Broken Swarovski Crystal Cake Topper

Yes, she should pay for it. $60 is not a cheap topper. I'd give her a very poor review, but is $60 really worth taking her to court over?

Oh I won't take her to court. I gave her a poor review but it is pending. Barbara the cake lady must have made an objection or something.

That's a tough one. $60 for a Swarowski crystal cake topper is not cheap or poor quality. I would look at your contract to see what she said her responsibility would be as a vendor when you hired her. I would be more upset that she wasn't honest about the mistake let you go through your wedding without the cake topper and then returned the crystal topper she tried to super glue. Regardless I think you'll have a hard time getting her to pay up and at that price point it probably won't be worth your while to take it to court unless your contract is rock solid in saying she's responsible for any damage to wedding ornaments in her care.

Yes she should pay for it.....but court is a little much...will end up costing you more then $60 in the end...but yes i would give her a bad review.

Thank you for that! It is very upsetting that the pictures of us cutting our cake does not include the topper. I suppose I'm just venting because your right, I do not plan on taking her to court. I guess giving her a bad review and putting her name out there is the best thing I can do..........Thats Barbara....At FTDWEDDINGS in Mooresville NC.

Who was that again that broke your cake topper, tried to fix it and made you go thru your wedding without a top, and blamed you? Don't know if I got her name right...

1 @Christie - check your contract to see if she assumes any responsibility for it.

However, whether she pays for it or not, it won't get you photos of the topper you planned to have on your cake.

As a Photographer, my recommendation to you is to contact your wedding photographer, explain the situation, and ask him/her to do some artsy detail shots of the topper. Then at least you'll have some photos, even if they weren't taken on your actual wedding day.

If I was your photographer, I'd do that for free, so maybe your photographer will too!

Oh that sucks! :-( I'm sorry..I'd def be making her pay me..esp if it wasn't able to be used the day of!

Ok I just saw your picture of it on your ib..and if that was yours. GORGEOUS!

That is not a cheap cake topper at all. She should have to pay you the $60 for breaking it. Especially if you know you didn't give it to her like that. That's just ridiculous.

While accidents happen, the cake topper getting broke isn't the problem. The problem is her response to it. Saying it got broke because it was 'cheap' isn't a proper response.

Thank you MusicMeister and AF. You took the words right out of my mouth. My review is still pending, which I think is ridiculous. What is Weddingwire doing, investigating my claim? Maybe I should post a pic of the broken topper, and the email she sent stating the topper was cheap.

This is the cake lady in question, and I feel like I should defend myself on this topic.

First let me say that I really like Karen and her new husband, and feel sorry that this has taken this direction.

Karen gave me the cake topper, which was very pretty, but had legs supports that were very thin and delicate. I personally have never used a cake topper with such a large top piece attached to such thin legs. I feel like it was poorly designed, and I told Karen that, and I offered to write a letter stating that to whoever she purchased it from. She didn't comment on that suggestion.

The morning of her wedding when I placed the cake topper, the legs of which were about two inches taller than the top tier of the cake, on the wedding cake, I noticed that one of the legs was really wobbley, and it didn't look safe for transport. I removed it from the cake, and tried to tighten the little leg back in a small cuff type weld, which was how it was made. As I was doing that, the leg came off

In my hand. SO since I don't have a welding torch handy, yes, I admit it, i tacked it back on with a spot of glue, and put it back on the cake. As I kept checking on it over the course of the morning I got more and more nervous over the OTHER leg, and I pulled it out again to check on the stability of it, because I knew if I waited until I got it to the reception, and it broke, there was no fixing it. So I pulled it back out- the leg with the glue spot was fine, but the other leg felt like a loose tooth, and as I moved it, it came off of the top as well!

It was a horrible thing to have happen, but I want to assure everyone who has read these other claims, after spending three days working on a beautiful cake for a couple I really liked, I certainly didn't maliciously snap off or break the legs off of a cake topper that was obviously important to the bride! At this point, I felt like the best thing to do was to fix it as best and as sturdily as possible, and deliver it, which I did.

I have tried to explain this via email, and I have offered reapeatedly to meet Karen and show her exactly at what weak spot the legs broke, and how it happened, but she hasn't responded.

