Cost of wedding cake?

by Isabelle on April 17, 2008

TJ asked:


I have been searching for the perfect wedding cake…and finally I FOUND IT!!!
The downside of it is, that I think that it might be a bit too expensive.
The cake is a 3 tier one, with tiers of 6″, 10″, and 14″ with them being 4″ tall, the price is $550.00

Do you think that this is unreasonable? I’m from Burlington area, do you have anyone to recommend who could do this cake?
http://www.olsonfoodsandbakery.com/index.php?option=com_easygallery&task=view&cid=13&Itemid=32

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{ 14 comments }

lunchbox April 20, 2008 at 10:52 am

How many people does it feed? My tiered cake ( that looked about the same complexity as that cake) fed 45-55 people and was $350. That looks like it will feed more, so it sounds reasonable to me.

If you want to pay less money, consider getting a smaller tiered cake and then sheet cake to feed the rest of the people. The sheet cake will be exactly the same except not as elaborately decorated. No one will know.

Just Because April 23, 2008 at 11:14 am

Do you know someone that can make it? My cake looks something like that and to get it made by a friend of mine, she can do it for a hundred and fifty dollars. That is buying all the ingredients and all the supplies. Print out a picture and take it to different wedding shops and see if maybe someone can do it alot cheaper. It never hurts to ask around and find out. I think personally $550 is way too much for a cake that size.

JRH April 26, 2008 at 6:06 pm

It really depends on how many people you are serving (prices are often based on that). I have just started playing around with budget and the recs I have been reading say to budget about $800 for 100-125 people. I think that is an average, and have read that cakes on the east coast (mid-atlantic) can easily break that $1000 mark. I am budging $600-$700.

*Anna* April 27, 2008 at 1:16 pm

Considering the detail, not bad at all. Mine was 12″ square, 8″ square, and 6″ round and it was supposed to be $470 with no decoration at all, just fondant. I decided to cancel that, but it sounds really reasonable considering all the detail. Good luck!

MSJ April 30, 2008 at 10:42 pm

Well just the ingredients and icing and decorations alone for my cake cost $350 (This was made by our mothers – so no labour involved) I think that is about right for a three tier. (Mine was three – to feed 80 people – but will probably feed a lot more!)

ay ya May 4, 2008 at 4:07 am

The information that you’ve given us here is only the size and the design.

What flavors does the cake have? Is it just buttercream and white cake? If so, then I think you’re spending way too much of your budget on the size and look of your cake and not enough on the flavor. A plain buttercream and white cake shouldn’t cost $550.00.

How many guests do you have?

For comparison, a 3-tier cake for 100 people with marzipan, buttercream and seedless raspberry preserves from an elite bakery in Chicago was quoted to me at about $400.

I’ve definitely heard of brides paying more than what you’re suggesting, but I wouldn’t pay more than that if it weren’t a DELICIOUS cake — not just a big cake with fancy frosting on the outside. Think about the flavor rather than the looks.

march_hare_in_june May 6, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Our cake cost just over $600. That cost includes the delivery & set up fee. It serves about 130 people. The three layers are each a different flavor & I truly can’t remember what we choose! I think the middle layer is caramel flavored, and the top & bottom layes are chocolate w/amaretto filling.

This is a link to our cake lady’s website ~ our cake will have this shape, but different designs, colors on it. Part of the expense for us was the different flavors & also the tilted design.

reydi May 8, 2008 at 5:29 pm

How many guests do you have coming – if you dont need that much cake you can have a fake layer that is just made to look like the rest of the cake. It usually knocks about $100 off the price.

keepyourhandsoffmycat May 9, 2008 at 5:04 am

I think this is a reasonable price for the pictured cake as a lot of work goes into it. Cakes with lots of details are always going to cost more because of the work that goes into them.
It just depends is a) you can afford to pay that much for a cake and b) are you willing to pay that much.
If you don’t want to/ can’t pay that much then find a simpler cake.
My cake is costing $540 but it has these little silver things on it that take a fair bit of work to stick them on so it jacks up the price. This is like my cake but I am having a square 3 tier one instead and also having lilies on top not the ones in the pic:

To make it cheaper, you can ask for the same design just smaller. So have the three tiers 4″, 8″ and 12″. it would take the price down a bit I think.

You can look here for ideas:

Eric B May 10, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Depends on your budget for the wedding/reception. If it is more than 10% of the budget, then your priorities might be off. An inexpensive grocery store wedding cake is going to cost you well over $200 so $500 is not unreasonable . . . as long as your not just serving cake and punch.

Teresa May 13, 2008 at 4:27 am

It’s a very pretty cake. But I think it is on the high side.
Bakers can be very proud and this one must have a good rep to charge that. Shop around if you need to.
I paid $100 for a 3 tier from the grocery, feed 50 and still had left over.

stephie May 13, 2008 at 10:27 am

it depends on where you go, that is a fondant iced cake and those usually go for more. that cake serves about 100. and at $550, that’s $5.50 per seving. i work in nw pa and do wedding cakes and our prices start at $2.50 per serving but we don’t do fondant. in the same area a fondant cake goes for about double. some places have a minimum order of $500. so all in all for the cake you have picked out that is about right, maybe even a good deal, depending on where you live.

JM May 16, 2008 at 3:35 am

According to wilton’s cake guide your cake will serve 12+38+78 people or 128 people. That is $4.30 per serving which is a pretty reasonable price when you get down to it. Especially considering the decorations and the stacking that they are doing. Plus that looks like a fondant cake. That will bring the price up even further due to the work involved and the cost of the fondant. Two ways you can make it less expensive are make the tiers smaller if you don’t need that much cake. or only do 2 tiers. The other way is to have it done in buttercream. You can still get the quilting look on buttercream. It actually shows up nicer on the frosting than on the fondant.

Still it won’t make it all that much cheaper. There still is supplies and labor. A cake like that can take up to 8 hours or more to make, frost, decorate and stack.

Jane O May 18, 2008 at 10:39 am

Cup Cake is easy and fast, very presentable. We purchased a video on the net for $10 and it show us all the steps. BTW, it was a 3 tiers cup cakes too.

If you are interested. Here is the link.

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