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how much is the average cake cutting fee? (per slice?)

alexisw77alexisw77
First Comment
in Wedding Cakes & Food Forum
My caterer is charging $4 per slice to cut the cake and says there is a special way to cut it and you need someone who knows how to do it right. is this true? how much are you hearing in other places per slice (for the cutting fee?) Thanks for your feedback everybody! :-)
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Re: how much is the average cake cutting fee? (per slice?)

  • cinderellabride81cinderellabride81
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I have no idea about a cake cutting fee, but my fiance found a paper on the proper way to cut cake. It shows the slices for round, square, and heart shaped cakes. We are going to teach my BMs.
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  • kmmssgkmmssg mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    Wedding cakes do need to be cut in a special way to get all the serving out of it that you need, but most 12 year olds can follow the chart on the Wilton.com site.  Run a copy of the chart off, and then ask why that should cost you 4.00 per slice.  That is one thing I have negotiated right off the bat with all of my girls weddings.  I refuse to pay for that and I never have.
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  • Catwoman708Catwoman708 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I assume $4 a slice includes the cost of the cake? If not, jeez! Ask a friend or relative or two to cut the cake. Make a copy of the cake cutting chart, and pin it out of sight on the back of the cake table. Or just show it to the cake cutters in advance. It's not rocket science.
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  • ChihuahuaGolfChihuahuaGolf member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    The most expensive cutting fee we ran into was $9.95 per person, the cheapest was $0, and we ran into everything in between. I think it is a big money-grab and went with a reception site that did not have a fee. The $9.95 place (plus tax, plus service fee) told us it is not just the work for cutting the cake, but also the cost of us using another small plate, another fork and another cocktail napkin per person. Even if we went with a cupcake tower, they could still justify their fee. And no - that doesn't include the cost of the cake at all! Not cool in my book. I figured any place that would nickle and dime you for this would continue to do so for every other wedding detail!
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  • MesmrEweMesmrEwe member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    It's a bit excessive to say the least what they're trying to charge you... O.k. yes, the cake "cutting" is more than just cutting the cake, it's the cost of the staff to stick around a little later to serve it, the person to do the extra dishes providing they're using real silver/china, and transport of said plates/forks if they're off-site... But seriously, that's still not going to add up to more than $150 in total cost to them.  There are more charts out there than the Wilton chart i.e. if you go off the Wilton Chart and your baker uses a smaller slice you're going to have issues with either not enough cake or if your baker uses larger slices it's possible you'll have leftovers - just kidding, since WHEN are there leftovers on good cake at a wedding???  Your best thing is to talk to your baker who can give you a photocopy of THEIR serving chart to go by and have someone you know that actually MAKES cakes do the cutting because they know how to do it... There are a lot of bakers who use a REALLY straight cut simple method for cutting their cakes OR you could possibly negotiate to have your baker do the cutting for a fee then serve the cake buffet style (they won't have the staff to take it to tables)...We had something like this happen at my brother's wedding where they wanted to charge a huge amount and my aunt (who knows how to cut wedding cake) did the cutting and the parents of both the B&G did the serving which worked out great.  I did the cutting for DH's cousin's wedding a few years ago and we just picked the stacked cake up and transported it into the kitchen while I hacked away at the thing two of her aunts ran trays for guests to take a slice off of a dessert buffet table.  It worked out great overall.  But one word of caution, plan that if you delegate this to someone that they know and are prepared for the messiness of the job!!!  If they don't know how to cut the cake (aka cleaning off the knife after just even a few cuts) it can give the cake a look like it wasn't cooked when in reality it's because the cutter didn't clean off the knife, not the baker...  If your caterer doesn't do the cutting they also won't likely provide plates/forks/napkins so you'll probably have to pick some up from Sam's...  Again, talk to your baker on what they recommend because they'll likely be able to run the person doing the cutting through on the proper methodology if someone in your family does the cutting/serving instead.  AND, make sure the person doing the cutting isn't wearing dry clean only clothes and an apron (with a spare on hand)!!!
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  • lissa71679lissa71679
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    ours is a flat fee of $25.00 for the whole cake
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  • TurtlesAllTheWayDownTurtlesAllTheWayDown member
    First Comment Combo Breaker First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I've been seeing around $2/pp. Basically, it's a way to charge you for the cake/dessert, even if they don't make the cake.
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  • NicoleAndre7801NicoleAndre7801 member
    First Comment
    So here is a question I add to this, are they more or less likely to charge you a cake cutting fee if you get the cake from the venue or their preferred bakery? Or that doesn't really matter, they may still try and charge a cake cutting fee?
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  • catloverdcatloverd
    First Comment
    I never heard of a cake cutting fee! Every wedding I've been to just had a relative cut the cake.... I'd say just cut it yourself. There plenty of charts online that show how to do it. 

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