I had to deliver the cake at 10 am, and I did debate calling her to tell her about the cake topper, but I didn't think it would be the best idea to stress a bride out about something that I thought was pretty well fixed for the time. I transported the cake there, and it was sturdy enough to withstand the hour in the van, so I thought it was ok.

Right after the wedding, Karen sent me an email thanking me for the cake and telling me it was the most delicious and beautiful cake she had ever had, and told me she was very grateful. I was really sad and upset when she emailed me a couple of weeks later to tell me she was going through wedding things and saw the cake topper was broken and she wanted me to pay her back for it.

I explained to Karen that I didn't feel it was my fault that it was broken and I would help her try to get some of her money back from the company who made it, but I didn't mishandle or snap off or step on or whatever she thinks I did to the cake topper.

There are some other things that are not being mentioned either- I drove an hour each way to deliver the cake, and charged nothing for delivery, and I also let her use a silver cake stand, that cost $300.00, for FREE, which she still has and has ignored me when I have asked to come pick it up. I normally rent them for $45.00 each, and I have had to rent a replacement stand twice for other cakes, because she has had mine since June 26.

So yes, I do feel like there is more to the story, and that the review she posted, which could be potentially very damaging to my business that I have worked hard at for 13 years, was unfair considering the whole story.

What do you guys think I should do to handle it fairly?

Lets get this straight Barbara... I never said you broke my topper on purpose. Never once did I say that! You not charging me a delivery charge has nothing to do with the fact that my cake topper was broken in your care. A good business person would have contacted the client immediately when it happened. You emailed me several times after the wedding never mentioning the broken topper. If I wouldn't have brought it to your attention you would have never said a word. YOU took responsibility for the topper the day I gave it to you. It was broken in your care. And again like I have stated many times I never said you did it on purpose. Also what good business person tells a client that the broken SWAROVSKI crystal cake topper is their fault because they purchased a cheap topper? Who does that?

Furthermore.. I never once said you stepped on the topper or snapped the legs off on purpose. Are you having paranoid delusions or what? The issue I have with you is that you refuse to take responsibility for my broken cake topper. I didn't break it. It got broke in your care, and if you can't see that you should be responsible for this then there is something wrong with your way of thinking. YOU are the only person that does not see this. You keep throwing all these other personal issues into the situation to distract everyone from the fact that the topper was broke while in your possession. Even it being an accident, its your responsibility as a good person and business woman to reimburse your client. Lets talk about HOT GLUING the legs back on.... HOW TACKY!! I would be so embarrassed if I were you. You should have come to me the moment it happened. And like YOU said you liked us... Why? Maybe because you know we are good people? Don't you think we would have understood?

Oh and one more thing. Did you or did you not tell my husband on the day of the wedding that you had to redo the top layer of the cake? HHmmm.... Very interesting! Just asking, because my guess is....Now this is just a guess not an accusation.......That you tried to push the topper through the top of the second layer and pushed too hard smashing the top of the cake and breaking the legs off the topper, hence the redo of the top layer. I think everyone would agree that However it happened does not really matter. And what would make you think its ok to tell a client that its all their fault because they purchased a cheap topper. How terrible! And then you posted it for everyone to see. Thank you for that. You have confirmed everything I stated in my post. Not very smart on your part now is it? And look I can post a pic too. HHmm...Whats missing in this photo now. COULD IT BE MY TOPPER?

Oh, I almost forgot...You stated one of the legs on the topper was wobbly. It was new and in perfect condition when I gave it to you. Also you stated that you normally charge $45.00 rental fee for the cake stand. Thats funny because you did not charge the person who gave me your name a rental fee for her cake stand, or the girl that gave her your name. Or so I was told. So how do you decide who to charge and who not to charge? And you told us that delivery was free. So don't try to say you went out of your way for us because you liked us. The only reason you were given the opportunity to to do our wedding cake is that every other vendor was booked for our date. What you need to realize is that there are too many vendors out there that can make the exact same cake if not better. There is nothing special about you or your business so why should anyone book you for their most important day of their life? Just my opinion.