Hey everyone!
So last month I posted about my wedding cake my husband & I never got to see as it didn't even survive into reception shortly after it was delivered.
When I first posted, the only photo I had was from my florist who just happened to take a photo of it before leaving. I had very limited information at the time of the post so I just wanted to provide an update as I have now talked to both baker/venue, received more photos, and overall got a better sense of the situation.
I got a lot of helpful replies, a lot of questions, and a lot of feedback whether it was baker or venue (or both) mishandling.
The photo I attached is what my photographer took during cocktail hour (~5PM). The 2nd photo is what my baker took right after she set the cake up in the tent before leaving (~3PM).
Here's everything I know based on all the questions.
My wedding reception was in a tent with walls open. It was a warm 79F day.
The baker delivered the cake around 2:45-3PM PM an hour before ceremony (reception started at 6:00 PM and cake cutting was 9:00 PM). It was a 3-tiered cake with raspberry jelly filling inside.
Upon receiving the cake, the venue & coordinator asked the baker about storage & handling and guided her to the refrigerator. The baker said refrigeration is not necessary and was adamant ("based on my 10 years of expertise" per her words) that it is okay to be left out until cake cutting. She set up the cake in the tent herself, took a photo and left (2nd image).
After the baker left the premises, some time afterwards, the cake started to tilt. The coordinator immediately called and FaceTimed the baker to show her what's going on to determine a solution. The baker replied "this has never happened" to her cakes before, but said they can try to refrigerate it then. The cake was moved to the refrigerator.
When it was later checked on it unfortunately fell apart, and it was "very wet" with "a lot of jam filling" per the venue.
I gave the baker a call a few days after the wedding. The whole call was really just her fixated that someone bumped into it and is withholding information because "there's just no way" the structural integrity was not there. She put a lot of dowels including a center dowel rod and this has never happened to her cakes in her 10 years of experience including when she did summer wedding cakes in tents. Overall, while she was apologetic, she blamed the venue/florist/or whoever was near it for bumping into it.
I got closure from my venue as well who was…well…shocked by her response in blaming them and they are adamant nobody bumped into it. They offered refrigeration upon receiving the cake and the baker did agree with the venue's report that she said it was not necessary for her cake.
Overall it was such a crappy situation and I am bummed we never got our cake cutting moment (plus a $1000 cake that we planned for 6 months and never physically saw).
I do feel like heat was the issue especially with the jelly filling making it more prone to heat insensitivities because even when I had the sheet cakes out the next day to serve at brunch, the frosting melted just at room temperature and it got really soft.
In hindsight, I wish we would've done two things.
One…schedule delivery way later.
And two, just refrigerated it immediately. I understand my venue listening to the expert and her adamance saying "refrigeration is not necessary" when offered, but I wish it was ignored lol.
Per the Bakery contract, once the cake was delivered and she left, it is not her responsibility anymore. She was apologetic and offered our $100 deposit back, and we declined.
We are just ready to move on! Honestly when I saw my cake that my photographer took it gave me a good laugh. You just gotta laugh at this point lol.
by Cool-Storm9367
49 Comments
Sorry this happened to you. AND you guys missed the opportunity to stick a broom on a side and call it a Sleeping Beauty cake, lol.
Edit: wrong disney princess, lol.
That’s 100% on the baker that advised to leave it out for 6 hours at 80°. That’s crazy. It didn’t stand a chance.
It’s crazy that she declined refrigeration, when the cake was gonna be out that long at that temp. I feel like she just wanted to set it up to get a picture for her Instagram or whatever, damn whatever happens after. I’m really sorry you didn’t get to have your cake moment!
Edit: you can even see it starting to sag a bit in the second pic when you zoom in! Ugh. I bet they overfilled it too which didn’t help. They also way overcharged you to begin with imo. The color and piping isn’t even and it’s bothering me so much that this lady basically scammed you.
Apologies, I’m not from that side of the globe, but is a $1,000 considered standard pricing for wedding cakes?
I do think your cake looks lovely and elegant, though. Sorry that you never got to taste it.
Glad you and your spouse are in good spirits about it. I could see leaving a display/styrofoam fake cake out for the aesthetic. But, like everyone commented here, it should have been refrigerated.
You may also consider leaving a lighthearted Google or Yelp review so that other couples can hopefully be gently forewarned and have a different experience? The cake looks lovely and I bet if a couple knew that heat was an issue, they may insist through their coordinator/catering team that the cake be kept in the fridge until ready to be served.
I hope this becomes a funny story in the future. “Remember when we didn’t even get to eat our wedding cake cuz the freaking cake collapsed in the heat? Let’s hope [other event] goes better. *couple laughs together*”
I just made my first wedding cake this last weekend, was SO stressed about it falling apart or getting warm! I don’t understand how it would have leaned like that if she added a center dowel, unless the dowel wasn’t also pushed into the cake drum. I’m sorry this happened to you, and that she didn’t offer a refund. You’d think that if this had never happened to her in 10 years, then one refund in 10 years should not be a big deal.
