An Insider Report: How To Decode Wedding Cake Prices
Why do wedding cakes cost so much? They're made out of flour, not gold. Do you suspect you're being gouged? Here is the quick and dirty on wedding cake prices.
First off, know the lingo. Wedding cake prices are calculated by serving. Most cakes are priced from $1.50-$6.00 per serving. Do the math before you fall in love and avoid sticker shock.
Here's what goes into a wedding cake, and how it affects the cost.
Yes, Virginia, Size Matters
The bigger the cake, the higher the price. We're not talking just diameter here. Six tiers of sugary perfection are great. But you better be willing to pay extra for it.A three-tiered cake is standard. Anything more involves more work for the baker: baking, frosting, assembling. Keeping a tall cake upright is a trick, and the baker will pass that price on to you.
Now you know why sheet cakes are so cheap. If your budget is tight, buy a small wedding cake. Make up the difference with sheet cakes.
What's In The Mix
The most basic building block in cake-ology is the cake itself. And the type of wedding cake you choose can drastically affect its price.The most basic cake is a twist on a sponge cake — often a genoise. Think flavors like chocolate, vanilla ... or even banana or carrot. They're safe, crowd-pleasers, and the least expensive.
Cheesecakes are at the other end of the spectrum (in price, not flavor). They're absolutely decadent — and time-intensive to make. You'll be lucky to find a cheesecake at $6 a serving. Most of them are quite a bit more.
It's impossible to name every type of wedding cake out there. We haven't even touched pound cake, whose price is somewhere between a sponge and cheesecake.
But here's a rule of thumb: The more time-intensive a cake is to make, the steeper the price.
And here's a rule for the other thumb: The more "stuff" in your cake (liquers, fruit, nuts), the higher the price.
Beauty That's Precisely Skin Deep
Ah, icing. You either love it or you hate it. Your choice of frosting will have to reflect your personal tastes, and your budget.
Pro: It tastes great. It's easy to use. That makes it inexpensive.
Con: It's harder to get that perfectly smooth look so popular these days, and it doesn't do well in the heat.
CREAM CHEESE.
This is the traditional frosting for a carrot cake.
Pro: The price is about the same as Buttercream. It tastes great.
Con: You can't have intricate designs. But if you use live flowers on your cake that doesn't matter.
FONDANT.
Think of this as sugar playdough. It's used in ultra-hip wedding cakes.
Pro: A good cake designer can do almost anything with it. It pleats. It folds. It does everything but cut the cake for you.
Con: It's expensive. And the least tasty of the frostings.
It's Hip to be Square
Square cakes are very cool, but they'll cost you.A square cake requires special pans (this you knew). They're also harder to frost. The edges have to be built up, and look even. And as you know by now, more work means more money.
So there you have it. The basic parts of your wedding cake, and how they affect the price. What you spend on your cake is a personal decision. Armed with this information, sally forth into the wedding cake world and get the most for your money.
It's your day. You deserve it.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
hi everyone, i am a cake decorator from australia and have been reading all these comments. why doesn’t anybody make there own fondant? it is a lot cheaper and tastes a million times better and is always lovely and fresh? as for pricing all our cakes (wedding, birthday, engagement,christening etc) start at $3 p/serving and go up from there. then we add costs for extras added on by the client (if they choose decadent cake wedding toppers more decoration etc) and add delivery and set up acording to distance travelled. Once people understabd the work involved in cakes they ucsually then understand the price tag.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
For my parents 50th anniversary, I ordered a 3 tiered, square, 5 ingredient pound cake, with pearls trim at the base of each layer, a fondant bow on top in in shimmer gold and a one letter monogram to be placed on the center of the top layer, to be delivered 5 miles down the road. I paid $610.00 including tax and delivery.
We received a 3 tiered round (not square) cake, icing was ok, fondant bow was hideous (not like the picture), monogram was good. No pearl trim. My mother and several others said it definitely was not a 5 ingredient pound cake. They said it was more like plain “wedding cake.” (The caterer said it was.) I asked for a price adjustment. What price should I pay for the wrong cake?
