Wedding Cake Prices: What You Need To Know

Just like any product or service, wedding cake prices run the gamut. Wedding cake prices can be modest, and then again, quite expensive.

This means there isn’t a single price range, but multiple ranges for wedding cake prices.

You’ll find bakeries that charge by the slice and some baker/designers charge according to time and material. In our research, we found about 80% of cake designers charge by the slice.

Charging by the slice makes it easier for everyone to understand. For example, if a designer charges $5 per slice for a particular bridal cake. You can easily calculate that the cake will cost $500 for a one hundred serving cake or $1000 for a two hundred serving bridal cake.

On the other hand, bakeries who charge according to time and material are charging you exactly what the cake costs.

For example the same $5 per slice cake at 100 servings might only cost $4 per serving at 200 servings. Why the difference? The cake designer knows it does not take twice as long to create the 200 serving cake as the 100 serving cake. They feel time and material is a more logical way to price wedding cakes and it makes it fair for you.

If you’re looking for a “high-end” wedding cake, you could pay from $3,000-$5,000 for an original cake design. Wedding cakes in this price range are usually priced according to time and material at an average cost of $60-$150 per hour for labor.

So, how do you figure out what you should spend?

Set aside somewhere between 3% and 5% of your overall wedding budget for your bridal and/or groom’s cake.

Start by comparing like wedding cake providers, such as one grocery store bakery against another grocery store bakery, in order to establish a price range for grocery stores.

Then, do the same to come up with ranges for bakeries, boutique cake shops, as well as home wedding cake bakers.

You’ll quickly notice comparing a grocery store with a cake boutique doesn’t work. The services are quite different.

Also, the more “in-demand” a baker/designer is, the higher their wedding cake prices will be. It’s just the simple law of supply and demand.

Remember, if you like what you see and taste, and are willing to pay for it…you’re paying a fair amount.

You’re only being overcharged if someone (or company) deceives you, or intentionally try to rip you off. Unless you don’t get what you paid for, you’re not being overcharged.

Is It Possible To Negotiate Wedding Cake Prices?

Most of the time you can’t. If you price a wedding cake with published prices, typically these prices are set in stone. Prices are based on difficulty, materials involved, and the time necessary to create your wedding cake.

But, there are two circumstances where you can negotiate price. Anytime a Baker/Designer tells you they can create something “original” for you…and when you take a photo to a Baker/Designer from another source, such as a magazine, the web, or another baker/designer.

If you would like to know more about how wedding cakes are priced, WeddingCake.org will be taking you behind the scenes of “How Bakeries Really Price Wedding Cakes.” We are going to pull back the big black curtain and expose everything in detail. It’s release is scheduled for May 2011.