Cake questions

wellerkn · February 2010

Ok so I'm going back and forth on something and need some help.
I had a tasting at Maribelle Cakery and fell in LOVE with the cakes. They are amazing, taste even more amazing, and have the best customer service; however, for about 275 servings the cost is around $1600. I really trust that they will do an amazing job and and even better job on my custom design, but it is a little expensive. I also did a tasting at Fantasy in Frosting and they quoted me around $800. The cakes were good, but the just gave me pieces of cake with the fillings on the side in small cups so it was hard to figure out what the cake with the filling would taste like. I contacted them and they are going to do 6 or so cakes with fillings for us to try.
So here are my questions...
Did anyone do tasting with both? If so, who did you end up going with?
If anyone used Fantasy and Frosting what flavors did you use and did you like them? If they did custom work were you happy with it?
If you used Maribelle were you happy and is it work the money?
Anyone have another place I should try that in-between these to prices??
I guess since the price is SO different I am just having a hard time deciding.

abromanello · February 2010

I'm not able to answer your question exactly (I didn't try these two places), but I did taste as Spoon Fulla Sugar and I think they would be a good in between. I don't think their cakes are as expensive as Maribelle and the cakes and fillings taste OUT OF THIS WORLD. Everything is handmade and fresh, buttercream frosting with real butter no shortening, moist cakes...I mean seriously, I was in cake heaven. That said, it was actually a little more than we had budgeted (it was about $650 for a 200 serving buttercream cake), but it sounds like it might fit within your budget. They had great designs too. I would give them a try - if I had a slightly higher budget, it would be no question. I am at least getting my mom's birthday cake from there!

mrs.dilligaf · February 2010

Maribelle is good. That's who we would have gone with if we hadn't done cheesecake. However... is it really $800 better? Is it worth it to you to have the best cake? If it weren't double, I would think about it. Our cake was under $500 total (we did have less people) and have heard nothing but rave reviews about it, and I'm glad we did.

Just think of it this way. What else could you do with that $800? That's more than my rehearsal dinner cost (your welcome in-laws). That would have been a few nights hotel on the honeymoon. That could be sooo many things. The cake is also something you don't get to keep. A year after your wedding, you'll have the memories, pictures, video, those things. The cake will be long gone by then. I guess what I'm trying to say is only you can answer if it's $800 better than the other cake.

wellerkn · February 2010

I wanted to look at Spoon Fulla Sugar, but they only will do 4 tier cakes for 240. I want a 5-6 tier cake becuase our reception is a Music Hall, which is huge, and I think we need a large cake to make a statement.

hrparker · February 2010

We used Maribelle after having tastings with several other bakeries, and I can honestly say it was worth it to us. After tasting Maribelle, there really was no going back to any other bakery - their cake really does stand head and shoulders above the other bakeries in town. And our guests LOVED it. We ordered our cake before our guest list dropped dramatically, so we had way more cake than we should have needed for our guest list. By the end of the night, though, we only had about ten servings left because people went back for more to refuel after dancing.

All that being said, I think MrsD has good advice. What would you do with that extra $800? Is it worth giving up whatever that is to have Maribelle? If so, go with Maribelle - you will NOT be disappointed. If there's something else that you're absolutely dying to have, however, you might consider looking elsewhere.

kelklump · February 2010

I used Fantasy in Frosting and loved them. I am still getting compliments on my cakes and how wonderful they were. I honestly dont think its worth spending an extra 800 bucks on a cake. I guess it was just not that important to me. If you would like to see photos of my cakes (I did a cake at each table and a larger cake for us to cut and eat) email me at kelklump at gmail. I am happy to share.

breffitt · February 2010

For some reason, the price you got from Maribelle seems really high. I'm going with maribelle but my cake feeds 395 people and is less than your cake.

prokadima · February 2010

I had a tasting at Maribelle. They have very unique flavors and definitely bake a quality product. I was not willing to pay their prices for the "couture" level but their relatively new option of the "designer" level was within my budget. However at the same price point, $3.50 a slice, I preferred the taste and look of the Bonbonerie. That's is where my cake is coming from and I can't wait!

wellerkn · February 2010

breffitt - It depends on if you get a couture or designer cake. The cake we are using is a courture which is custom work. We also have some sugar flowers on our cake which adds to the price.