I remember you!
Oh yea, totally baker’s fault. Why would she say to not refrigerate? Wouldn’t you want your creation to have the best chance of making it through the day? Meh. Don’t recommend the baker to anyone.
Ya’ll should have gotten that $100 back and had someone else make a small cake for you two.
Good on you for being able to move on and laugh at it.
At that price, I’d still be pissed at the baker for lack of foresight and accountability… but I love a good grudge and you sound more forgiving than me lol.
Hope you and your husband treated yourselves to some cake afterwards!
So sorry your special day was a disaster. The cake actually looks lovely.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. If you zoom in on the bottom layer on the second picture, the cracks are already there. 100% agree that’s on the baker.
The baker is a blame-passing child and you should never use her again. She should’ve offered more than the measly $100 back. Another cake maybe, even for the one-year anniversary mark. If it were me, I’d jump on Yelp, crack my fingers and start typing up an honest review. It was on her from the get-go when she declined refrigeration.
Venue should have a policy that cake goes into the fridge until an hour before cake cutting if it’s more than 60 degrees out. After all they know that it’s hotter in the tents than outside. I have no idea why Baker wouldn’t have put it in the fridge. Obviously the cake standing in a tent for 3 hours in the heat is going to be a disaster. Who knows if the cake was even child when it was delivered.
I think venue and Baker are at fault maybe the venue moreso.
Bro, what? A professional baker should know even IMBC will melt at 80 degrees. That’s crazy hot for a cake. I’d badger that baker nonstop until you get a refund.
Wow, I’m so sorry. What kind of baker advises not to refrigerate? How have other buyers from her not experienced the same issue? Did she screw up with the baking somewhere?
Yeah, it was totally her fault. I’m sorry that you never got the money back, but at least have found some humor in it.
That is a picture of a cake that CLEARLY has collapsed under its own weight. How can she argue that it’s leaning because someone bumped into it??? The shape of the lean is so obvious.
$1000 for THIS wedding cake is crazy. I can understand if it was way bigger and more detailed. But this 3 tier plain looking cake was $1000? The baker ripped you off and I’m sorry but even someone with no baking experience would know a hot day and a cake don’t go together. I know there are genuine mistakes people can make but the baker handled everything really bad.
What a cluster. It’s a beautiful cake but you were crazy overcharged (unless she drove super far to deliver it) and she clearly has no idea what she’s talking about with buttercream and heat. I’d be shocked if she’s actually as much of a 10 year professional as she claims. Leave a review.
Is it just me or does the top layer of the cake already look like it’s ‘sweating’ in the straight/pre-tilting pic? Also the piping isn’t even that neat for $1,000…
I’m seriously mad for you – if this really is the first time one of the baker’s cakes has ever collapsed, she should have offered a full refund no questions asked, as it’s a one-off event.
Maybe ask her in lieu of the deposit back if she’d be willing to make you guys an anniversary tier in the same style to freeze for next year or maybe even get it fresh from her next year. That’s more than reasonable and you can still have your moment!
ONE THOUSAND US DOLLARS FOR THAT???!?!??!?! first red flag there
Nah, you’re way nicer than me. I’d have raised absolute hell over that price point and her only offering 100$ back for her stupidity and lack of care. The cake is nowhere near worth that money for how it looks, regardless if it fell apart or not.
Outside that long while it’s 80° is insane.
A thousand for that? And you didn’t get to eat it…
No. She did yall dirty.
I’d talk to a lawyer and consider small claims if you want to go that route. Get documentation from both the baker and the venue that the baker insisted refrigeration wasn’t necessary.
Cause if that’s the case, her strong insistence even after the venue coordinator suggested it, she may have voided that clause of her contract. If after delivery she’s is no longer contractually responsible, then she shouldn’t have insisted on how to care for/maintain the cake afterwards. She could’ve made a suggestion. But the point to which she insisted is the issue.
100% the baker’s fault. Why would she insist *not* to refrigerate it? Even if it is doweled and filled just with buttercream, it’s better to be safe. Jelly has like no support value when lukewarm. The cake isn’t going to become crusty and stale from sitting in the fridge for a few hours.
Did it have dowels, a baseboard *and* cake boards? Or was it just a hail mary dowels only kinda thing? It was tilting a lot in a way that didn’t look like it was well supported— and seems like it was stacked off centred. The first picture looks like the cake mid fall like 💀
The blaming was also just so unprofessional, as was the tiny offer for the deposit back.
It’s a shame because it was a pretty cake too. Also kinda expensive. Wedding cakes range from like $300-3000 based on the weddings I’ve attended recently. This one seems on the more modest smaller side like… I could see maybe $500. But $1000?
As a former baker of wedding cakes: not only would I have been MORTIFIED, I would have refunded your entire payment and still made you an anniversary cake for free. (Not to mention, I obviously would have told you to refrigerate the cake, and I wouldn’t have delivered a cake with cracks in the icing as are clearly evident in her “promo“ pic.) You were conned and I’m angry even if you aren’t.
