Today I listened to a radio programme in which an “expert” - and yes the quotation marks denote sarcasm - gave her two hot tips for keeping wedding costs down. They were….can you guess?….”don’t tell them it’s a wedding, you could have a tiered white cake for any occasion and it’ll be half the price” (no really, she said that) and “negotiate”.
So I thought I would attempt to myth-bust this cliche. First things first: “the minute you mention the word WEDDING they double the prices!”. I’m not suggesting no-one does this. But:
I. Don’t. Do. It.
I don’t care if it’s a wedding or a birthday or just a Tuesday. My prices are calculated based on the materials and the time it’ll take me to make. I really don’t mind why you want a 5 tier cake, so it doesn’t change the price.
Some small business MIGHT charge more for weddings, but that’s only because wedding clients generally want a different service than for other events. They expect meetings with their suppliers, tasters or sketches or practice hair dos. They probably want the cake or flowers to be delivered and set up on a Saturday. They almost certainly expect lots of contact with the vendor, to be reassured and congratulated, to be not-just-a-number, and generally loved.
For me, if you’re ordering a big cake just because it’s Tuesday then you still get all of the above (except the Saturday delivery, Tuesday delivery would be better in that scenario), so it still costs the same. I also charge the same for a July wedding as for a January one. My prices are fair, and I’m proud of that.
And as for negotiating: well I can’t deny there are some wedding suppliers who probably expect you to do that. Not me. I don’t put a negotiating margin into my quotes so I can’t take the price down just because you’ve asked. However charming you are, I don’t really want to work for a lower hourly rate just because you’ve asked. I’m really sorry but there it is.
So, how can you manage your cake budget? How can you keep costs down? Lots of obvious things, but my number one tip is:
Don’t just blindly follow your venue’s approved supplier list. For items such as cake, photography and floristry you usually aren’t tied to their approved suppliers list. Most big venues charge suppliers anything up to 10% of the order value just to be on the list, so you might be unknowingly paying the venue an extra 10% for…not very much, really. Ask your venue what the suppliers are paying for the recommendation.
The same goes for wedding planners. If you have one, find out if they take commission from the supplier. If they do, that is probably being passed on to you too. Maybe it’s worth it for removing the hassle, maybe it’s not.
I am not paying any venues for recommendations - whether it’s £200 for “website administration” or 10% of every order. If a venue or caterer recommends me, they just genuinely think I’m worth recommending.
What else? well….
Do your homework. You possibly have a budget in mind, and it’s probably based on the only other cake you’ve ever bought which was that Colin the Caterpillar for your mate at work two years ago. I do understand that it’s hard and you haven’t a clue what’s realistic. My (albeit vague) price bands are here, to give you an idea, so you can think about what you really want to spend.
How much cake do you really need? For big weddings, people generally don’t need as much cake as they think. If you have 300 guests, they won’t all take a slice of cake, they’ve all eaten so much. But you don’t want the cake to look small - you don’t want people looking at a tiny cake in a huge room and thinking “budget”. So have dummy tiers. It’ll reduce the price but give you all the impact.
Find a cake maker near your venue. If your venue is in west London delivery will be less than if it’s a 4-hour round trip. (And see my list of free-delivery venues here!)
Tell your baker what your budget is. If you go in with dreams of hand-piped lace to match your dress and gold leaf and thousands of sugar flowers, it may well be more than you’d hoped. But if you tell me how much you have to spend I will be able to suggest designs that will work for you.
Semi-naked cakes are easier on the budget but shhhh, don’t tell everyone. They still LOOK a million dollars.
Finally, I’ve been building my little business for 11 years and in that time I have found that the wedding “industry” is almost entirely made up of a collection of small business, which have been created out of nothing by a passionate and creative person, who is almost certainly not a millionaire. They’ve put their heart and soul into it, because they just LOVE flowers, cakes, making you look beautiful, recording your amazing party, whatever….and they are always charging a fair price for the service they offer. We really are a very nice bunch of people. Don’t be put off by lazy journalism!