February 7th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Matthew,
WAY WAY WAY underpriced. My shop startes at $3.25 per serving for buttercream cake…everything else gets added on. There’s a great chart that details servings per cake size on Earlene’s Cakes website. She’s also in Texas. An 8 inch cake has 15 servings, a 12″ cake has 45 servings, and a 16″ cake has 90 servings. Your wife made cakes w/over 245 servings…and got paid less than $1.00 a serving.
Of course I don’t know the legalities of home food businesses in Texas, but that may also impact the price.
Diane
February 6th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I have a question for my wife, she just started doing cakes for weddings and birthdays and other events and she is always undercharging her cakes and i want to help her, she just recently got a order on a wedding cake that has 9 seperate cakes in it (1 16in, 1 12in, 7 8in) and the lady that ordered it seen it out of a wilton book and the book said that it feeds 300 people. she is using butter cream icing and fresh flowers and she does great work and took the job 5 days before the wedding and only charged 200 dollars ( which i think is way cheap even here in el paso, texas ) but my wife is a good person and she doesnt want to hurt anybody, do you have any advice? pricing? anything?
January 24th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
HI!
add delivery (within 10 miles) and set up too.
There is a non-dairy whip cream substance out there (sold here in california in Smart and Final stores) called Pastry Pride. How much would a 4 tier (12, 10, 8, 6) with dots as the decorations (fresh flowers going to be put on the cake) be with basic cakes and fillilngs?
thanks!
January 10th, 2008 at 2:10 am
Wow! I am looking at these starting prices per person on wedding cake and I am so glad I am from Missouri! The average starting price per person is about $1.75.
October 19th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Just came across this post as I was searching for Satin Ice and wanted to let Linda know where she can get Satin Ice fondant. I am not a retailer or reseller of Satin Ice, but I do use it on my cakes. I buy from Into the Oven, and have always found their prices to be great, the customer service to be exceptional, and their delivery costs reasonable. They have an online store.
On another note, when I price my wedding cakes, I quote 3.25 a serving for bc, an additional 1.00 for fondant, and additional for gumpaste flowers, per bow, etc., I also do sculpted cakes and usually flat fee those. I did a gator cake (Univ. FL grads!) and charged around $300. for it, but that was for a friend.
I use Wilton fondant when I am making some kind of cake decoration that is made with a 50/50 mix of fondant and gumpaste and most likely won’t be eaten. I would not use it on a cake because of the taste. If I need some for decorations or dummy cakes, I purchase it at Michaels/JoAnne’s with the 40% off coupon that appears regularly in my Sunday paper!
Many people will tell you your prices are high in an effort to get you to lower them Don’t do it–you deserve to get paid for your work.
One other note. Cake servings do not include the top tier of the cake since that is for the bride & groom to take home for their first anniversary (you should provide packaging for that as a part of the wedding cake deal–you can find these online). So your other tiers should provide the correct number of servings for the guests.
September 8th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
On pricing cakes - it varies so much be area of the country. You need to find out what people are charging in your area. Pretend you’re a bride (or sister, or mother) and call around to cake designers in your area, asking for a ballpark on 2-3 different cake styles. Have something in mnd like 200 people in buttercream with fresh flowers, or square with basketweave, etc. Compare each cake designer for cost, options, and customer service. I do this yearly, as prices raise frequently. I try to price my cakes to include variations, as it’s confusing to the bride to compare cake designers who have alot of add-on charges. Don’t call the grocery store retail bakeries, as you are offering a handmade, fresh, custom product, which they cannot.
