More Cake Less Dough {How to Save Money on a Wedding Cake}

3 posts in a row! Am I on a roll or what?! Though I have to admit, if Tyler weren't out of town right now, I probably wouldn't be blogging tonight. We would have probably gone to dinner and gone to Target or something. Excitement! Haha! 

He has been gone since Wednesday visiting family in Ohio. He will return on Sunday. I really started missing him today! But it was nice to spend a nice night in, watching Say Yes to the Dress and Dateline while eating Chick-Fil-A, followed by a bubble bath and blogging!

So, let's get caught up! 

After a long search, we booked a cake baker in January. But it was NOT easy (nothing really has been LOL!).

This is was my criteria:

• A budget of $400, including tax. So, for 200 people, that would come out to about $2/slice.
• Cake that actually tasted good. I love a pretty cake, but if it's drier than an overcooked Thanksgiving turkey, its not even worth my time.
• NO fondant. I personally hate the way it tastes.
• Round layers with strawberry filling.
• A top layer to keep for our first wedding anniversary.

 So, my original plan was to order our cake from Publix. I had heard and read from a few pins that Publix made delicious and affordable wedding cakes. I actually thought I had the cake thing in the bag. I knew from experience that Publix does indeed make delicious cakes, and I thought that they must be affordable, since they are a grocery store chain. So, one day in December, I decided to call Publix just to make sure my assumption was correct. (And you know what they say about assuming).

Well, I was wrong. To the tune of around $700 wrong. That's when I knew I was in trouble. If I couldn't afford Publix of all places, who could I afford? So, I started emailing local cake bakers. I explained my budget, and what I was looking for. Just a simple, vanilla cake with strawberry filling, butter-cream frosting, round layers, with enough cake to feed 200 people and a top later to keep for our first wedding anniversary... all for around $400.

I knew this was going to be a challenge, as most places want upwards of $3.50 a slice. I won't go through the list of everywhere I contacted, but I can tell you that some of them were downright rude. Some of them never replied. And a select few were willing to work with me, offering some different options that would work, but I'm glad I didn't settle.

Finally, a girl Tyler worked with told him about a little place in Chapin called Bailey's Sweet Shoppe where she had gotten her wedding cake from. So, I looked them up on Facebook, flipped through their album and reviews (which were fantastic!), and sent Jamie at message on Facebook, thinking I'd just be getting another rejection letter.

To my surprise, she said that her wedding cakes generally ran around $2 a slice, and as long as there was no fondant involved, she would decorate it any way we wanted for the same flat price. Thinking it was too good to be true, I set up a cake tasting for the follwing weekend and drug Tyler out to Chapin with me.

One bite of that sour cream pound cake with strawberry filling and cream cheese icing and we were HOOKED.

And Jamie, our baker, was SO nice. And that was all it took. I had finally found my delicious $400 cake (plus $75 delivery fee) serving 200 people with a top layer to save.

So, here is what I learned: 

• As I have said before, SMALL TOWNS are where it's at. Affordable, reliable, friendly, experienced, AND you are supporting local businesses. Win, Win!
• If you don't have somewhere like Bailey's Sweet Shop in your area, consider ordering a small wedding cake and then several sheet cakes of the same flavor. Keep the sheet cakes (often called "kitchen cakes") in the kitchen and have cut up back there as well. No one will know the difference.
• Consider ordering a small wedding cake and surrounding it with other, cheaper yummy things like pies, cupcakes, cookies, etc.
• Consider ordering a smallish wedding cake and having a grooms cake as well. Grooms cakes are fun and much cheaper than wedding cake. 
• Fondant is typically (but not always) more expensive than butter cream. 
• Avoid trying to make your own cake at all costs. With everything else going on, you are not going to be able to handle it. 

Also, here is a small list of bakeries in our area that were final contenders for me. These bakeries have the most affordable wedding cakes in the midlands. Seriously, trust me. I scoured Columbia and beyond:

• Chocolate Wonderland located in Lexington, SC.  http://chocolatewonderlandsc.weebly.com/

•  Chocolate Nirvana located in Columbia SC (Their wedding cakes were out of my budget, but they also make delicious "Nirvana cakes" which are very beautiful. I considered getting one of those, and then ordering a variety of the other desserts they offer like miniature pecan pies, cheesecakes, and petit fours.) http://chocolatenirvanabakery.com/ 

•  Bailey's Sweet Shoppe located in Chapin, SC                                                                              https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baileys-Sweet-Shoppe/119089544842602

Our sweet wedding director also ordered a BLEEDING ARMADILLO grooms cake for us! We had been talking about how we wanted one just like the one in Steel Magnolias, so she actually order it from Bailey's Sweet Shoppe as well, per the recommendation of her husband's co-worker, without even knowing that they were making our wedding cake as well!
                            "I can't even begin to think how to make grey icing!"
I hope this will help someone! I'm sure there are even more money saving ideas out there when it comes to wedding cake. If you think of one I missed, leave it in a comment below! Have a great weekend!