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.
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Hey, I just put down a deposit on a cake and then after signing it saw a price sheet at the cake place that had cake flats for $40 dollars less then what I was charged and circular cakes were about $45 less than I was charged. I asked the baker and she said those prices have changed. After seeing her other price list I feel like she misrepresented the prices to me. Do they have an obligation to charge everyone the same price or can they price gouge? What should I do now. Stuck with a cake for twice the price in WI.
Most cakes are worked out on servinf size, level of decoration, type of descoration, how many flavours, what type of flavours, portions type (coffee/desert), and delivery. so every cake is different a ‘price sheet’ is usually just to give clients a basic idea of starting prices. i wouls think that the above factors have been added on to the basic cake price resulting in the price difference. if you are unhappy you could cancel? but i would think that your deposit loss would be higher than the price difference in the first place. i would quesiton them more thoroughly though and ask to speak to the owner/manager as if they have just tried to ‘upprice’ there design for you to make more money they may back down quickly, you couls also get someone else to get another quote for them for basically the same thing to compare :-)
I am really struggling with this. I cannot find a bakery in the area where I am getting married that will do a cake for less than $8 a slice. This seems outrageous to me. I just want a simple vanilla cake…don’t care what kind of icing with a seashell motif. I am pretty easy as far as what i am looking for..just want a reasonable price. Any suggestions?
what area of the country do you live in? And how big an event are you hosting? diane@sugarcelebration.com
Yes, there are people where you live or close by that someone will know who can make cakes that will look as good as bakery made cakes. The key is how soon you need the cake and whether or not they are available, how you want the cake to look, and whether they have the materials. You may have to be a little flexible in your choice. Always ask for references, ask for the price up front, ask to see pictures of other cakes they have made. Usually if someone you know refers them, they would be fine.
Where do you live? I am a cake decorator in southern california and I will do it less than 8 dollars a serving. Hit me up for pictures and pricing.
I need a traditional English wedding cake, which is usually made with a fruit cake and decorated with marzipan and fondant icing. Does anyone know of a place where they make them in Florida?Thanks.
rose, i couldnt find a link for one but here is the recipe. maybe you can find someone who will make it for you, even a bakery willing to. good luck!!
* Recipe for traditional English wedding cake?
Hi Rose,
I specialise in traditional English Fruit Cakes. I usually sell them during Christmas and the Easter. This is the first time I see someone asking for a Fruit Cake as the wedding cake. It would be great if we can get in touch. I am in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Not everyone charges more for square cakes. Some decorators prefer them over round!
There is a really good article on how to price your cakes here:
where is a site for pricing of the cakes? thanks!
hi,
your site is very helpful, thank you for the information. i wanted to know how long i can keep a carrot cake, because i’m planning on making one for my sisters wedding.
Hi i have just found this site and think its great.I went to a local cake decoratin class for about a year.It was only one night a week but i found a had a flair for cake decorating and i love it. I was wondering if anyone could help me ?Do u have to have some form of qualification in cake decorating to start your own buisness ? I make cakes for family and friends and they keep telling me to start a buisness but i dont know if i can ?
No. The next time you’re asked to make a cake for an event like a wedding or party, tell them, “Yes! I do have time for that and I charge $X per serving.” Or whatever you determine is a good and fair price for your skill. It’s hard to do at first (I know. I’m still at the beginning part.) but if they want it, they will pay. If not, then you have more free time. Make sure you calculate how much your recipes cost you in money AND time. Figure in the assembly and decorating time for different cake styles, and then decide prices accordingly.
A tip I learned from my first cake teacher: Limit your designs. She did cake decorating full-time when she taught me. When she began she had ONE cake design that she was confident in and that is all she would do. Start somewhere.
Best of luck!
thank you so much for your help x x
forgot to add i am in australia not sure if that makes a difference (as in AUS dollars not US dollars)
you need to work out prices based on serving size and decoration levels eg my serving sizes are priced at $2 for no decoration $3.50 basic decoration $4 middle of the road and $5 for highly decorated. please note these are desert portion sizes and for fondant covered cakes for birhdays and weddings. i have no cakes under $100 hope that helped.
I am sure glad I found this site. I am the new catering and protocol manager at a US Army facility in Saudi Arabia. In my two weeks here I have seen an enormous amount of round cakes and sheets cakes coming out of the kitchen. Our prices are too low I think, and I want some advice as to how to price the more decorative cakes. Sometimes my baker spends all day on a cake and receives no more money than a simple cake. How can I make my baker happier and increase productivity and profit without making my customers angry? Currently the round cakes are $15.00, half sheets are $30.00, and full sheets are $50.00, with no regard to the decoration or writing. Please, I am begging for assistance.
