Help regarding Cake Tastings &amp; Contracts

alfdallas21 · August 2009

so I also posted this on my local board and I'm asking you ladies too since I'm totally in the dark when it comes to this part of the planning process...could you answer these specific questions based on your cake tasting experiences:1) should you pay a fee to the bakery for a tasting?2) do most bakeries require a deposit after you've agreed to their services?3) are you required to sign a contract the same day of the tasting? (I would think not but you never know)4) should it be considered a standard practice for a bakery to charge you per cake tier?last one...5) should you ALWAYS receive a written contract with the bakery that's providing your cake?My apologizes for asking what some would consider "stupid" questions but as I stated, I'm totally clueless...TIA!!

Spim7 · August 2009

1. No their should not be a fee for cake tasting (if only you and FI attend) the standard is they will ask you for three choices of cake you'd like to try. 2) yes after you've made your final decision on a bakery they will want a deposit 3) No you don't have to sign a contract the day of your tasting 4) bakeries should charge by servings not by tier 5) yes you should always get a written contract. This is just based on our experiences but it seems to be fairly standard. Have fun!!!

bigshow2882 · August 2009

I am like you Alf! TOTALLY CLUELESS!!! LOL!!! I need to see these answers also.

Mrs.JKforever · August 2009

1) should you pay a fee to the bakery for a tasting? Nope, but its totally up to the baker 2) do most bakeries require a deposit after you've agreed to their services? Yes, I had to put doen 25% 3) are you required to sign a contract the same day of the tasting? (I would think not but you never know). Nope, I sign 3 months after 4) should it be considered a standard practice for a bakery to charge you per cake tier? I realy don't know because I paid by the design not pp. last one...5) should you ALWAYS receive a written contract with the bakery that's providing your cake? Heck yeah!!!!

alfdallas21 · August 2009

thank you spim7 & mrsJKf for your info!!...I'm gonna keep all of this in mind because I just wasn't sure what to expect.bigshow -- girl I hate going to meetings and not being prepared especially when MY MONEY is involved!...LOL!...so here's some more info I got on my local board that I thought you could use as well: 1) No you shouldn't pay a fee for tasting. Our baker is a smaller one and they let us taste a alot but after like 3 flavors they did charge us $5. But we really didn't care!2) A deposit is required to reserve your date. So you can tell them that you are going to use them, but until you put that deposit down what you said means jack squat!3) No you are not required to sign a contract when you taste. You're still in the looking stage when you're tasting and bakeries know that. But that being said don't go all around town tasting cake just because you can. That would be a bit rude. Pick out a couple of your favorite bakers and taste at those places.4) I don't know about pricing per tier. I've only heard of pricing per serving. But even when they price by serving the servings are generally really small, so make sure you know what they consider a serving. We are expecting 100 people but are getting a cake big enough for 150 people so we can have normal sized servings! (bigshow -- this applies to me as well cuz my fam & friends would be pissed if they got a little sliver of cake; so I will make damn well sure that I get an understanding what the bakeries consider a slice verses what I want/require)5) You always receive a written contract with any vendor. And make sure you read the fine print and understand all cancellation policies before signing!

NELCORP · August 2009

1) should you pay a fee to the bakery for a tasting? No, you should bring you and FI, when you call before to schedule,tell them what you want to taste or they'll give you options once you get there2) do most bakeries require a deposit after you've agreed to their services? To hold their services and your date you'll have to put down a deposit it's usually anywhere from 10% - 50%3) are you required to sign a contract the same day of the tasting? (I would think not but you never know)No they will get an idea of what flavor and design you want and then give you a quote, go home compare and think it over4) should it be considered a standard practice for a bakery to charge you per cake tier? Most bakers come up with the price using flavors, fillings, design, and slice. Each tier has a slice count so normally the fee is (ex: 3.50 per slice X 100 slices)last one...5) should you ALWAYS receive a written contract with the bakery that's providing your cake? You should always receive a written contract with all vendors and with the bakery get a copy of the sketch for your cakes. that way you know what they think your vision is and you can make sure it's correct and make any changes along the way as you want.