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FH and I are going through a grocery store caterer/bakery that charges $2.50 per slice, meaning a cake for 100 people is about $300 (yikes). How much did you spend on cake?
We're also in need of inspiration pictures...we like this cake, but obviously it's not big enough for 100.
We could do sheet cakes, but we love the look of a tiered cake. (And how many sheet cakes would we need for $100, anyway?) Unless we cut them ahead of time, it'd be sort of a hassle since our venue doesn't provide a person to help with this (it's a community center) and I don't want one of our parents to have to duck back to do it, haha.
How did you do your sheet cakes, if you had them?
I think that the sheet cakes are a great idea! I work in Catering for a Hilton, and we've done a handful of weddings where the bride and groom have a beautiful, small tiered cake on display and for their cutting, and then sheet cakes are served to all of the guests from the back. It still allows you to have the beautiful decorative cake but it doesn't have to be parge enough to feed the whole room, you know? If you have to, pre-slice the sheet cakes! Or recruit a good friend who isn't in the bridal party to help out with it!
My cake is going to cost close to.. $900 (its part of my parent's gift to us). It will feed 100 people (no sheet cakes) and it will look something like this but without the 'ribbons' and 
with fuschia roses:
@FutureMrsBPB: I do have a girlfriend who's reading some things for us during the ceremony...maybe she wouldn't mind ducking back to slice them. Sheet cakes are $40 each, which would save us a TON...do you know about how many each one would feed?
I don't know lol I'm going to have something fuschia color, like roses.. not sure though!
I don't know how to turn my picture, I'm sorry. Our cake will look like this except it will only be three tiers... #1 and 3 will have the swirlies, the middle tier will be plain with a dark blue ribbon and a peacock feather.
We opted to do a smaller cake (feeds 70) + a sheet cake that will stay in the back (feeds 48). Everyone will assume the tiered cake is feeding everyone but it was cheaper to do it this way because the tiered cake costs 2.75/slice and the sheet cake is $1/slice.
So, total we're paying is $297 and that includes delivery and use of a nice silver cake stand. I'm supplying the ribbon (I spent $3 on it) and a feather ($1) so our grand total will be 301 for 118 slices. 
our_cake.jpg (341.7 KB, 74 downloads) 1 year old 
:) we were lucky - my husband is a manager for a catering company - so his boss did our cake for us. 3 sheet cakes for $50 total.
our topper was a whole lot more than our cake! lol but the cake was one thing neither of us truly cared about...
Haven't priced out cake yet but will be from a local grocery, most likely. Either way, price depends on where you are located and this is an international board so you will a ton of varying replies that don't apply to your area. In addition, things like fondant (not available at a grocery), gumpaste flowers, etc will add to the expense.
As far the price of sheet cakes goes, most people say that bakers charge less for sheet cakes plus the tiered cake, even though there is twice as much labor involved. No other industry charges less money for more work. Even pro bakers at places such as cakecentral.com do not understand why any vendor would cheat themselves out what their labor is worth. If cost is an issue, skip the display cake and just serve sheet cakes but don't tell the baker what they are for other than you don't want the birthday cake-style decorations they include.
That said, I have been to one wedding that had sheet cakes to supplement a cake that was made entirely of styrofoam yet iced to look real. They had sheet cakes sitting out on a banquet table to the side of where the display cake was sitting, in plain view, which seems to shock and horrify everyone online but it didn't faze anyone at the wedding itself. There was a kitchen at the church this took place in but no one saw the point in "hiding" the real cake and then having it magically appear while the display cake was up the entire time. The only thing that confused the guests was why the couple bothered with a fake display cake that they actually pretended to cut, but everyone loved the sheet cakes on full display. There were 3 different flavors and guests could choose a single flavor, any combination, or go back for seconds and thirds to try the others if they chose. The slices were normal sheet cake slices (not wedding cake slivers that no one can taste) and were cut as people asked for them so the cake was still very moist and did not have time to dry out from being pre-cut, despite what countless caterers say and do otherwise which leads to people complaining about dry cake. A couple aunts of the groom were available to cut the sheet cakes as people asked for them. Because the cake was in large chunks instead of pre-cut slices, it made transporting leftovers much easier because you didn;t have a zillion tiny boxes to worry about.
@JuneBride_26June2010: Cute topper! FH is really big on the cake, and since this is the one thing he's really cared about, I'm letting him figure the flavors and stuff out.
