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Frequently Asked Questions
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What to bring to your consultation:
- Occasion Date
- If delivery: Street Address of Venue. We will not schedule a delivery without a street address!
- Contact name and phone number of event planner or venue
- Estimated number of guests attending
- Pictures of cakes or displays from wedding periodicals or websites
- Color swatches- paint chips from your local hardware store work great if you can't get a color swatch from your dress shop!
- Items that will give us a feel of the event- a picture from a magazine or other vendor.
- A copy of your invitation
- Any other inspiration!
- A cake topper that you have purchased or a picture of the one you plan to use, if any.
What should I bring with me to my consultation?
Before coming in for a consultation, it is a good idea to have some direction or basic idea for a cake. A guests count plus or minus 50 people is also necessary. It is very difficult for us to give you a specific price if you're not sure whether you'd like a simple three-tiered cake with fresh flowers or an extravagant five tiered fondant cake covered in gumpaste appliqué flowers with a large bow. So take a look at our website, or wedding websites such as theknot.com or weddingchannel.com or simply search "wedding cakes" and see if you come up with a few cakes, cupcakes, or dessert buffets that strike you.
How far ahead should I make my wedding cake appointment?
We suggest you call to book your appointment a 1-2 weeks before you would like to come in, and plan to come in about 5-10 months before your occasion.
Do you freeze your cakes?
Goodness, NO!
How far in advance should I place a birthday cake order?
Any special occasion cakes with basic designs or a photo should be ordered 1-6 weeks before your occasion. Please call and check for availability for tiered cakes.
How long does it take to make a cake?
It all depends on the complexity of the design! Sometimes, 3 hours, sometimes 24 hours! Sometimes DAYS!
Cake consultations and tastings are reserved for weddings or events serving more than 75 guests.
Smaller events: you are welcome to stop in during normal business hours to discuss your cake design with our knowledgeable staff.
Please have the following information with you:
- Number of guests (how many people you need to serve)
- Date of event
- Day and evening phone numbers
- Email address
- Any special notes or requests we should be aware of
- Delivery or pickup
We will then will review your artwork and specifications and will contact you within 48 hours with a final price.
Do I need to pay for the cake in full when I place the order?
Cakes priced over $125.00 require a 50% deposit at time of ordering. The balance is due before the date of delivery. We accept personal checks or cash - NO debit or credit cards.
I will not know my final RSVP count until a few weeks before the wedding, so how will you know how large to make my cake?
Don't worry! We know that RSVP's come in well AFTER you've come in for a consultation and we require your final guest count 20 days prior to the event and the final payment is due 14 days prior to the event. This way you're not left with too little cake or way too much cake!
Cake Appointment / Consultation Policy:
Color swatches, pictures that you may have seen in magazines or on the internet, invitations, flowers choices from your florist or any other inspiration (even a fabric swatch) help us immensely in understanding your taste and in the design process, without these things it is very difficult to design a custom cake.
-Please be sure the following key decisions have been made before booking a consultation:
- Color scheme
- Flowers
- Overall feel for the event
- Venue
- Event date
- The exact number of guests is not a detail that we need right away, but a ballpark is extremely helpful
- Cake consultations and tastings book as a one (1) hour block, after your one (1) hour time has elapsed, you may be asked to book a second consultation for a fee of $25.00.
- Customers who are more than fifteen (15) minutes late are not guaranteed an appointment.
Information that we must have from the bride / groom:
- Bride / Groom Name:
- Phone:
- Event Date:
- Event Location:
- Approx. Guest Count:
Can I make changes to cake once the order has been placed?
Additions, changes, and cancellations can be made up until 72 hours before the cake is to be picked up. Cakes which include custom sugarpaste décor require at least 4 days notice for any changes which may result in an increased price.
Do you offer delivery?
Yes, we offer delivery. Delivery fees are priced per location / town and range from $15.00 to $100.00 depending on the distance from our bakery to your venue. We charge $50.00 per hour with a half-hour minimum for waiting time. This means that if we have to wait for you at the location, you will be charged a minimum of $25.00.
What is the price range for specialty and wedding cakes?
Any tiered specialty cake is priced per person (tiered is defined as: cakes that are stacked on top of each other from largest to smallest). Basic tiered buttercream cakes with simple decoration such as polka dots or a ribbon start at $2.75 per serving, our minimum price for a two tiered special occasion cake is $85.00. Wedding cakes start at $3.50 per serving and range to $12.00 per serving. Fondant Topsy Tuvry and Sculpted Shaped Cakes start at $4.00 per serving and range to $15.00 per serving. A good rule of thumb is to look at cakes that are featured in any magazines or publications; they are usually priced in the $12.00 to $18.00 range per person. The more elaborate, intricate, and time consuming the cake design, the greater price.
I'm a bride on a budget. Do you have any suggestions?
First of all, be honest with us from the beginning if you are on a budget, this is something that will help us narrow down the choices you have. But, there are a few tricks of the trade to get a beautiful cake without spending a ton of money. Say for instance, you are having 175 guests. As opposed to getting a 4 tiered cake that would actually serve 175 guests. We can make a 3 tiered cake that would feed 75 people, your florist would provide the fresh flowers. We would add a 'back up' kitchen cake that will be cut in the behind the scenes - your guests won't even know. Basically what this means is if this cake was priced at $4.00 per person, instead of paying $700.00 you would be paying $300.00 plus the cost of the sheet cake (an additional $120) therefore saving $280. As long as you don't mind seeing a smaller cake, this is a great way to get a more detailed cake while staying within your budget.
