Frequently Asked Questions and 7 myths about Weddings

Cupcakes for Weddings

Kudos on your upcoming wedding & your choice to serve wedding cupcakes! To answer your question, I have a simple rule of thumb when it comes to deciding how many wedding cupcakes to serve at a wedding reception:If the wedding cupcakes are going to be served by waiters, plan on 1. 1/4 cupcakes per guest. For example, if you are expecting 100 guests, then you’ll need 125 wedding cupcakes (100 x 1.25 =125). Let me explain my reasoning.

Do you charge more for wedding than other cakes

No, all our cakes are custom so therefore they start at the same base price and go up from there depending on complexity of design. Some Cakes can be baked and decorated in 2-3 days others can take weeks to make the decorations.

Consultations/Taste Test

We offer hourly appointment consultations on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday between 2 and 7pm and on Saturdays after all deliveries have been made. For servings of 100 or more the price is $35.00 which applies/is deducted from the final cost of your order . Please Schedule your appointment after all your ideas and thoughts are set (6-8 months max before event)

So you’ll want each guest to have 1, so you’ll need at least 100. Since waiters will be controlling the flow it’s unlikely you’ll need more than 1 per guest. So why have 1.25 per guest? Well, sometimes people flag down waiters and ask for seconds (esp kids & teens) & sometimes waiters drop things. Imagine a tray hitting the floor as a waiter is navigating the dance floor during the bunny hop – it happens. So having at least 25% extra ensures that you’ll have enough extras just in case.

Fondant Cake

Ea cake tier is 4 inches to 6 in tall, filled with a flavor of your choice, frosted (with Ganache or buttercream) and covered with a layer of fondant. Cakes are presented on a sturdy decorative board.The amount of detail, flowers or structural design can effect the price, and add to the base cost.We require at least 2 weeks for celebration cakes and 2 months for wedding cakes. But you can always check for availability.

Ordering

Your custom design starts at $5.50 Simple Buttercream & Naked Cakes, $6.50 Decorative Buttercream & Fondant , Cupcakes$3.50 ea . 3D cakes start at $250.00 Pricing can go up depending on complexity of design and decorations. Cake orders must be placed at least 2 weeks in advance, we recommend up to 4 months for busy months like May through August. A deposit of 50% the price is required to guarantee date, the balance is due 3-4 weeks prior to the date. Delivery and set up is determined by mileage

We require at least 2 weeks for celebration cakes & 2 months for wedding cakes. But you can always check for availability.
Orders are taken on a first come first served basis so please contact us asap.
All of our cakes are decorated by hand and are unique and we therefore require sufficient time to be able to complete each .
Sometimes due to workload we may be unable to take your commission.
For all cakes a 50% deposit is payable at the time of booking.The deposit is non-refundable,

The balance is payable 3-4 weeks prior to delivery. All deposits are non negotiable and non returnable as deposits are used to purchase the basic ingredients for the order & to book the time slot required, we will turn down other orders which clash with your order. Please note that your booking is not a confirmed order until a deposit has been paid and no work will be undertaken until a deposit has been received.

Can Cakes be Decorated with Non Edible Materials

A modern trend in today’s weddings is the use of items such as brooches,jewelery , dragees, gumpaste flowers , figures, decorations, feathers and such to decorate your cake. Such items are not edible unless stated otherwise and must be removed from your cake/s before serving. We use such items at our customer’s request and accepts no responsibility for any physical harm that may arise from their use.

Licenced characters ( such as Disney, marvel etc)Will be purchased by us from a licensed dealer only and the cost price passed onto the customer, We will not add a profit to these items, what we pay, you pay. The use of cheaper alternatives on cakes is contrary to copyright law and we can get a hefty fine for breach of a company’s intellectual property rights. For example:We are happy to make an ‘ice princess’ cake in the style of the frozen theme but all characters will be purchased as above.

If you could either send us details of the toys you are going to use or provide us with them for reference (we will return them) it would be of help, as these toys vary hugely in scale and size.

CANCELLATIONS

When ordering your cake you will be required to pay a 50% deposit. This is non-refundable. If you wish to postpone your cake until a later date or put monies paid towards any future cake order we can discuss the percentage of deposit transferred depending on how far ahead the new date is.

Please be aware that if you pay for your cake in full at the time of booking & the cake is subsequently cancelled, the maximum refund given will be 50% of the total cost unless, in the case of celebration cakes, a cake is cancelled 7 days or less before the due date then there will be no refund if payment has been made in full. We are sorry if this sounds harsh but we turn down other orders to create your special cake.

In the case of wedding cakes, if the cake is cancelled one month or less before the due date then there will be no refund if the cake has been paid for in full. If the wedding cake is cancelled with more than one month to go we will refund up to 50% .

