with individual blooms.
Mom and bride were happy, the aunt looked good, and I got to charge an extra 300$
I always charge between 75$ and 500$ to decorate a cake table...maybe that's why I don't mind doing it.
My event/florist friend extrordinaire once told me if you don't like doing something, it's probably because you don't charge enough to do it.
Maybe she has a point.
JP
 
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OB1 said:
Mom and bride were happy, the aunt looked good, and I got to charge an extra 300$
I always charge between 75$ and 500$ to decorate a cake table...maybe that's why I don't mind doing it.
My event/florist friend extrordinaire once told me if you don't like doing something, it's probably because you don't charge enough to do it.
Maybe she has a point.
JP
Click to expand...

Amen on that, Joanne. My only problem is you just simply cannot pay me enough. If I were doing weddings for a shop that I didn't own, I would probably enjoy it again.

A little side note for newbies. I outright lie to the baker about time. If I'm not dealing with the baker, I tell the bride to lie. By several hours unless it is an outdoor reception, then you just have to deal with it. The reason is because I have NEVER seen a cake show up when they are told it should be there, they are always at least an hour late. I don't get it, but that's the way it is, unless the venue is supplying the cake.
 
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7-25-09 Wedding Bill Knight 150.jpg100_1081.jpgI had those stupid doves too..........last year, posted pictures here because the cake was so crooked........... ??? does it have to do with the doves???
 
The doves look like seals..and holey crooked cake batman...looks like my brother's nightmare cake...
 
100_1084.jpgoops, forgot the picture after we straightened it........ problems arose when "Aunt of the Bride" did the cake - not enough frosting, antique cake stand and Doves put on with one imbedded into frosting one on top.....
 
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