Wedding Cakes & Food Forum

Cupcake Transportation Logistics Question

Hi all,

We are considering ordering cupcakes from a local restaurant/caterer as our wedding dessert (different establishment than the country club where we're getting married which is handling the rest of the food).  The order will be in the neighborhood of 100-150 cupcakes.  Thing is - the place we are considering ordering from does not deliver them or set them up.  So my question is this: is it crazy to attempt moving 150 cupcakes (boxed properly, I'm assuming - have to check on that) from the restaurant to our venue?  It would take about 25 minutes to drive from restaurant to venue in optimal traffic conditions.  This would be a fall wedding, so the cupcakes melting into puddles in transit isn't really a concern.  

It would save us money to avoid the delivery and setup fees, but I'm wondering if it's worth the trouble.  Do any of you have experience with transporting/setting up your own dessert displays?  Any great experiences or horror stories are equally appreciated!!

Re: Cupcake Transportation Logistics Question

  • Cupcakes shouldn't be a problem. A tiered cake, yes. But cupcakes, no.
  • Yeah this shouldn't be a problem. I am sure the baker will box them up appropriately, so really all you have to worry about is not dropping the boxes. Just make sure that when you transport them your car is cool and there is a large flat surface for the boxes.

  • MesmrEweMesmrEwe member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited July 2014

    I set up my DH's cousin's wedding cupcakes..  It's not just 25 minutes... It's going to eat up an hour and a half between picking them up, loading, driving, unloading, and another hour to put the darn things on the stand, 20 minutes of cleaning up the mess (I used gloves and STILL got frosting all over no matter how hard I tried to avoid touching the frosting part of the cupcakes), stashing/tossing the boxes, then getting to the service. 

    Even if it's $100 - it's money well spent to have someone else deal with the headache of transportation and delivery!!!!!

    P.S. Our fall wedding was 90 degrees!!  Just because it's fall doesn't guarantee cool temperatures like we expected!!

  • MesmrEwe said:

    I set up my DH's cousin's wedding cupcakes..  It's not just 25 minutes... It's going to eat up an hour and a half between picking them up, loading, driving, unloading, and another hour to put the darn things on the stand, 20 minutes of cleaning up the mess (I used gloves and STILL got frosting all over no matter how hard I tried to avoid touching the frosting part of the cupcakes), stashing/tossing the boxes, then getting to the service. 

    Even if it's $100 - it's money well spent to have someone else deal with the headache of transportation and delivery!!!!!

    P.S. Our fall wedding was 90 degrees!!  Just because it's fall doesn't guarantee cool temperatures like we expected!!

    All of this...really good point and advice.

  • Also does the person who would be doing the transporting have an approriate vehicle to limit having to stack the boxes very high. For example, if the person doing the pickup has a Honda Fit or a Smart Car, things might get ugly.
  • atlastmrsgatlastmrsg member
    5 Love Its First Comment First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited July 2014
    I live in Indianapolis, but my wedding was 120 miles away.  I wanted cupcakes and macarons from my favorite bakery in Indy.  My MOH picked them up Friday and drove them to the wedding venue that day.  They all arrived fine, and were still fresh when served Saturday afternoon.  They fit in the backseat of a BMW sedan easily--they were only stacked two boxes high, so not even half the height of the seat.  There were 136 cupcakes in a handful of boxes (maybe 5? might have been 4?)

    The cupcake shop packed them in big boxes with separator/holders.  This kept the cupcakes from toppling over.  If you use this kind of box, you'll be fine!  

    image

    Ask the bakery how they pack them. If they don't use holders like this (but a bigger box of them than the one pictured), you can buy them easily online.

    A few hours before the wedding, we put them on silver tiered dessert stands for each table.  They looked nice (and tasted awesome!), putting them on the stands was quick and easy.  

    It wasn't a big headache for my wedding, but if my MOH hadn't picked them up, it would've been one more thing I had to do Friday.  If you don't want one more thing to worry about/don't have someone to delegate it to, just pay the fee so you don't have to worry.

    image

  • Erikan73 said:
    Also does the person who would be doing the transporting have an approriate vehicle to limit having to stack the boxes very high. For example, if the person doing the pickup has a Honda Fit or a Smart Car, things might get ugly.
    I have a Honda Fit. You can actually fold down the back seat so that you have a huge space in the back where the boxes could lie flat. I've transported many things that way in my fit. 

    Not really relevant to the OP, just saying a Honda Fit can be pretty good for moving things. 


  • op was saying that the place they want to use dos not transport or set up the cupcakes for them, but yet you said should we pay to have it done. do you mean its not included in the price and they will do it for a fee or they just dont deliver at all 
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