September 5th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
I am researching on how to price my cakes. I am having a really hard time with it. The majority of my cakes are made with buttercream icing and fondant over top. My cakes are always different so pricing is hard. I know that I am undercharging by alot but I don’t want anyone to feel that they are getting ripped off. Most people do not know the time that is involved. I bake and decorate out of my kitchen so there is no one to assist with the prep work. When you do it yourself it can be time consuming. I find myself making flowers, bow loops or what ever is needed a week in advance. Everyting is edible so all the decorations are made out of fondant and need time to dry out. I was surprised however that you said that buttercream icing was less expensive. The cost of butter has gone up significantly. I live in Pennsylvania and butter is almost $5.00 a pound when not on sale. I have found that Land O Lakes butter is the best butter to use. It has a very good buttery taste. Most people say that they can’t taste the difference but I can. I guess this is just a personal preference. I do however agree with Shara. When it comes to fondant the Wilton fondant does taste horrible. I use Satin Ice fondant and I can only get it from a bakery in Chicago. No one sells it around here. So I should charge a little more because It costs me more, but I feel guilty. I try to take pride in my work and I want all icing (buttercream and fondant) to taste good. After all, what’s a great looking cake if it tastes horrible. It does take alot of time to decorate and the end result is good but if tastes bad someone is going to pay you just for he look. (Then there is no repeat business) I am just getting started so I did price low to get the business but the longer I do this I will be stuck. Please help me with determining price. I understand that wedding cakes are more money and should be quoted by the serving but what about birthday, communion, christening and showers? Thanks for your help!
August 30th, 2007 at 1:14 am
I believe that you should charge according to how much you value your work. If you think your work is worth $4, $6 or $8 per slice, go ahead. Cake decorating is really an art when the work is clean and harmonious and not everyone can do it. Not every baker can do it right.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:36 am
Don’t forget that some of the costs cover the time spent shopping or ordering products, samples, books and magazines, continuing education, boxes and paper products, research and even insurance.
June 9th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
This is my ? . if I give a wedding cake as a gift. am I responciple for the reception ? Plates,Forks napkins and serving as well. you can send me an instant message at hamilton2904@yahoo.com thankyou JC hamilton
May 1st, 2007 at 8:11 am
i was surprised to see that you said that buttercream was cheaper than fondant. i find the opposite, butter is so expensive (i’m in canada) that my fondant cakes are almost always significantly cheaper…and you’re right buttercream tastes soooo much better
April 27th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Rosa,
Thanx for your response. I am in Chicago (obviously a major city). The list of price ranges you gave me will be very helpful in the future. After falling in love with my cake samples, the customer looked at several possible designs. Most of the ones she liked were buttercream with royal flowers, fresh flowers or fondant accents (e.g. ribbons). Therefore, I am comfortable that I quoted her good prices in the $3-$4 price range. Thank you.
April 27th, 2007 at 6:46 am
Hi there. Your price quote is really competitive if your flowers are Royal Icing and the cake is covered in fondant. But if youre flowers are buttercream and so is the icing, then you are on the higher end. If your cake is covered in fondant and your flowers are fondant as well you are well underpriced.
When you quote a customer a price, remember to sell the product first. Show them your album of cakes, show them the flowers so they can see the result. Visit them at their house with a taste sample of your cake. I dont know where you are but here in Miami, exclusive cakes like the ones you bake at home with fondant icing and fondant flowers for more than 100 people sell easily for $5-6.00 per person. If you are in a big city, then that is the price.
Buttercream - $2.00 per person
Buttercream and royal icing flowers $3.00-4.00 per person
Fondant and royal icing $4.00-4.50 per person.
Fondant and fondant flowers $5.00-6.00 per person
Good Luck
April 24th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I have been doing cakes for some time, but I am new to wedding akes. My first potential customer said my prices were higher than any she’d seen. I quoted her $3.00 per serving for the simpliest design I showed her to $4.00 per serving for the most elaborate. This made the total price of the cakes (which ranged in serving size from 115-172) $348-$688. This seems perfectly reasonable. I cannot imagine where she’d find any baker to do wedding cakes for much less. [Maybe she was comparing a homemade/handdecorated cake (mine) to a grocery store bakery or something. That’s not a fair comparison. It’s like apples and oranges.] What have you all seen out there?
