My (now) husband and I booked Le Delice Fine Cakes in Vaughan/Toronto Ontario to bake our wedding cake 8 months in advance. They stood us up for multiple meetings, which should have been a red flag but we were committed. Then, cancleled two weeks before the wedding! I just want to warn any other brides before they have a similar experience when they need it the least!
Re: Cake Caution!
Its rare to see someone from my hometown post so I got a little excited about helping out.
People make recommendations here all the time. I typically tell people I'll DM them to avoid this kind of time, but I really don't see anything in the post that looks close to vendor-y to me. You clearly post on here regularly so I don't get the problem.
Have you tried looking at getting a sheet cake from a local grocery store? Those are often more budget friendly. How many people are going to the wedding?
She made the cakes a couple days before and froze them and frosted them the day of. They were very simple (but certainly beautiful). The frosting was swirled (no fondant or trying to get it perfectly smooth) and had no decorations apart from the frosting in her wedding colors, fresh flowers on each layer, and the topper on the top layer. The layers also weren't stacked (easier to transport). They were placed on a tiered stand.
It's certainly possible but does add stress to the day. Certainly don't try to do anything too fancy.
You are going to be making a fairly large product. Consider the cost of the ingredients as well as supplies, not to mention your time. You can make the cake itself ahead of time (but still not more than a few days), but you will have to frost it the day of. Will you have time for this in between your hair, make up, getting dressed and photos? Do you have all the equipment you need to make a large cake? (multiple bowls, pans, spoons, etc etc) Where will you store the cake? Is your fridge/freezer big enough? Who will bring it to the venue the day of and set it up?
Look into getting a slab cake from the grocery store, or try a smaller bakery that doesn't usually do weddings and ask for a simple design. Also check out private bakers- you do have to do your due diligence but there are lots of people who bake on the side and do a good job (ask to see photos of work they've done, ask what sort of events and how many people they have baked for). You don't have to go to a traditional bakery, you just need something that is safe to eat and tastes good.
When I was getting married we had cupcakes. I found a smaller bakery that didn't do weddings per se, but I could order however many dozen cupcakes in vanilla, chocolate or red velvet for a REALLY good price. I wouldn't be able to personalize the frosting flavour or colours, I would be picking up a large order of their usual cupcakes. I would also have had to pick it up myself. In the end, we ended up with finding a private baker who bakes out of her home. She had an official website with lots of photos, wrote me up a contract, provided me with taste samples, and was able to be flexible with flavours/colours/design. She even provided delivery, set up and the cake stand for free (as long as I returned it!).