Changes to Orders

Design

Any changes made to the original quoted design must be agreed to a minimum of 14 days before the order, additions to the original order are subject a price change for any extra work and supplies required. Unfortunately if the design change is dramatic we will have to charge for supplies already purchased for the previous design.The deadline for accepting any changes for celebration, novelty and wedding cakes is one month before delivery date.

Delivery

Normally $20 in the Menifee area, more for further away and weddings start at $50.00. We require the name of the contact person at the venue at the time of delivery. If there is no-one available to receive the cake at the agreed delivery time and the person who ordered the cake cannot be contacted within 30 min of the agreed time it will be returned to our shop for collection within 24 hours, if not collected or a new time agreed it will be kept for a further 24 hours then disposed of

At this point your full payment will be forfeit and the order deemed complete.
An alternate delivery or collection time will be chargeable depending on day/ time/ distance, re- arrangements of collection will be at our convenience and occurs an additional $20.00 charge for an hour waiting slot( payable in advance)

We will not be responsible for any consequential loss due to non-delivery as a result of a customers fault.The contact person will be required to sign a confirmation that the cake has been received.Once the cake has been collected or delivered, set-up, and signed for we cannot be held responsible for any interference or damage to the cake.

Wedding Cake delivery

Wedding cakes are normally delivered on the day of the wedding unless otherwise specified
Please note that once a cake has been delivered and signed for responsibility for the cake is then held by the customer and The Blooming Bakery cannot be held responsible for any damages thereafter.

Set up

Set-up is charged in 15 minute increments ( after the inclusive 20 minutes included in tiered cake prices) at $20.00 per every 15 minutes and is the waiting charge if over the initial 20 minutes if we need to wait at the venue.If the cake is to be set up by staff at the venue,we will explain how the cake is to be displayed and obtain a signature to verify that you have done so.

Cake Cutting

We do not provide cake cutting service,however we will provide a cake cutting guide on request. You will need to use the cutting guides provided to get promised servings from the ordered cake.

Outdoor Cake Display

Cakes are heavy and require a sturdy table, and optimal room temperature of 75 degrees or below.Customer will be responsible for the location of the cake. Customer will b e responsible for a stable and level cake presentation table upon which the cake is to be displayed. Summer day conditions can melt chocolate,buttercream and fresh cream covered cakes and if you choose to order one, we cannot be held responsible for any mishaps.

Right to the photographs of the cake

We keep the irrevocable and unrestricted right to use and publish photographs of customers cake or pictures in which they may be included. For, e.g., advertising, display, website and internet promotion, photographic contests, public display, cake industry publications, studio display, television advertising, magazine advertising.

Right of Withdrawal

We have a right of withdrawal for any placed orders due to contributing factors For e.g., non-payment, non-cooperation, changes to order etc.
Cancellation by us for a reason beyond our control and not in reference to the customer will result in the customers choice of the order being transferred to an alternative day or full refund.
Cancellation due to customer error or non cooperation is dealt with as per set out earlier in these terms of sale.

If the cake is damaged after we have left

If you have an accident with the cake of any means we will endeavour to fix it for you at our hourly rate of $20.00 an hour, but if we are required to travel to a venue the hourly rates start from the time we leave until the time we return to our business.

Cakes should be left in the box at room temperature on a flat surface in a cool room. Do not refrigerate else the icing will sweat and wilt, only refrigerate after cutting the cake( if required).

It is also not a good idea to store cakes in places such as a garage, conservatory, cellar or cold store or in the kitchen where it could become susceptible to steam, condensation & cooking odors.

Complaints are rare so when they do occur we take them seriously. Corrections to inscriptions & minor changes when things are wrong can usually be carried out on the same day in most cases and you are required to give us the opportunity to do this. You must notify us of the problem upon delivery. The cake, or a large part of cakes, MUST BE RETURNED to us within 3 days so that we can fairly assess the nature of the complaint. Photographs of cakes will not be accepted. **if the cake is eaten we will not be able to confirm your complaint so please contact us ASAP before anyone else touches the cake.** The maximum refund we will offer at anytime depending on the outcome of our assessment, will be the cost of the cake .. No further compensation will be offered.

7 Myths about Wedding Cakes

7 Myths about Wedding Cakes Posted on February 23, 2013 by Amelia Carbine • Every once in a while, an article will surface that claims to be cake advice for brides. Even worse are the articles that say they are budget saving advice. Many of the writers of these articles know nothing about cakes or the work that cake decorators do. If you want good advice look for advice from actual cake decorators. Here are some of the top myths that I feel need to be addressed to help both the bride and the cake decorator.