The cake was sagging the second it was set up. You can already see it in both pics.
Shame on the baker tbh. It’s their cake and they should know how to make sure it lasts a few hours.
To shift blame and offer only the deposit back just shows their preference for money over reputation and customer satisfaction.
It’s fair to leave an honest and bad review but otherwise just move on unfortunately.
Hope the rest of your wedding went much better 🙂 At least you’ve warned others to keep their cakes cold.
I can’t add a pic on this, but if you zoom in to the pic your baker took at the beginning you can see that the cake is SWEATING and the icing/fondant has cracked already 😭
The baker should be beyond embarrassed. This is 100% on her and should have been evident before she even arrived to the venue.
That doesn’t look like a $1000 cake in the good pic…
I don’t see why you can’t sue her. Screw the contract. She clearly dropped it off and said fuck it, but it was already fucked up and she told the people to NOT refrigerate it.
It fell apart completely AFTER she left, but it was already fucked before she left.
Either way, at minimum, review bomb. But I honestly think you could win.
I’m so sorry. That’s inexcusable from a so-called professional baker. I’m not a baker but I know that jelly if left out in warm climate will melt/separate and become watery. She knew this, she had to. I feel that she just wanted to leave and be done for the day.
If it had a center rod all the way through how on earth did it fall down?
It reminds me of the cake from Sleeping Beauty- I think with time it will be a cute and charming story!!
I would highly recommend leaving a review explaining everything you’ve said here along with the pictures.
This is completely on the baker. She told everyone not refrigerate it, when in-fact she should have agreed with the refrigeration. It was almost 80 degrees where the cake was. That’s too hot and can and will cause all sorts of defects. I’d be taking her to small claims court. I’d also be leaving negative reviews on yelp since she can’t delete those
Please at the very least leave a review. As the baker is insane and you should have gotten a full refund at that point as it was 100% on her.
Aside from the clear structural issues and the fact that it was hot out, don’t jam cakes need to be refrigerated anyway? I don’t think I’d trust a jam-filled cake that was out for 8ish hours before serving
I think you’re underreacting. $1000 and she insisted it was okay without refrigeration? And honestly, the venue should have insisted on refrigerating it. I’d be going absolutely ballistic to get my money back.
Looks like the baker’s photo was at a different angle than the first photo, which makes me believe that she took a very close photo from the “good” side.
The piping is insanely sloppy for $1000. I could have done a better job as a hobby baker with 0 years of wedding cake experience.
I love your easygoing vibe, OP. But don’t let yourself be taken advantage of. You should demand a full refund.
I’m a baker:
1) that cake does not look properly doweled
2) it 100% should have been refrigerated. A tiered cake with jam filling and buttercream in 80 degree weather would hardly survive one hour let alone 6.
Most bakers have an agreement that once they drop it off, any issues are out of their hands. Did you sign anything like that? If not, I would ask for a refund. Her declining refrigeration is why the cake fell.
The only thing I can come up with is once the baker got to the venue she saw the integrity was failing and maybe figured it wouldn’t survive the additional moving back and forth from refrigeration to the tent so set it up in it’s final place and hoped for the best
Holy crap, if a cake costs $1000 it’s a no-brainer that it shouldn’t fall apart, but it also should have a level of expertise and precision in the decorating that is definitely not seen here. What a scam artist this lady is.
I dont understand why the bakery scheduler didn’t ask when your cake cutting was and suggest delivery later? I remember when scheduling ours, the woman specifically asked if there was a refrigerator at the restaurant for the cake or not, because if not, someone would deliver it later in the day. I had to call the restaurant we were having the dinner at to ask if our little cake would fit. they kept it in the fridge for us until dinner was schedule to start and we arrived.
and honestly, I cannot believe that cake cost you $1k. I see a ton of mistakes on it. i know it can’t be 100% perfect, but the piping at the top of the tiers is…messy and uneven. :-/
I take back everything I said on the original post!!! I cannot believe the baker declined refrigeration!!!!! Embarrassing behaviour on their part. They should refund you the whole thing imo.
That isn’t a thousand dollar cake even when it was upright. I’m so sorry this happened to you. If it were me I’d be leaving reviews all over the place to warn people.
Ma’am, zoom in to that picture she sent you. That cake is wetter than the comment section of a Chris Hemsworth workout video.
The baker lied to both you and the venue. The “That’s never happened to one of my cakes before!” is nonsense; tilting is a standard problem cake decorators have when starting out and learning how to properly place and space the support rods. From how that tilted, she might’ve put in rods as if it was a normal cake and only realized after icing it that the jelly filling meant she should have used more.
The cake was already failing when she delivered it, which she carefully masked in her assembly photo. Refrigeration and letting the venue assemble it would have made it obvious that she had delivered a faulty product, so she manipulated the venue into leaving it out so she could lie that it was fine when delivered. Her 10 years of baking would have taught her that it needed refrigeration, not the opposite.
In short, you got scammed. I’m sorry.
I’m sorry— ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for that cake? That’s outrageous.