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Dedicated September 2017

DIY wedding cake vs buying from a professional?

Andee , on May 2, 2017 at 6:41 AM Posted in Do It Yourself 0 36

What are everyone's thoughts on buying vs. making your own wedding cake? I found a great baker and her prices are good but my FH just lost his job so money is tight and we have to rethink our planning. Anyone else making their cake or is it better to not have the stress and have a pro do it?

36 Comments

Latest activity by October2019, on May 13, 2019 at 8:22 PM
  • Z_Runner
    VIP June 2017
    Z_Runner ·
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    I bought it! i don't want the stress of baking the day before (or two days) or how it will come out. I say- have a pro do the cake, Im pretty sure there are other stuff you can DIY or eliminate from the wedding.

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  • K
    Expert May 2017
    Kristin ·
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    I paid $200 for our cake. Were doing a small cake for bride/groom and cupcakes for everyone else. That saved us some money. It was $200 for rental of the stand and delivery fees. I would rather spend that much and not have to worry about the stress!

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  • L
    Beginner July 2017
    Lauren ·
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    My sis is a pastry chef and is doing ours. But, we're having a small cake for the cutting, and what everyone is getting is sheet cake she's going to make with brown sugar cinnamon center. Seriously, save the stress and money and just get a small cake for the two of you to cut for tradition sake, then just pay the money for non fancy sheet cake. Saves money, time, and stress. It's gonna cost us just $80 for the cake cutting fee! And have you considered that in the cost of where your reception is at too? By the way, if you're worried about what people think about it at the wedding, those are people that don't consider the actual point of a marriage.

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  • Bemyguest
    Master April 2017
    Bemyguest ·
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    Seriously, you do not want the stress. I 100% promise you that!

    Check with local grocery stores. A lot of them have bakeries and professionals on site that are a lot less expensive than a bakery!

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  • MNBride
    Master June 2017
    MNBride ·
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    No way. It has to be done they day before, then not to mention storing it and transporting it. Too many things could go wrong. Get quotes from a local grocery store. By the time you add up all the supplies and equipment you would need to buy it's not worth it.

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  • ReneeEdward
    VIP November 2017
    ReneeEdward ·
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    Just don't.

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  • The Trap Selena
    Master March 2016
    The Trap Selena ·
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    Making a wedding cake is much more difficult and time consuming than it appears. The pros make it look easy because...they're pros.

    I'd much rather have cheap sheet cake from a grocery store than boxed Betty Crocker.

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  • FME
    Master March 2018
    FME ·
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    Don't DIY your own cake or food at your wedding. If you can afford all the supplies, there's a cake you can afford. You don't even have to have a cake. You can buy a 8" round cake to cut at your grocery store for less than $20, or buy a big sheet cake for everyone. Hell, SAMS club has 3 tier wedding cakes for $65 and these are all prepared and baked in a clean kitchen by professionals.

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  • Kristin
    Super August 2017
    Kristin ·
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    I have made many wedding cakes as a hobby in the past and this is no small task. If you are wanting something on the larger side it can take a bit of time too. The one post said their cake was 200. That is an awesome price. The one thing I find with DIY weddings is that it is very time consuming. I think it would be awesome though to say that you did a number of the items for the wedding including the cake and there is a pride factor here too. Have you made cakes before that would be the size you are wanting for your wedding?

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  • Chivy
    VIP September 2018
    Chivy ·
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    I'm not baking my cake but I'm decorating it myself.

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  • Dawn&Mike
    Super September 2017
    Dawn&Mike ·
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    I am a cake decorator. I have decorated both for fun and professionally for about 25 years. Done wedding cakes for years ,even my best friends wedding cake( that's a whole story all in its own) FH asked me if I was doing my own. HELL NOOoooo. I refuse that stress. Just transportation alone needs to be handled by pros.

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  • N
    Devoted September 2018
    Nikki ·
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    I have a friend who is a cake decorator at Walmart. She says they do 2 tier wedding cakes there for around $78. It might not be the fanciest but it will definitely save you the trouble. At first, I thought about DIY for my wedding cake but considering I'll be stressed enough as it is with everything else I would rather just pay to have it done and not have to worry about storing and delivery. You should relax before your wedding not have last minute tasks.

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  • Jacky
    Master June 2017
    Jacky ·
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    Don't do this. It's stressful and way time consuming. Aside from that, it's also basically like self catering, where you could potentially give your guests food poisoning. I also did bite into a cake packed full of cat hair that my neighbor baked for a neighborhood get together, it was disgusting.

    As others here have said, you can get a cake from Costco or a grocery store, even a small display one that you can cut into and get inexpensive sheet cakes.

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  • SoonToBeMrsT
    Dedicated September 2017
    SoonToBeMrsT ·
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    Sam's club makes very good cakes and they are reasonably priced.

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  • Robin
    Dedicated October 2017
    Robin ·
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    I would rather eat a homemade cake than a store bought one. They're really not hard or stressful to make and frost yourself

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  • acciowedding
    VIP May 2017
    acciowedding ·
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    I agree with PP get sheet cakes from a grocery store and a small round cake to display.

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  • MrsSki
    Master April 2017
    MrsSki ·
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    I made our rehearsal dinner cake as a surprise groom's cake for DH. Two layer half sheet cake decorated in a Orioles theme, since we went to at least three games a week when we first started dating. I bake all the time, have done wedding cakes for others, and bake cakes this size quite frequently for church functions. I didn't think it would be a problem, and was looking forward to surprising DH!

    DON'T DO IT. And yes, I mean it in yelly caps, I'm that serious about it. It was the absolutely worst idea I had around the wedding. Baking is typically stress relieving for me but this was utterly awful because I had so much else to do. The cake came out fine, tasted great, I got lots of compliments, but it was not worth it.

    Save yourself and order a cake!

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  • Deb
    Super June 2017
    Deb ·
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    Buy it. It will be less headache for you. If it really becomes a financial problem maybe have a baker make a small cake for you and FH and you can make cupcakes. I've seen a cupcake table its cute.

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  • Courtney
    Devoted June 2018
    Courtney ·
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    My mom owns a cake business and I promise, you do not want to deal with the stress of making a wedding cake. It is very time consuming and quite stressful if you don't know exactly what you're doing. Not to mention, you will have to make it the day before (you will want it to be fresh) so it will take hours out of that. My mom always gives her brides "cheaper" options so maybe you can check around for those? Her two options include having a small pretty cake for the two of you to cut, and everyone else get cupcakes. Or, have the small cake for y'all and have sheet cakes in the back to be cut and sliced for your guests. Definitely check around and see what your options are!

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  • firstoneat56
    Master August 2017
    firstoneat56 ·
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    The pastry chef I am using for my wedding (she is a top pastry chef in NY) was talked out of doing her own cake for her wedding and she said afterwords she was so glad she didn't do it.

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