The Great Cake Debate

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I blogged before about my utter shock at the price quote of flour, sugar and eggs- also known as a wedding cake. After the initial sticker shock wore off, I reassessed my budget to see what we could realistically accomodate. I added a couple of hundred dollars to the cake section, but something about it didn't sit right with me. So I looked into other options. I searched the net for budget friendly options like cup cakes, pies and perhaps not going through a posh little bakery. It is during this search that I found a beautiful cake in an unlikely source.

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That's right- Lucky food stores. At first I was a little apprehensive to the idea. I mean, it's Lucky! It's not a home grown bakery that has built their business from the ground up and all that. I felt a little guilty for being so "cheap" when it came time to something for the wedding, but I just couldn't sit with the idea of paying 300% mark up for a simple, three tiered, square cake. I wanted no fancy design or sugar flowers- so I didn't think $6 a person was an acceptable price. Sue me.

How I stumbled upon Lucky is actually pretty interesting. I was early to work one morning and decided that I would check one final local bakery to ask about their wedding cakes. I got the information from the owner of bakery one, surpressing my expected shock when she spoke of per person costs and delivery fees. I walked out into the cool morning air and looked to my left- then I walked next door to Lucky.

I popped into their bakery department and asked if they did special event cakes like weddings. The lady behind the counter was very helpful and handed me a book and told me that they definitely did wedding cakes, but that they didn't deliver. All of a sudden, I found it. The cake to end all cakes! It was square, in my wedding colors and under $400!!! I preceeded to get super excited, take a picture of the picture with my cell phone and email Mr. Yankee what he thought.

"I like it. It's simple, classic and CHEAP. :)"

..typical boy.

So I called and make a cake tasting/consultation appointment with the cake decorate for Tuesday at 1 o'clock! And barring any disasters- I think we may have found out cake vendor! Beautiful and within my budget?! Yes please! 

How about the brides out there?! Did your wedding planning take you to unexpected places?!

You want how much? For WHAT?!

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While helping my mom get ideas for her dress for the wedding this weekend, I popped into a bakery. It is technically Mr. Yankee's "task" to find and book our cake vendor, but I figured since I was already standing in front of a perfectly good bakery there would be no harm in checking it out to see what was up. Not to mention baked goods are kinda my weakness. Like- bake 6 dozen cookies in a weekend weakness. So my mom and I poked our heads in and were instantly intoxicated by the sweet smells of sugar, flour and eggs and found ourselves standing in front of the wedding cake area. I browsed at the semi decent display and asked about their consultation process. The cashier was very nice and friendly as she handed me the brochure and told me to ask her if I had any questions. I spent a good amount of time oogling at the different flavors and letting dreams of wedding cake dance around in my head.

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Once my mom and I sat down (with our freshly baked chocolate chip cookies) we decided to finally take a gander at this little piece of paper filled with all the goodness of wedding cake information. It all sounded so tasty and over the top (perfect for sweets!): white sponge cake filled with french pastry cream and the season's freshest fruit, finished in butter cream. Or layers of fudge cake and white sponge cake with praline mousse and roasted hazelnut- yummy! And my personal favorite: white sponge cake layered with dark french vanilla chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries. Ooooh la la- heaven! Just as I was about to buy some samples (because there was no way I was going to wait for a consultation!) I got to the prices.... and my heart skipped a beat. SAY WHAAAA?!?!?!?

I sat down early on in the wedding planning stages and gave myself a rough estimate of what I was willing to spend in certain areas of wedding planning. Having been to a few weddings and being witness to how much cake gets wasted, I gave myself what I thought was a modest, but reasonably budget of $3 a person. HA! Not in Northern California! Try doubling that! I little surprised and unsure of myself, I decided to do a little more research. And believe it or not- $6 a slice is the going rate for cake! For eggs, vanilla extract, flour and sugar!!! What is going on in this world!?! I had a brief moment of insanity thinking I would just bake it myself, but alas sanity has prevailed and have taken me back to the drawing board.

What are some of your back ups to the wedding cake?