@CorgiTales: There's no picture, but it sounds like it'll look fantastic. I like the idea of keeping the sheet cake in the back, but I wonder how we might do that sort of thing if we don't have a "back" to hide it away in, haha.
I chose a 3-tier fondant cake to use for display and for us to cut into, just because I love tiered cakes and wanted one out to display. I should have skipped it, but it was one of those things I didn't want to compromise one lol
Will also have 2 small sheet cakes in the "back" to serve from also.
I did this not only to reduce cost, but I wanted to offer more then one flavor in substantial amounts.
My tiered fondant cake came out to about $400 with delivery (about $6.25 per serving). In my area (Florida), that is about standard for fondant cakes.
And the sheet cakes came out to $1.50 per serving/person.
If you choose buttercream instead of fondant, that should significantly lower the cost of the cake (by about 50%). And with the design you posted, it should work of perfectly in buttercream with piped details!
This is my inspiration photo, except will have a aqua background instead of yellow (I photo shopped some details for the bakery, so that is why it looks a little funny lol)
I had a friend who actually had a fake cake. It was all styrofoam except for a piece on the bottom which the bride and groom cut into for the ceremonial cake cutting. The caterer took the cake in the back to "cut it up" and then they brought out pieces of this amazing cake! It was a white sheet cake that had custard and fresh strawberries...it was better than any wedding cake I have ever tasted and it was much cheaper for her :)
Mine cost $325, but I do not have pictures as my wedding hasn't happened yet.
Flavors of the cake are red velvet and vanilla, with chocolate ganache and raspberry willing.
Its 4 teirs cake shaped, each shaped as a hexagon (like cake below), at the bottom of each tier it is going to have a ribbon of colors similar to the cake below.. except the lighter red will be lavander, and the darker, thinner one will be a grape purple (darker purple):
.
Instead of have the white part of the tiers be plan it is going to have this design on it, with the swiss icing dots being a mixture of the lavander purple used around the tired, and the darker purple also used around the bottom of the tier.. and every 4 or 5 dots, one will be a swavorski crystal (8 mm)
And flowers (real ones) are going to cascase own the cake - Stargazers or something tropical like this one, but much SMALLER flowers
@splatt11x: Holy crap, crystals on a cake! Wow! I really love the "pillow" effect on cakes...maybe I can talk FH into it. Love the hexagon tiers, too.
@LovingMyMisterBarger: I'm hoping our cake won't just get dropped off and abandoned...I wonder if anyone will be there to cut it. Eep!
We are just having a cake to cut for us, a traditional Swedish Princessa Cake, and then having desserts for everyone else. The cake is only going to cost about $30 because it is being bought from a bakery where they specialize in them.
bcakes69.jpg (14.6 KB, 58 downloads) 1 year old 
Here is our exact cake we had. We paid $100 total. it served 60ppl and there was almost half left over
@bohemianbailie: Oh, that's beautiful! I love the rounded top.
@bestbuddies: That's really not a bad price to feed that many people, and your cake stand is fab. :)
Oops I voted wrong. My budget sheet here says $327 including delivery for 75 people. (it's making me hungry looking at these)
My cake was designed to feed 100 people and the groom's cake $30. The wedding cake was $650 and the groom's cake was $250. They were delicious! The wedding cake was 3 tiers. BTW, we had 125 people total and we had very little cake left over. Not because there wasn't enough, but because people went back for seconds and thirds!
I think my cake is 480 (its a gift from my aunt). Its 3 tiers and will serve 120. Attaching my inspiration pic.
beach-wedding-cake2.jpg (17.6 KB, 80 downloads) 1 year old 
i paid 300 for ours i got a 3 teir cake for 100 people and a sheet cack just in case there's not enough, hopefully there's more than enough so i can take some home. Red velvet with canoli filling yummm.
my cake looks like ivlanie cakes but mine is a 4 tier black and white damask cake, for 150 guests with delivery and set up its 360!!!
$300 is not expensive for a cake, seriously! especially if they can achieve the qualily of technique that your inspiration photo has! ours served 150 and was about $800.
This is what our cakes will look like. The wedding cake feeds 70 and the grooms cake feeds 40. We're having about 40 people or less at the wedding so we're buying small cake boxes in hopes folks will take some cake with them! Both are cakes are $395. I don't know what I want to do for the topper but its probably going to be a totally blinged out monogram W with edible diamonds scattered on some layers.
grooms_cake.jpg (41.9 KB, 63 downloads) 1 year old wedding_cake.jpg (29.8 KB, 89 downloads) 1 year old
sorry that pic's so big lol... i also wanted to suggest you get a small 2-tier like your inspiration image for show and for the cutting, that might serve 30-50 people, but have sheet cakes in the back that they will cut up along with the tiered cake before serving to everyone. your caterer should have someone to do that. your parents, or anyone else, shouldn't have to worry about it. and you wouldn't want to cut them ahead of time, they would get a bit dry or stale before people got a change to eat.