THANK YOU FOR THE HELP ON THE PRICING FOR WEDDING CAKES. I HAVE JUST STARTED DOING CAKES OUT OF MY OWN HOME IN MY SPARE TIME.
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.
How do you make your own fondant?
I am making cakes in my spare time. I have used the premade fondant it tastes terrible! I avoid using it when I can.
I have not been able to find a good recipie for fondant.
Do you have one I can use?
Thanks,
Cathy
Cathy,
A friend of mine who has been a baker for a great number of years gave me a recipe for a marshmallow fondant, it tastes great and doesn’t cost much… I will admit that the first time I made it was kind of awkward but after that … a PIECE OF CAKE!!! Now I can make it in about 5 minutes from start to finish. Please keep in mind that brands for your ingredients definitely makes a difference in the out come.
You will need…
1- 16 oz bag of Kraft jet puff mini marshmallows
1 - 2lb bag of C&H powdered sugar (sifted)
3 tbs of room temp water
Crisco shortening
large plastic bowl
You will need to coat a microwavable bowl and your hands (up to the wrist) with shortening (Crisco). pour the marshmallows in the bowl along with the water, put into microwave and heat 30 seconds at a time, stir the marshmallows and reheat and mix until all the marshmallows are melted. I have found it easier to pour the powdered sugar right over the melted marshmallows and knead it in the bowl rather than trying knead it on the table/counter.
You will find that this makes much more fondant for the price of the pre-made stuff and tastes way better, I tend to make this in large batches and keep it wrapped in saran wrap and then in an air tight container, you can refrigerate the fondant until ready to use, just be sure to let it get to room temperature before trying to use it. If it starts to get hard to handle or become cracked add a little water or put it in the microwave for a few seconds. If it still feels too tacky… add more powdered sugar. I hope this helps you… if you have any questions about it please email me anytime.
delectable.dessertstx@gmail.com
Amy
That marshmallow recipe is one I have been using and it has a better taste than normal fondant. It’s easy to make and cheaper than buying premade
This is the best fondant I have ever tasted. i think marshmellow fondant is rather chewy. This fondant is not chewy and the flavor is great and lets the cake’s flavor shine through.
1/4 cup water
1 package of unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon of glycerin ( A MUST )
1/2 teaspon of clear vanilla flavoring
2 tablespoons of crisco
2 pounds powdered sugar
MIX WITH A WOODEN SPOON ONLY
First put all but 1 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
In a glass measuring cup add 1 package gelatin to 1/4 cup of water and microwave for 20 seconds. Stir unil gelatin is mixed well.
Mix in 1/2 cup of light corn syrup, 1 tablespoon glycerin and 1/2 teaspon vanilla. Microwave for another 20 seconds. Stir until well blended.
Pour the liquid into the well of powdered sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until all powdered sugar is well mixed.
Put the 1 cup of remaining powdered sugar on the table and pour the mixture onto it. Need until all powdered sugar is mixed. Use the 2 tablespoons of crisco on your hands to keep fondant from sticking along with keeping the powdered sugar on top of the mixture.
Fondant should have a shine to it when it is all mixed.
Set aside in plastic rap for about 10 minutes.
Add more powdered sugar if it seems to sticky.
This is what I use and I get a lot of complements on the taste.
GOOD LUCK
Try Marshmellow Fondant! It is easy to do and tastes great!
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?
absolutely nothin
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
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?
Wow! Was your wife giving this cake as a gift? That is a tremendous amount of cake and she actually spent more on it than she made. If she is only doing a buttercream icing w/ no real decoration except the flowers she should at least start at $2.00 per serving and if the customer wants fresh flowers I would suggest that they supply her with the flowers so that she doesnt spend her time and money making that purchase. Your wife should not worry about hurting anyone she is actually doing them a big favor by not charging them what a bakery would charge them but she also has to make a profit for herself. After all her time is also very valuable.
HI!
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?:-? add delivery (within 10 miles) and set up too.
thanks!
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.
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.
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.
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!
go to cakecraftshoppe.com for ordering satin ice. this shop is in Sugar Land Tx, but also does mail orders. It’s a great shop with lots of cake, cookie, gumpaste, fondant, etc tools, foods, chocolates, cutters, etc… I buy everything for all my cakes there. It’s a wonderful site to visit also.
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.