24/06/2025
WHAT YOU ARE GETTING WHEN YOU BOOK A PROFESSIONAL CAKE ARTIST:
- Premium ingredients - Real butter and fresh eggs (lots of them), high-quality chocolate, cream, vanilla extract (not essence), high quality fondant for covering the cake to a silky smooth finish... Everything is chosen for the best flavor, texture and quality. These aren't the same ingredients you'd find in a grocery store cake, and they come at a much higher cost.
- Electricity - Multi tiered cakes take hours to bake.
- Cost of fuel and vehicle maintenance for ingredient shopping and cake deliveries.
- Cake boards, dowelling (cake supports), specially made sturdy cake boxes.
- The hourly rate of a highly trained and experienced cake artist.
- The cost of her training and equipment.
Now besides these costs, when you order a bespoke wedding cake, you are buying a service. The service a professional baker provides is not just about a delicious and beautiful cake, but also the peace of mind that comes with hiring experience.
Level, multi tiered sturdy cakes which wont collapse, and flawless finishes don’t just entail plonking one tier on top of another, and expecting it not to collapse. It takes careful internal support and construction to ensure the cake stands tall and proud, until it is cut and consumed.
Cake artists have spent many years training and learning, improving our skill levels, spending thousands on equipment and training.
We have studied food safety procedures and guidelines to ensure none of the guests become ill - or worse have an allergic reaction.
Consultations, paperwork, sketches, emails and more admin, ordering custom items, shopping for ingredients, buying specialised equipment for certain cakes, making custom items; this all happens before the oven even gets turned on!
Creating a bespoke wedding cake involves careful planning and ex*****on. From initial consultations to baking, decorating, and assembly, each step demands precision and dedication. This time investment results in a cake that embodies artistic finesse and exceptional quality.
A wedding cake is a minimum of a 5 day process - baking, filling & ganaching, covering, supporting, refrigerating and freezing in between, decorating, constructing and delivering.
We most often work into the early hours of the morning, and usually working right through the night, because a decorated fondant cake cannot be placed into a fridge – so it can only be finally put together the day before the wedding.
If a cake has a complicated design, involving sugar flowers, sugar beads or figurines, this work is started weeks, sometimes even months, in advance – every petal is individually hand crafted, coloured and painted with edible food colour, before being put together to make each flower.
Every flower you see, every smooth, uncracked layer of fondant, and every intricate detail is done by hand. And let me tell you, handcrafting sugar flowers that look realistic, and covering a cake in fondant with sharp edges and no creases? That’s an art form that takes years of practice.
Imagine decorating 300 delicate sugar petals or hand piping intricate details on a three-tier cake.
When you hire a wedding cake creator, you’re paying for that expertise and the countless hours it takes to perfect your cake. Some cakes require hundreds of individual pieces that are shaped, painted, and placed with care. The more intricate the design, the higher the price tag.
Transporting a delicate cake across town (or even further) on bumpy roads, and ensuring it looks perfect at the venue is no small feat. It’s nerve-wracking, to say the least. The price you pay for a wedding cake also includes delivery and setup at the venue. That means making sure the cake travels safely, is set up correctly, and looks flawless for the big day. Trust me, you don’t want just anyone moving a multi-tiered cake!
Have you ever seen a cake that didn’t make it to the reception in one piece? I have. It’s not pretty, and it’s worth paying for professionals who know what they’re doing. 😃
