About 3 months ago FI's cousin's wife said she wanted to make our wedding cake. She's not a professional but has a friend who is that taught her. She's a good cake baker and decorator so FI and I were fine with this. We figured it would be a win-win; she gets to something she really enjoys and is excited to do, we get to save some money by not using a pro. She was only going to charge us for the ingredients.
As it turns out, our wedding venue charges an extra $2.50 per person if we don't use one of their preferred vendors. We figured having her make the cake would still be less money even with the extra cost. We have 105 guests.
A couple days ago FI said she had called his mother freaking out about the cost and the fact that she would have to take a day off work to do it. I asked him why she was telling his mom this and not us. His answer - "that's just how she is." My first thought was didn't she realize all this before and if so, why did she want to do it in the first place?
This morning she sent the following email -
Hey Guys,
I've been going through my lists of supplies and ingredients and trying to figure out a price for your cakes. I called around to some local bakeries to get an idea of what they were charging. Most are between $5.00 and $6.00 per slice with per-slice-surcharges for red velevet, cream cheese icing and gum paste flowers.
The wedding cake will be 4 tiers (so that you will be able to keep the top layer for your 1st anniversary) and will be $600.00. The groom's cake will be $200.00.
I am really excited to do these cakes for you guys. Let me know if this sounds ok.
So yes, the average cost for a cake is $5 - $6 a slice but that is also so they can a profit. That wasn't our original agreement and she has not spoken to us about that. Between the wedding cake, groom's cake, and the venue's extra charge that brings our total to $1,062.50. I think that's way too much.
Thoughts?