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:17 am
i was wondering….the cost of the wedding cake…meaning the serving per slice….is still seperate from the cost of the details and type of cake….for example….we were looking for a cake to serve 80 to 100 people….that would already be a certain price right…then what we want on it will cost another price right….sorry it sounds a bit confusing…but i’m not that sure how to explain..it…
April 17th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
I never understood either why cakes were soooo expensive until I took 4 courses in Cake Decorating. I have learned so much and now respect those bakers and designers. ALOT of work goes into this. It is an ART and designers will charge for the time it takes from baking to preparing the flowers ahead of time to laying down the pieces. It can all take as little as 4 hours to the most 8 hours. It is not just flour…. baking a good quality cake is just one small aspect of it all, decorating it requires an artist. I learned to do beautiful cakes and trust me, I have no interest in selling them -the liability is just to big , risky and costly. No way, cakes are not just flour…..
April 14th, 2007 at 7:14 am
I noticed that you have some dated information on fondant. Not all fondant is created equal. Wilton fondant tastes terrible and is what a lot of home bakers use because you can get it at Wal-mart, Hobby Lobby or Michaels.
Some options today are Fondx fondant which has a wonderful flavor. Rolled white chocolate is an option as well and comes in white chocolate (all kinds of colors too) and white chocolate raspberry(ivory in color). They also have chocolate rolled icing and it is pretty good too. The price for fondant around this area is $4.25 to $5.95 and up based on design. I think what people get confused about is the texture of fondant. It is more like a dough instead of a whipped icing. Butter-cream icing always goes under the fondant so you are getting both cakes in one sometimes for just a dollar more a slice that is going to hold up better in the heat and show less imperfection.
All of the brides magazines show fondant cakes and most of us no matter how smooth you get the buttercream cannot make it look perfect like fondant. When a bride asks me to make her cake look like fondant I charge fondant prices because I have to work with the buttercream twice as long. All the time I am thinking I wish this were a FONDANT cake! Some of us have even gone to a same price for buttercream or fondant cake to encourage the bride to get the prettier presentation cake. Another thing when I work on a cake I am considering myself as a sugar artist. I do things that most bakeries do not do. I take extra time and I pay more for quality ingredients versus that cake came in frozen and has been frozen for one month that someone is on a massive time limit to make or possibly even have to ice on a scale to make sure you do not get one ounce more icing than you should.
April 6th, 2007 at 11:15 am
I am trying to get prices on a wedding cake for approx. 60 people. The cake type I want is hummingbird cake with cream cheese icing. The prices I am being quoted are around $5/serving. Anyone know if this is a normal price?
March 18th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
how much does wedding cakes ( the whole cake) usually cost?
March 17th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Comparing prices of wedding cakes and fees for deivery,
Can you help me.
Example: Wedding cake for 150 people, 3 tier, 40 miles driving distance, simplly decorated.
March 10th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Thanks for clarifying this!! I have so many brides-to-be that are surprised when I say I start at only $2.00 per serving! They just don’t know what is involved!!!
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
I am wanting to know how to price wedding cakes, i am interested in doing cakes as an added income. could you please let me know how pricing is determined.
February 21st, 2007 at 11:54 am
What’s your opinion on wedding cupcakes? Either a friend who is a talented baker can be enlisted or places like the California Cupcake Company can whip some delicious cupcakes out for $2.50 - $3.00 each.
January 24th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Thank you so much for this valuable and oh so helpful information. It is clear, concisce and totally makes sense. You don’t have to try and “decode” the website!
December 13th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
On average, today’s wedding cake costs between $3-6 a slice. The per-slice cost varies a lot depending on factors like: your part of the country, who makes it (a private designer working out of their kitchen vs. a name artisan in a swanky bakery), how complicated or rich it is (cheescake costs more, fondant costs more, gold leaf costs more, handpainted porcelain or lace patterns cost a lot more.)