We also did a tasting at Bonbonerie, but were not impressed. The cake was so cold and seemed like it just came out of the freezer. They also will not modify their cakes. We asked for not chocolate chips in one of the cakes and they said they could not do it.

Thanks for everyones opinion! If you have some other cakery recomendations please let me know!

Thanks

IG.muse · February 2010

I was going to suggest Bonbonerie, but I guess you didn't have a good experience there. I absolutely loved their cakes and wasn't crazy about Maribelle. It's really disturbing to hear that Bonbonerie's cake might have been frozen. They promised me that they don't freeze their cakes. And the lady there has been very open to doing a custom cake design for me. I just can't quite decide on what I want. But I asked about sugar flowers and they will have peonies made at my request.

If you really love Maribelle, my suggestion is to negotiate. I think with the right approach, you might be able to get 10% off. Or walk away (if you have enough time not to miss out on getting your date booked) and hope they send you e-mails with coupons or something. I got an e-mail from them in August with a 20% off coupon for a couture cakes for an August, December, January, or February wedding. They must have been low on bookings for those months. When I saw them (and tried to look away because I already booked Bonbonerie) at a bridal show in the fall, they recognized me and offered to pay for my deposit with Bonbonerie so I'd go to them. It just makes me think that they would be one vendor who's actually open to negotiation.

wellerkn · February 2010

IG - Bonbonerie will change their design of the cakes, but won't change the inside of the cake. So if you don't want chocolate chips in the filling they won't take them out. Don't get me wrong, I love their cakes too and my aunt used to work their so I think they are great, but it does seem that the cakes are pre-made otherwise they would be able to remove the chocolate chips from the inside of the cake. I've never tasted a bad Bonbonerie cake at a wedding so even if they are frozen I'm sure it will still be really good and people won't know the difference.

I'm really bad a negotiation, but I should have my mom call and give it a try. So you think 10% is a good amount to ask off? I mean the 1600 is in our budget, but it does seem like a lot to pay for cake.

IG.muse · February 2010

I don't know, I can't guarantee about the discount, of course. It's really just a gut feeling. I could be wrong. But I don't think it would hurt to ask, as long as you're respectful about it. I've done the negotiating with the wedding stuff and although it's been successful in some cases, it is so much stress. Some people get a kick out of it but I don't enjoy it at all.

I'm not sure what the best strategy for negotiation is, specifically asking for 10% off or just a general question about what they can do about the price or if there are any discounts (like on a large cake order like yours). You could also give them a price you're comfortable with and see if they respond to that with a 10% off original price offer. But I'd really hate to give bad advice on this, maybe your mom will know what to do. Good luck!

And thanks for the encouragement about The Bonbonerie.

breffitt · February 2010

I guess I ordered my cake before the couture and designer cake thing came along. That was never mentioned at my cake tasting. The only reason i didn't go to bonbonerie was that there biggest cake only served like 250 and I needed a larger one and didn't want kitchen cakes.

hccpsu · February 2010

My SIL had a Maribelle cake at her June wedding, and I didn't think it was worth it at all. We tried two of the flavors, and just couldn't understand why their cakes are so expensive. I don't know if there just weren't a lot of cake eaters at that wedding, or if people didn't like it, but there was a ton left over. I did see now that they have the two pricing levels, so if you can go for the lower level, it might be worth it.

I'd make an appointment with a Spoon Fulla Sugar, too, just to see how you like them. There are plenty of options out there, so keep looking if you are hesitant to spend so much money.

My cake was a gift from a friend in Indianapolis that has a wedding cake business, so I can't recommend her, unfortunately!

skippylouwho · February 2010

I've been told that Bonbonerie does freeze their cakes, they bake them ahead of time, freeze them and then pull them out to thaw & decorate. I've had strong recommendations from several- various- vendors to not use Bonbonerie.

