The Cake-Part 1

Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007 2:59 AM

This was a part of wedding planning that I looked forward to ever since I got engaged.  As a lover of all things baked and sweet, I wanted the cake to be deliciously memorable.  Here's the rundown of who I talked to.

I started my research by looking through a Here Comes the Guide catalog that I picked up in a bridal salon.  After flipping through glossy pages of gorgeous cakes, I had a small list:

The Cake Studio
Nancy Kay's Confections
Bee's Knees Bakery

My mom found an ad in a newspaper and gave me the name of this bakery:

Scrumptious Wedding Cakes

I also conducted some searching on Google and added these:

Tomgirl Baking Company
Dream Cakes by Lynette

Time to start calling folks and get some prices!  

First up was The Cake Studio.  This phone call was truly a wakeup call for me in terms of how much tastiness and edible beauty can cost!  For a work of art by the talented Linda Goldsheft (I mean really, have you seen her cakes??  They are ALL jaw-dropping.), prices start at $11/slice.  This means that for 250 servings, the cake would cost at least $2750, not including a $300 setup and delivery fee.  I asked about sheet cake and she said that I would only be saving about 50 cents a slice-not exactly making a huge difference in the total cost.

Oh, so that was a lesson that I learned...kitchen cake.  Naive little me assumed that all the cake that guests eat at weddings was out on display.  I didn't know you could hide cake in the kitchen; why would you do such a thing anyway!  Kitchen cake (essentially sheet cake) vs display cake.  I got schooled.

I then talked to Nancy of Nancy Kay's Confections.  She told me that she starts pricing at $8/slice for the display cake and $6/slice for kitchen cake.  So $2000+ if I wanted all servings on a display cake.

I thought I was forced to accept that tasty cake would mean super high costs.  Then I called Rowena of Scrumptious Wedding Cakes.  She was super nice on the phone (Linda was cold by comparison), answered all my questions, and emphasized that she works with couples to create the cake they want while staying within their budget.  Yay!  She told me that display cake starts at $3.25/slice, kitchen cake at around $1/slice.  However these prices are for cakes covered with whipped cream-buttercream or fondant were upgrades, about a dollar more per slice.  She also told me that setup and delivery was $50.

Lynette from Dream Cakes was a little hard to get a hold of, but all was fine.  Her cakes start at $4.75/slice for a cake covered in buttercream and $5.75/slice for fondant.  $50 setup and delivery fee.

The Bee's Knees Bakery is not exclusively a wedding cake bakery.  They sell pastries and coffee, too.  I spoke with Anna and quoted me $6/slice for buttercream and $8/slice for fondant.  These are for round cakes, as square ones are upgrades (add 50 cents/slice to the above prices).  They also charge a delivery and setup fee: $80-100, depending on distance. 

The last person I called was Wonyee from Tomgirl Baking Company.  She was really helpful and was available to answer questions in the evening (a plus for working folks who don't want to get caught doing wedding planning at the office).  Her starting prices were $5/slice for buttercream and $6.25/slice for fondant.  Square cakes were upgrades, but at this point, I wanted to maximize the yum factor and focus a good part of my cake "budget" (as I didn't have one set) on that.  I figured that my cake baker should be adept at making a cake taste great and look beautiful (holy grail of wedding cakes, ha).

Looking over my notes at this point, I had to cut Nancy Kay and Linda Goldsheft from the running-they were just too expensive for me!  I also cut Lynette because I wasn't really into her cake decorating style (too flowery)-I really had to browse all the bakers' galleries and decide.  Both Linda and Lynette require that the reception site be booked before any discussion about cake tasting can be made, but if you are considering Linda, she only does tastings on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

This left Scrumptious, Bee's Knees, and Tomgirl.  It was time to think about cake flavors, fillings, and make some cake tasting appointments!