Myth #1: Order a cake with fake tiers and serve sheet cakes instead. This myth is suggested on just about every “money saving” article you can find and I believe that is is one of the biggest offenders where cake decorators are concerned. A fake tier of cake would be a decorated piece of styrofoam or sometimes rice krispies treats depending on the cake decorators preferences. The cake is then covered with frosting and decorations so as to appear to be real cake. There are so called experts out there who say that since a cake decorator will charge less for a sheet cake, just order a sheet cake and a fake wedding cake. The error in this thinking is that the cake decorator is still baking the same amount of cake and doing the same amount of decorating. It doesn’t make sense for a decorator to charge less for the same amount of work. The only exception to this myth is if the bride orders a small cake with sheet cakes to supplement. This way, the decorator will not be spending the time and ingredients on the extra work of fake tiers. Just understand that this will mean a smaller cake that may not have the grand look you may have hoped for.

Myth #2: A buttercream cake is less expensive than a fondant cake. Ok. This may not be entirely false. There are cake decorators out there that charge for every element of the cake. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong. It is just the method that they came up with for pricing. However, I would be brave enough to say that most cake decorators don’t have an extra fee for fondant. The reason for this is that most cake decorators prefer to decorate with fondant. They would rather eat the cost of fondant so they don’t have to bother with trying to make their buttercream smooth, which is a skill that a lot of decorators have a hard time perfecting. So the best thing to do is ask your decorator if there is an extra fee for fondant instead of assuming that there is.

Myth # 3: Save money by placing fresh flowers on the cake instead of sugar flowers. In the long run, it might be possible to save a little money by using fresh flowers over gum paste flowers. But the money saved will not be significant enough to justify the health risk involved. Many fresh flower varieties are poisonous. Placing fresh flowers on a cake can make your guests sick. Yes, there are some flowers that are not toxic. However, unless the flower is organically grown, the flower has been sprayed with pesticides that are also harmful and can make your guests sick. The other issue with fresh flowers is that some florists don’t think to wash and sanitize the flowers before placing them on a cake. Chances are the flowers are not clean to food safety standards. For these reasons, it is worth any extra money to pay for sugar flowers. If you do need to save money, consider a cake design with just one or a few large flowers instead of a huge arrangement.

Myth #4: Don’t let the decorator know your budget. Some people believe that if the bride tells the cake decorator their budget, the decorator will charge every penny of that budget and not give as much cake. The fact is that most cake decorators are artists first and businessmen last. A cake decorator wants to make the best cake they can. And most cake decorators would rather give you more for your money than less. In fact, I dare say that most cake decorators undercharge. But a cake decorator needs to know a budget in order to design a custom cake. Imagine going into a car dealership and telling the dealer that you want a car. Now imagine the car dealer spending all day showing you Lamborghini's and Rolls Royce just to find out that you only have a Honda budget. Be straight forward with your decorator and they will be straight forward with you.

Myth #5: Wedding cake is more expensive than birthday cake. Again, this could be the case for some decorators but for the most part, to a cake decorator, cake is cake and the fee is the same. Where the pricing gets more expensive is in the details. Wedding cakes tend to be larger and more elaborate. It’s as simple as that. You can always ask your decorator if they charge more per serving for wedding cakes and if they do, they might have a good reason why. For example, if they add more layers of cake and filling for a wedding cake, it might cost more.

Myth #6: Save money by making your own cake. Unless you are a very experienced cake decorator and understand what is involved in making a cake, I would highly discourage this. I would even discourage an experienced decorator from making her own wedding cake. Wedding cakes require days of work. The last thing a bride needs is the extra stress of making and decorating an elaborate wedding cake. Trust me on this one. It’s hard enough making a siblings cake. Making your own is not a good idea.

Myth #7: Let a friend or relative make your cake. There are exceptions to this myth. If you happen to have a friend or family member who is a very experienced cake decorator that is willing to give you a discount, sure. Just beware of those who claim to know what they are doing and in the end really don’t. There is a website called CakeWrecks that is all about cakes gone bad. The last thing you want is a wedding cake worthy of a spot on CakeWrecks. I hear all the time, stories of cake decorators getting phone calls at the last minute from brides or mothers of brides who chose an inexperienced decorator. They call in tears over the horror that is their cake and beg the decorator to fix their problem. At this point, it is too late. The decorator has cakes of her own and does not have the time to drop everything to rescue your disaster. Before letting anyone make a cake for your wedding, ask for pictures of their work. Make sure they have made a tiered cake before. There is a lot involved in making a wedding cake. Even a very simple design is very complex. A wedding cake is considered the centerpiece of the wedding reception. Cutting corners is risky. This quote from an article that I read sums up the absurdness of these myths. “Remember, all cakes are created equal — flour, sugar, and butter — so there’s no need to spend a fortune on one.” Be wary of articles like these. Clearly all cakes are NOT created equal. That is like saying a dollar pair of flip flops are the same as a pair of Louis Vuittons. Your wedding cake is a one time purchase. If you want a Louis Vuitton cake, don’t expect a flip flop price. Of course there is an option for every budget. Just don’t risk making these mistakes.