Spoilt wedding Cake

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  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
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    I've just spoken to a friend of mine who is a professional cake maker and asked her opinion.

    She feels that really £80 is a pretty fair offer for a £300 cake. Icing is always going to be a problem in hot weather, especially if the cake is transported by car and unless you have a written contract concerning the flavour it will be very difficult to prove it was materially different.

    I'm sure you were quite disappointed but don't let this tiny part of the wedding spoil your memories of your special day. Not one of your guests will have enjoyed the day any less because of the cake mishap.

    You could just ask the baker if he would perhaps consider being a little more generous as the cake does form a central part of your day, but quite honestly, if I were in your position I'd make one attempt to get a better offer and if it wasn't forthcoming just accept the £80 and let it go.
  • paddyrg
    paddyrg Posts: 13,543 Forumite
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    "not even a third" is still "comfortably over a quarter" - it's a good offer. Even if they gave you an extra £20 it wouldn't change anything - you had a wedding, guests came and celebrated, cake was eaten.
  • Tigsteroonie
    Tigsteroonie Posts: 24,954 Forumite
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    LadyDee wrote: »
    You could just ask the baker if he would perhaps consider being a little more generous as the cake does form a central part of your day and, due to the collapse of the tiers, you were unable to be photographed ceremonially cutting the cake; but quite honestly, if I were in your position I'd make one attempt to get a better offer and if it wasn't forthcoming just accept the £80 and let it go.

    Added my opinion in blue above. A significant part of the wedding day ceremony could not happen.
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  • angryparcel
    angryparcel Posts: 926 Forumite
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    Tigsteroonie wrote: »
    Added my opinion in blue above. A significant part of the wedding day ceremony could not happen.
    but the OP still had a cake and the guests ate it.
    The baker could have just walked away with the cake after it collapsed and then what would the OP have done them, expected the baker to wave a magic wand and have a new cake baked and decorated their and then.
    Maybe someone from the wedding party should have been present when the cake was delivered and rejected it and the OP would have been in a better position to claim more money, but as it is they had a cake and served the cake and ate the cake, so the cake was accepted in its condition
  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
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    Tigsteroonie wrote: »
    Added my opinion in blue above. A significant part of the wedding day ceremony could not happen.

    OK, I take your point, but honestly this is the sort of dispute that could spiral out of ccontrol, causing the OP additional upset and distress, and the only outcome would be monetary - it can't replace a photograph of her cutting the cake can it?

    Well, the OP has received quite a few opinions and no doubt will now make up her mind what route she wants to take.
  • photome
    photome Posts: 16,362 Forumite
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    evherkes wrote: »
    Cake was desert so they were given slices from the tiers above (without seeing the cake prior) and there were no photos of the cake cutting etc as was planned.
    I'd have liked the maker to contact me without me having to initiate to even get an apology. I feel more than £80 on the basis that I did not get what I paid for, was discussed and agreed and did everything that I was supposed to have done as the customer. My reason for posting was to see if others had the same and whether they felt there was too much emotion and that £80 was enough or whether £80 was a fobbing off (afterall I've not been married before and never had a damaged a cake or ordered one like this before) so was unaware of what processes would be.
    I asked earlier , what is it you want from the maker. Whatever that is go back and ask for it, but whatever you get is it going to make you feel better. IMO £80 seems fair, if it was £150 would that be enough
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 2,879 Forumite
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    peachyprice wrote: »
    How about the money offered and a remake of the cake with the top tier edible, the rest being mock-ups? You'd get photos of the cake and get to eat it should have been served with enough to share with immediate family. I would consider that fair.

    Depends a bit on the cake, but I'm not sure the baker would consider it fair. Surprisingly, mock ups aren't much cheaper than actual cake. That's because most of the time goes in to the decorating rather than baking, and some of the ingredient saving goes into buying the dummy.
  • meer53
    meer53 Posts: 10,217 Forumite
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    On another note, how does a sponge cake as the first tier hold up a further 3 tiers ? Surely it should have been something more substantial to take the weight ?
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 2,879 Forumite
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    meer53 wrote: »
    On another note, how does a sponge cake as the first tier hold up a further 3 tiers ? Surely it should have been something more substantial to take the weight ?

    It doesn't - you can put in dowels or other support systems so each cake just supports its own weight, and the dowels+boards take the weight of the upper tiers.
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 34,688 Forumite
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    The 2 threads started by the OP (this one and the one on the 'Marriages' board) should be merged (not sure where this particular thread started out but it was moved to this board).

    Has the OP posted any photos so that we can see the actual cake and how bad (or not) it actually looked?

    The OP says she wants more than the £80 offered but hasn't said how much they feel is appropriate.
    evherkes wrote: »
    I've never had to order or dispute a cake or personalised food order, or been married before, so I do not know what is acceptable. I'm sure I've identified or suggested at least once why I have posted this in the first place but basically as you would get quotes to compare or anything else, I'm seeking others "quotes" for whether the baker is being reasonable or not in their offer.
    Without seeing how bad it really was, nobody can give you 'quotes' - or even opinions - that are reasonable in the circumstances.

    Have you asked your new husband (or wife) for an opinion on whether they think the £80 offered by the supplier is reasonable or not?

    I'm not sure if anyone has picked up on this but the OP also had an issue with the taste of the lower tier.
    They've complained that there were no raspberries (in a white chocolate & raspberry cake). But did the brief say there would be raspberries in or just raspberry essence? Were there raspberries in when they did the taste testing?

    What is the background of the baker?
    Is it a 'bit-of-extra-money' side-line or is she a professional?

    If the cake was as bad as the OP makes out, I do think the supplier was wrong to just leave the cake and not get in touch to offer apologies and a partial refund.
    But this makes me wonder just how bad the damage actually was.
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