Do you make "fake" or Styrofoam layers?
Some customers have asked if we could use Styrofoam as opposed to cake to 'bump up' the height of their cake or they think they'll save money by having all the tiers but the top tier in styrofoam. We typically do not, just because of the simple fact that the same amount of work, time, and detail is put into your cake whether it is cake or Styrofoam. But if you would like the look of a larger cake, we can add a "dummy" tier, but there will be a substantial charge.
Can I get a small cake from you and buy the rest of the cake I need at a Supermarket or another bakery?
We, at The Artisan Kitchen, take pride in the flavor and scratch-made nature of our cakes and will not take on orders which mix our product with other bakeries products in order to defer costs.
It is nearly impossible to identify to your guests where each cake originated from, we will not take on orders where a small cake is being purchased as a display and sheet cakes are purchased from a supermarket or other vendor to defer costs.
Can you send me some pictures of cakes you've done in the past?
We suggest either looking on this website, our blog theartisankitchen.blogspot.com, or our Facebook, which are updated on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. If you have a specific theme or color scheme, please email us, we have lots of cake pictures from past weddings and events that simply do not all fit onto our website.
I live (insert a place far away from Rochester, MA) but my wedding is in your delivery area, can I still order a cake without coming into your shop?
Absolutely! Ashley and Meredith work the emails and can do much of the design or consultation work via email, but a few phone calls can really help us to understand the look and feel that you are going for.
What's the best way to contact you?
The fastest and easiest way to contact us is via telephone (508-763-4905). Email is always an option as well, sometimes it can take 2-4 days for us to respond, if you do not hear from us, please call - emails sometimes get stuck in our spam box!
How does the design, payment, and contract process work at The Artisan Bake Shop?
- We work to design a custom cake or cupcake display to fit your needs.
- A custom sketch worksheet including pricing and flavor choices is made specifically for your vision. Worksheets include: venue information, wedding planner name, florist name, your name & email & mailing address & phone number, expected number of guests, wedding colors, any inspiration that you may have provided us with (invitation, another bakers cake picture), and any other information that is really important to your cake and BIG DAY!
- Once you have approved your design, a 50% deposit is due to reserve your date with us. You can send, or drop it off at our shop. The deposit, an initialed copy of the contact (we give you a second copy to keep for your records) along with our 'Book The Date' sheet (the top portion of this sheet is for your records, the bottom portion is sent in with your deposit) is due in order to book your wedding date with us. We accept personal checks or cash only.
- As your wedding date approaches (about two months before) we will contact you just to check and see if any BIG changes need to be made.
- When your wedding is 20 days away, we call or email, to confirm your RSVP guest count.
- When the big day is 14 days away your final payment is due, we accept personal checks or cash only.
- We coordinate with your reception venue what time we'll be setting up and delivering your cake!
- All of the above steps can be done via email and phone or in person!
Baker's Tips!
- Be specific. Whether requesting information or scheduling an appointment, give all the important information and be specific! Be sure to include your first and last name, phone number, wedding date, venue, and the approximate number of guests you think you'll be expecting. Trying to schedule an appointment? Include what days and times tend to work best for you. Looking for information? Tell the vendor specifically what you'd like information about (cakes, cupcakes, pricing, flavors etc.) This will save you a lot of back and forth in your email communications.
- Preparation is everything. Come in prepared: look at websites and mags ahead of time. Let us know what you love, what you don't and anything in between. If you come into a consultation without a lot of your decisions regarding the rest of the reception already made: colors and overall feel of the event. We can sketch for an hour and may never get it right unless you have a direction for us to head in.
- Things to ponder ahead of time... What is your reception space like? What are your wedding colors? Do you want something extravagant? Or do you want something playful, whimsical? Are you classic types? Or is your couple motto The simpler the better? How do you want to personalize your cake? Answer these questions ahead of time and we'll have a blast design a cake just for you!
- Don't expect that you can do everything via email! Granted, there is a lot you can do through email and it can be a great place to start! But often a quick chat on the phone and meeting in person are also very important. Certain details can be communicated through facial expressions and body language even. We've met with many brides and may be able to pick up on questions you didn't think to ask or potential issues that may concern you by hearing your voice or sitting down with you at an appointment.
- Let us know if you're working with a budget. Whatever it may be. We're not being nosy, but this can help us to understand your needs so you don't fall in love with a $1,000.00 cake with a $450.00 budget. Many times we can tweak designs during the sketch process so that you can get the look without getting hit in the wallet.
- Ask any question that to comes to mind. Don't be afraid to ask, we don't believe that a silly question exists. Sometimes a great questions leads to a spark of genius in the design process.
- Sometimes mail gets stuck in our spam box. It just happens, and we apologize. It can be your email address or subject, we check our spam box regularly, but if you don't hear from us a quick phone call will alert us to the problem.
- Come hungry. Our consultations always come complete with cake and frosting and fun filling flavors... MMMMM!
- Don't be afraid to forgo cake all together! Ask us about our dessert stations and fun bake sale tables!
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