Reducing cost on cake

aelliottkoene

I confess my ignorance and naivete, but I feel like $4.50/slice for cake is a lot of money (and yes, I am in the Washington DC area, so things are more expensive).  

I have 190 people for the reception, and assume I should order some extra (any advice on how much extra).  But I don't want to spend $900 on cake, nor do I have any friends to bake one for me.  The $4.50 price seemed fairly standard in my preliminary websearch of abot 5 places near me.

Is there any conceivable way to get that down under $500, or even lower?

melntaitt

What PP said; all your guests don't have to have a slice of the display cake to enjoy their dessert. The sheet cakes are cheaper and much easier to serve.

I live in Upstate NY where most things are very cheap; my cake costs that much and I anticipate the price increases as you reach major metro areas like NYC and Washington.

littleluckypenny

How much research did you do?  I know for me, because I wanted a certain price range, I researched my butt off until I found the right baker for me.  I'm not saying that $4.50/slice isn't the going rate in DC area, but I'm sure if you look hard you might surprise yourself.

That said, other options can be kitchen cakes, or sheet cakes from your local grocery bakery.

allisonkbye

I'd look into local grocery stores. Talk to the mgr of the bakery department. Also as PP said, get a smaller cake and use sheet cakes for the rest. If you plan on inviting 190, I would go with one that serves 175. Not everyone will be able to come. Your actual cake could serve 75 then you would just need 2 cheap sheet cakes to serve the rest. 

gymbugmj2k

i agree with PP. get a smaller 3 tier display cake, and then have undecorated sheet cakes in the kitchen.

also, i've heard that the actual decor of the cake can alter price a lot.  Fondant coverings go OVER frosted cake to give it that smooth look.... but frosting can be done to give a smooth look too!  when the cake is served, fondant layers are sometimes removed since they're thick and don't taste as awesome..... so you could possibly be paying for something you dont even eat.

Grocery stores might be an okay option.  Does your venue serve a dessert with your meal?  Ours includes a cannoli dessert, and being italian, we'll have plates of cookies at the venue as well -- so we're only ordering our cake to serve about 80% of expected guests.

harpsdesire

I'm in the same area (Well, Baltimore) and I found a baker to do it for under $3 a slice, although it's not one of the 'big name' places.  Just a tiny (super delicious, homemade, low volume) place just starting out. You might do better with someone who makes cakes out of a home bakery rather than a big place with mucho overhead.

Also you don't need to count in extras.  Give your guest count and there will automatically be a bit of extra.

Also if you can go with simpler decoration it may reduce the price somewhat.

ShakeUpTampa

I am doing a two tier for $180 that includes delivery. This is because I flat out told them I don't need by the slice we have a dessert bar. Cake was an after thought. We have three types of cheesecake bites (63 for $15) and 3 variations of mini cupcakes coming in from a baker friend that are the flavors of the wedding cake. See if you can either do the sheet cake cut up or do a smaller cake with a larger dessert choice.

[Deleted User]

We are doing cupcakes. We will have a cutting cake and then we decided mini cupcakes! We were quoted $4.50-$5.00 a slice too, there is no way we were going to spend that! The mini cup cakes were $1.50 or regular are $2.50.