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Wedding cake rentals?

loro929loro929 member
First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
edited February 2015 in Chit Chat
Over the weekend I was watching some old episodes of one of my favorite "reality" shows, Shark Tank. It is (one of) my guilty pleasure.

One of the companies that was looking for an investment was a "wedding cake rental" company (I don't know if this has already been discussed here or not - so if it is a repeat, forgive me!) , which provides for approx. $150.00-$1000.00 a fully-styled tiered wedding cake that is actually made up of styrofoam, but then covered in fondant and decorated. (But at that point, if your budget is in the $1000 range, can't you just get a real cake in general?) From the TV screen, they looked pretty impressive and "real", but as I said, this was through a TV screen, so IRL idk how "real" they actually look. Anyway, they have a "secret" compartment in the back of the cake, where the couple can put a real slice (the woman selling the product said it can fit some twinkies), so that they can have cake cutting pictures. After the pictures, they take the cake away and then serve slices from a sheet cake.

It got me thinking what other brides/grooms really think about this idea:
-Is this a place where you would want to reign in your budget? I have a cake included with my venue, so it is an aspect of wedding planning that I never really put much thought into.
-We are always saying that food and comfort are some of the most important aspects for us to keep in mind when planning for our invited guests. Does this extend also to the cake? 
I suppose that the guests would not know that the cake was just styrofoam, but something about it still seems a bit off to me...  I just can't put my finger on it.

FWIW, the sharks weren't really feeling this idea, and they did not get an investment.
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Re: Wedding cake rentals?

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    STARMOON44STARMOON44 member
    First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I don't see an issue with this from a guest stand point. They're still getting cake. I think it's pretty common to include a stryofoam layer and have a sheet cake in the back.
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    kvrunskvruns member
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    the baker I'm considering for cupcakes has a rental cake available.  My thought is it is for someone who wants the look of a grand cake but doesn't have the budget for it (not just size but decorations,etc).  The one she has is like 6 tiers and 5 are fake, 1 is real for cutting and it is $350.  Then you supplement with cheaper sheet cakes in the back. So if you're having a big wedding it might be an option if you want the appearance of an extravagant cake but still seems pricy to me.  Then again we are having small and will be spending $350 or less period.
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    theartistformerlyknownastheartistformerlyknownas member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    This is very common. And from a guest standpoint it's sometimes better - those elaborate ones take so long to decorate that often the cake dries out. Sheet cakes are quicker so they can be made closer to the actual event. And with styrofoam you don't risk your giant tower of layers collapsing.
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    climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
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    ohannabelle said:
    Honestly, I find it weird. I know people do it, but the whole concept of displaying fake food and serving real food is just bizarre to me. I wouldn't be offended, or anything like that, because sure, I'm getting cake, everybody gets cake, no etiquette violation.

    But if what I could afford or chose to serve was a sheet cake, I'd cut and serve a sheet cake. Even very simply decorated, there's nothing wrong with that. 
    It's a cake.

    I just don't see the need to display a huge decorative display item symbolic of cake. I don't get it. 

    A fake cake with a secret trap door to hide a piece of cake in? Like some weird kind of cake performance art? It's dessert show biz! Again, I wouldn't be offended if I saw this, but I'd laugh my ass off, later. I honestly find it that ludicrous. 
    Totally agree. 
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    loro929loro929 member
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    ohannabelle said:
    Honestly, I find it weird. I know people do it, but the whole concept of displaying fake food and serving real food is just bizarre to me. I wouldn't be offended, or anything like that, because sure, I'm getting cake, everybody gets cake, no etiquette violation.

    But if what I could afford or chose to serve was a sheet cake, I'd cut and serve a sheet cake. Even very simply decorated, there's nothing wrong with that. 
    It's a cake.

    I just don't see the need to display a huge decorative display item symbolic of cake. I don't get it. 

    A fake cake with a secret trap door to hide a piece of cake in? Like some weird kind of cake performance art? It's dessert show biz! Again, I wouldn't be offended if I saw this, but I'd laugh my ass off, later. I honestly find it that ludicrous. 
    This 100%. I couldn't figure out why it seemed off to me because it is not something offensive or something etiquette "un-approved". I think, @ohannabelle, you hit the nail on the head with what was off about the whole concept. I didn't understand why you would pay more for something that you could just get in the first place. IMHO the slice of cake that I will eat from a sheet cake = the slice of cake I will eat from a fancy tier cake, and, as @lolo883 mentioned, it might even taste better!

    This has been one of the aspects of wedding planning that I really haven't been hands-on with, so I really had no idea why someone would "rent" a cake.


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    sarahuflsarahufl member
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    I would never spend $1000 on a REAL cake, never mind a fake one.
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    lyndausvilyndausvi mod
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    I don't get the point of showing off a fake cake.

    A nice, big, elaborate cake display is NOT required.   Sure its as traditional as a bride wearing white, but in fact it's NOT a requirement.      

    Just serve sheet cake and call it a day.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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    cupcait927cupcait927 member
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    edited February 2015
    sarahufl said:
    I would never spend $1000 on a REAL cake, never mind a fake one.

    Ditto that. I spent $200 on 60 cupcakes and a 6" cake to cut. Why on earth would you spend $1,000 on a fake cake and not just buy the real thing?! Or am I that out of touch in regards to cake prices that $1,000 won't get you that much?
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    lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    cupcait927 said:
    sarahufl said:
    I would never spend $1000 on a REAL cake, never mind a fake one.

    Ditto that. I spent $200 on 60 cupcakes and a 6" cake to cut. Why on earth would you spend $1,000 on a fake cake and not just buy the real thing?! Or am I that out of touch in regards to cake prices that $1,000 won't get you that much?
    We spent about $900 for our cake.  We could afford it, NBD.

    I would not spend $900 on a fake cake and then another $300 on real cake.   It just doesn't make any sense.   

    Most than half of the cost of cakes is the labor to decorate and engineering a cake that will not collapse.  Eggs, butter and flour certainly do not cost much.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its First Anniversary
    This is funny because our baker (chosen Saturday!) offered to do a fake cake for us.  It's about half the cost of the real one and since we have a while to decide, I'm not deciding yet!

    I suppose if I really need the extra $200 - $250 dollars I'd save, that's what I'll do, but if I don't need it, I'd rather just have real cake.  Although the idea that if it fell over I'd lose much less cake (there'd be one real layer for us to cut) than if it were all real, is appealing.
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    flyingfoxesflyingfoxes member
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    I cannot imagine spending $1k on a fake cake. 
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    amelishaamelisha member
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    File this under "stuff I hate because your wedding should not be a photo editorial set or theatre production." Have a cake, by all means, but a fake cake that's just for show? What are you doing? Who is this for, the photos? Dumb.

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    badbnagdwaybadbnagdway member
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    Eh, I get the fake cake thing, I don't think it should cost as much as $1k though. And I also like the aesthetic of wedding cakes. I tend to bee-line to the cake and just kind of look at it, the only thing I'd do first is get a cocktail. Our baker is willing to do "fake layers" and then sheet cake behind the scenes. Instead we are doing a relatively small cake (50 person two-tiered) that is nicely decorated. That's going to be about $3.50 per serving, and then we are also having lots and lots of mini-cupcakes, which are $1 a pop. That way we can have a couple of flavors easily and people can even try a couple flavors without exploding for over-eating. 


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