That is something to ask you baker, do you freeze your cakes. That is something you don't want at all but if it is acceptable to you, ask them how far in advance they make them and how long they are frozen.

jiml · February 2010

I had a tasting with both. Loved Maribelle's, but I didn't want to spend that much $$ on cake. Wasn't too fond of Fantasy in Frostings flavor. We ended up using Patricia's IMO they were the best... very good cake and filling. Oh and they give you a free cake at your one year anniversay. I also liked Tres Belle (cheaper), but very tasty and Tracy is really sweet. Hey if anything... go for some more tastings... it's the one time in your life you can eat lots of cake for free

lol

In the end you need to figure out how much you want to spend on cake. I prefered putting $$ towards other things, but that's just me. What does your fiance think?

dschuck23 · February 2010

I completely agree with jiml... We went on about 8 cake tastings and that is HUGE for a person who doesn't really like cake. We found that Cakes by Patricia was by far the best!! We had scheduled a tasting with Maribelle but ended up cancelling because the amount they wanted was so high. We have a large guest list so it just wasn't feasible. I agree with a lot of the earlier posts... just decide what is most importnt to you and put your money into it.

prokadima · February 2010

It certainly seems like Cincinnati has a lot of good options and the "best" is a matter of opinion! Although I personally loved the taste of some of the unique flavors of Maribelle, I was worried that the flavors were too fancy and gourmet for the majority of my guests. But, for other brides, it is the perfect choice.

I had my tasting at Bonbonerie around the time that a new thread was running on here about whether or not they freeze their cakes. The lady at Bonbonerie assured me that they do NOT freeze their cakes ahead of time. They bake them fresh for each event and are VERY careful to not overbook as they are a small bakery. All I know is that I found their flavors to be delicious and many vendors in other areas (flowers, receptions, photography) all recommended them highly to me!

Guess you'll just have to go with what you personally like the best!

wellerkn · February 2010

Thanks everyone! My mom said that Maribelle is fine because it is in our budget, but I guess I just feel bad about my parents spending the money when it seems unecessary. But Maribelle cakes are so good I may just decide it is work the money. I'm going to look into a few more places and then decide.....
Anyone who used Patricia's or Fantasy and Frosting...what are some good flavor combindations??

jiml · February 2010

We went with Patricias and we had the following... I'm salavating

Yellow cake with chocolate mousse filling
Chocolate cake with rasberry filling
Yello and strawberry cake (swirled) with cream cheese filling

All of our choices had her buttercream frosting.

hrparker · February 2010

For the record, I've heard that if you're not going with Maribelle, Patricia's is the next best thing in terms of taste. We would have had a tasting with her, but she was dealthy ill the day I was supposed to go and was considerate enough to call and try and reschedule so as not to expose me to whatever plague she was carrying (I'm being serious when I say she was considerate - I have, like, the weakest immune system EVER. It sucks). Unfortunately, I was due to fly back to NY the next day, so it was a no go. I still appreciate her calling, though.

All of that being said, I'm pretty sure that last year there were quite a few posts about her customer service being severely lacking (e.g. cancelling on brides, problems with orders, etc.). I didn't save any of them, but maybe some others will pop in who remember exactly what happened...or to tell me my memory's wack.

meg1514 · February 2010

We used Fantasy in Frosting and our cake was AMAZING. It was a custom, 4 tier cake that matched the embroidery pattern on my dress. The cake tasted awesome and we had som many great compliments. Our flavors were strawberry cake with amaretto filling, marble cake with chocolate mousse, raspberry swirl cake with raspberry filling and then red velvet cake. We also had a 3D Ohio Stadium cake (we both went to OSU) as a groom's cake. AWESOME!!! I HIGHLY recommend them. Also, our cake was around $420 (I think) for 160 servings and then $175 for the groom's cake (75 servings approx).

sucrose · February 2010

not trying to over simplify the situation for you, but, if you can afford the maribelle cake, then go with that. but if it's going to put a crunch on your budget, go with the less expensive cake and spend that money on something that you get to keep like more photos, or the honeymoon.

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