These tips will help you with ordering your wedding cake. I would suggest printing this page and taking it with you to the bakery. Dont forget to take the picture of the wedding cake to the bakery. Talk with the pasty chef/baker and ask him or her for recommendations on designs and flavors of the cake. She may have suggestions that you may not have thought of. Wedding cake bakeries will have a cake portfolio to look at and that will help you decide if they are able to make the cake you want. Have an idea of how many guests you will have at your reception, this will help determine the amount of wedding cake you will need or number of cupcake wedding cakes. The pastry chef/cake decorator may ask how many invitations are being sent to how many people and how many are from out of town or from more than a certain number of miles away. The pastry chef/cake decorator will use this information to calculate how many people will actually show up at the reception and how many of those will actually eat a piece or more of cake.
By this time several people, such as the minister and caterer, will have asked for this information. They will have calculated and told you how many people they think will actually attend your wedding and reception. You will have been appalled at the low number they came up with. You know that everyone you invite is waiting breathlessly to attend your wedding and that only those who are ill or incapacitated or on Moon will pass up the chance to wish you well in person on your big day. When the baker comes up with a similar number, believe him because its true. Many people will simply forget and others can think of no way worse to spend a summer Saturday than at another wedding. Thats just the way it is. And you can believe it and save some money, or you can believe that everyone will come and then have to decide what to do with the leftover cake.
Do whatever will do the most to put your mind at ease for the next six to eight months. Sleeping well, feeling good and setting your mind at ease before your big day is a lot more important than saving money and having no leftovers. You will have enough to go crazy with as your wedding approaches. Make sure that the cake can be delivered at a time convenient to you or whomever you will have to receive and inspect the cake. There should be a written contract with the wedding cake bakery to specify the size, shape, flavor, color, decorations, delivery day, delivery time, delivery place, and price of wedding cake. Such a contract, of course, does not need a special form or a lawyer to draw it up. It can be a simple list with this information. The list should be dated and signed by both the baker and you, and you should each have a copy. If they have their form, use it and add any items or information that you need to.
Make sure you take a copy of their form. Bring swatches of material to match the cake to your wedding colors because colors in pictures are often slightly off and a pictures colors can fade with time. Below you will find list of questions you should ask the pastry chef, baker, or cake decorator at the wedding cake bakery. It is your special day you have every right to ask questions! 1. Can pastry chef/cake decorator create custom cake from your instructions and to look like your wedding-cake picture. 2. What flavors of wedding cake and icing are available? 3. Ask to sample some of the bakery's cakes. If you don't care for any of the cake samples offered by the bakery, ask for additional samples or as what other choices are available. Even if you have to order a small cake to try the baker's version of what you want, it is a small price to pay for satisfaction. 4. In case you want to use fresh flowers to decorate the wedding cake, ask if the bakery can provide them or if you or a florist must deliver them.
5.Request to see pictures of wedding cakes from their photo gallery. Take a look at their album and see if you like the looks of the cakes. Ask how old the pictures are and if the person who baked and decorated these cakes is the same person who will create yours. 6. Does the bakery, baker, pastry chef, or cake decorator has the required licenses and has passed health inspections. Licensing varies from state to state, but a bakery is probably required to be licensed as a retail food establishment or as a food preparer. The health department of the city, county, or state probably issues licenses. The baker, pastry chef, and decorator may also be required to be licensed or qualified as a food handler. You can go to most states' web sites and find out just what licensing is required so that you know what to ask for. Most bakeries will gladly let you look at the kitchen to see where the cake will be mixed, baked, decorated, and stored; this is probably as satisfying as seeing the licenses. You should probably ask to take a peek at the kitchen after asking about the licenses.