I'm getting calls and emails right now for wedding cakes needed during May through July. This is not good. I figured some big wedding blog or magazine had written a wedding planning time-line and so I did a little digging, and lo and behold, this is what I found: The WeddingChannel.com says pick your baker and cake in the 4 to 5 month range. Contemporary Bride says 5 to 6 months. Real Simple (never heard of this) also says 4 to 5 months... I read nine different lists before I came across only one that was fairly realistic (at least six months out) and mentioned that you must consider what time of year you're getting married as part of your planning.
If you're getting married during prime wedding season, which is May through September, waiting until NOW to think about cake is not a great idea and will severely limit your choices out there. Not many bakeries do a ton of cakes in a weekend like they do on Cake Boss. Most of us limit the amount of cakes we'll do to just a few. If your wedding is up in the mountains and you're looking at bakeries in Denver, you've got to factor in the five to six hours of delivery time... which means your cake is quite possibly be all that a bakery will take on that day and waiting until now to order it for your June wedding is not a good decision.
I'm really frustrated with these wedding planning time lines that have clients waiting so long to book certain vendors, and I wish there was a way to educate the writers.
An addition... after posting this blog on my Facebook and Twitter pages, I received several comments regarding florists and musicians. These are folks you don't want to wait to book either. Musicians in particular are limited to what they can do in a day. Florists can usually handle a little bigger load but they still need to factor in assembly and how long delivery will take for orders and A)they need to sleep at some point and B)cannot fly.
We all get busy during those prime months, and we dread having to turn anyone down. It's stressful for you and that's no good! So plan early and save yourself a lot of headache and freaking out:)
2 comments:
Are you frustrated because you are having to turn them down or frustrated because you have the date open, but now you feel rushed to go through the cake designing and making process?
I'm frustrated because I have to turn people down... I'm more frustrated for them, because they've been given bad info. I had a gal hang up on me, which prompted this whole blog and inquiry. She was mad because now she "had to look on Craig's List or something"--- her words. I think waiting until your wedding is just a few months away severely limits your vendor options and that adds stress.
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