How much cheaper is it to rent a dummy cake and then get sheet cakes, as suggested by many wedding magazines?
This is another rumor put out by non-cake-makers that is very misleading to brides.
First, there are businesses out there who make up styrofoam cakes and rent them out over and over. I hate to think about what that cake looks like the 2nd or 3rd time that it's used.
There are also dummy cakes that have a wedge cut out and a real piece of cake is inserted for the cake-cutting photo. I'm not aware of how to sanitize a styrofoam cake that's going to be rented out over and over again, and I personally would be very nervous about feeding my new spouse some cake that was shoved into a slot that's had heaven-knows-what in there, used by how-many-people and not properly sanitized.
The magazines, news shows and websites lead a bride to believe styrofoam cakes are practically free. Here's the truth:
---I still have to buy the styrofoam.
---It takes the same amount of icing to ice a fake cake as it does a real cake.
---It takes the same amount of time to ice and decorate a fake cake as it does a real cake.
---Fake cakes take up the same amount of space in the delivery van as a real cake does.
---Fake cakes take the same amount of gas in that van to deliver it as a real cake does.
Because my costs are not diminished by that much, I (as many decorators do) charge 90% of the standard price for the fake cake. ASSUMING sheet cakes are cheaper (which is not always true because it's the same cake, same icing, same delivery costs, etc.), you are most likely to spend MORE on a small fake cake with sheets, than you would on a grand and glamorous wedding cake. Here are the numbers:
Fake cake for 100:
$2.25/serving x 100 = $225.00 x 80% = $.180.00
Sheet cakes for 100:
$2/serving x 100 = $200
Total cost for fake + sheets: $180+$200 = $380
Cost for real wedding cake for 100:
$2.50/serving x 100 = $250.00
