04/05/2024
Let’s talk cake costs!
This one’s for the bakers as well as customers.
As I’m getting ready for my May weddings, I’ve ordered in what I need for the first 4 wedding cakes, 3 x 3 tier cakes and 1 x 2 tier, now all my cakes have an average of 4 layers per tier and I don’t do small cakes, if you’ve seen my cakes you know I love a tall cake.
So how much have I spent from eggs and butter to chocolate, cake cards, fondant and cleaning products etc…
Well the grand total is £955!! Yup nearly £1000, now don’t get me wrong my cake order for boards, fondant and colours will last me past May as I like to get in as much as I can as these orders take time to get to me… but £600 of that is stuff I will only use on the upcoming cakes.
Cake makers very often get replies of “I wasn’t expecting that much” or “I didn’t want to pay that much for just a cake” we also get constantly belittled in the press by people who say we rip people off or “don’t use the word wedding as they double the price”
And this is so hurtful to our industry and simply not true!
When costing a cake we have to not only include everything we need to buy for the cake but also include the hours they take to make and no cake maker should be working for less than minimum wage (and a lot do) cake makers should in fact take their skill level in to consideration when determining their hourly wage (remember it’s a skilled job), we then also have to include tax, electricity, sundries and business expenses and also profit. That’s a lot to put in to costing, see you aren’t just paying for what you see in front of you.
Remember we are working from the second you first message us, sitting and replying to your emails, drawing up designs, shopping for what we need, making cake samples, going to wedding fairs and markets etc etc it all needs to be accounted for, just as you would want to be paid for every second you are in the office.
We’ve also spent years getting to the stage we are at, learning the skills and tricks to get those perfect looking cakes, along with courses for hygiene and registering our businesses (which is a legal requirement when making food whether you charge or not)
So when thinking about how much you might need to spend on a cake please take this all in to consideration.
Then when it comes to weddings and large celebration orders, personally I treat all cake pricing the same whether it’s a small single tier or a large 6 tier, the only extras large cakes get is set up and cake tastings, but we do also tend to spend many more hours speaking to customers on these cakes than a small birthday cake and this does get taken in to consideration. Also the majority will be professional wedding cake makers who have spent years making sure their service for weddings is top notch, that their skill level creates that perfect wedding cake for your big day, as you expect from all wedding services.
So when you say “but I’ve been quoted so much cheaper” you have to realise that’s because there will be differences in the bakers, what’s their skill level? What size do they make their cakes? How well do they make their cakes? That cake maker most likely isn’t costing correctly or even paying themselves minimum wage, just because someone charges more it doesn’t mean they are ripping you off, it just means they have worked out their costings correctly and are paying themselves a correct wage but you won’t ever hear of a millionaire wedding cake maker!
We charge what we do to make a living, to put food on our tables, to keep our little businesses going.
And we have to keep up with the ever changing rising costs to ourselves, we know cake is a luxury and a treat, but that doesn’t mean those working hard to create something special for you don’t deserve to make their businesses succeed, to us it isn’t “Just a cake”
And the majority are doing it all alone, 10 roles in one!
I am very lucky that I have such wonderful and understanding customers who see the skill and effort I put in to each cake.
I just hope we can open the eyes of those who see our work as “just cake” as it feels like a constant battle to be taken seriously and not belittled.
Thank you for taking the time to read this far.
Please share and let’s get this out to those who seem to want to take us down and ruin our industry. (Frankie Bridge, Andy Peters, Martin Louis and pretty much every wedding blog out there!)