@Kemi82JP: Actually, it's terribly expensive for us, considering it'll cost more than any food item on our buffet and more than even my dress or the venue! Hehe. I really love the shininess of the ribbon on the picture you posted. I do like the idea of a smaller cake to cut along with the sheet cakes...I'll run it by FH to see what he says.
@Cheeks11: Those are both awesome! I seriously wanted to faceplant into the second one, lol.
@Statutory Grape: Sheet or smaller round/square cakes are a great option. Your guests will never know if their slice came from the actual wedding cake or from a different cake in the back. My brother and SIL actually did this for their wedding (I know I keep referencing it, sorry). Their cake only fed about 75 people but they needed enough for 150. They had two cakes in the back and no one knew. They were actually two 10" squares (which were cheaper than sheet cakes so check into them) which still had the layers but were a fraction of the cost compared to adding extra tiers to the wedding cake.
Our cake is going to be for 50 people (not counting the top tier) and is costing just over $400. We ended up having to pay an extra $2.00 a slice for the white chocolate shells. Ours will be this cake but the swirls will be ivory on white buttercream:
Oh, and my cake can feed 275 people, for $325.
@Statutory Grape: Thanks!! And yes, I have a hook up with Swavorski crystals, I got 200 8mm for $8! I LOVE the swiss dots pillow pipping look (PILLOW LOOK), I had to have it somewhere on the cake, and theres a swiss dot every so often ,so a crystal is going to be placed every 5the dot, the rest are going to be a purple. I had add some bling to the cake, but it is not going to be over board.
My husband and I baked our cake. We had to hide that fact from the venue. It turned out pretty good except someone stuck their finger in it! It probably cost about $75 to make it because i decided to buy fondant rather than make it like I usually do.
2recap.jpg (738.7 KB, 62 downloads) 1 year old 
Ours fed 120 people and was $330 including delivery. The flowers were done by my florist and not included in the price.
@SandDollar: That is one hell of a gorgeous cake, lady! I think I am in love. I do like the idea of doing smaller round cakes (one-tier) on different levels--I've seen displays like this and think they're stunning, so maybe that's an option, too. An 8" round single layer cake is $10, though I'm not sure how many that would feed. That's another option we can look at. :)
@nannettenicole: You guys seriously DIYed that? It looks so pro. I love the little birdies on the tiers!
@PumpkinSpiceChai: I like the pattern on yours a lot...I don't think I've ever seen that before.
Here was ours! It fed 75 people and it cost 450 dollars!
IMG_3904SMALL.jpg (115.9 KB, 69 downloads) 1 year old 
Mine will look like the one below, except it will be one size smaller and the flowers will be slightly different. Vanilla cake, buttercream icing, raspberry filling in the top two tiers, and cannoli creme filling in the bottom tier. We're getting it from Publix. $282 including set-up and delivery.
Our cake was delicious (pound cake and carrot cake, with cream cheese filling and pumpkin spice filling, YUM). It served 150-175, and it cost $600, no cutting fee because it was in house.
I wish we had a Publix...I hear their prices rock. Funny story about cake cutting fee...when we switched venues from a hotel ballroom (who waived the cake cutting fee of $3/piece) to the community hall, the guy at the hall was like, "Cake cutting fee, WTF is that." Ha!
@Statutory Grape: I just had another thought that might help with your slicing dilemma. I was once at an event where the sheet cake was presliced but instead of looking so there was some buttercream icing piped between the slices. It made the cake have a latice appearance. If your worried about someone cutting/serving the cake you could always do something like this and have people serve themselves since it's already sliced and everyone would have the same portion.
Kinda like this, but the slices actually went all the way through and then buttercream was piped to cover that it was already sliced. Sorry I couldn't find a better pic.
Our wedding cake fed 120 and the groom's cake fed 40. Together it was $400 with tax, delivery, and the stand rental. But that was for only buttercream on both, fondant would have cost us quite a bit more. We were also lucky we booked so early, because the baker ups her prices a bit almost every year beginning right after wedding season (Sept.) and we booked in July of the year before our wedding.
@Statutory Grape: Here are some close up pictures of the basket weave so you can see the detail better...
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