Wilton Fondant Cut

How much should I charge for wedding cupcakes?

I'm making cupcakes for a co-worker's wedding next month and I'm not sure how much I should be charging her, how I'm going to store them, transport them, etc.

They will be jumbo size chocolate and yellow with buttercream and black and white fondant flowers (cut with Wilton cut-outs) on top. I'm making 200 of them.

I'm not sure if I should charge by the cupcake or make an itemized list of supplies and double or triple it. I came up with a tentative supply list and it comes to about $200. If I charge by the cupcake I was thinking of charging $3.00, maybe $4.00, per cupcake. Is that reasonable? Too much? Too little?

If anyone has any pricing advice (and/or advice on how to store them beforehand and actually get them to the hall) I would really appreciate it!! Thanks!!

Advice from a semi-retired cake designer:

For simple cakes - not much work - I start at $1.50 per serving for you basic buttercream and increase the price at based on the cost of add-ons (special fillings, upgrades in type of cake and or frostings, special piping work, and other fancy stuff I do). This is basically charging 3 to 5 times the cost of ingredients and where it is 3, 4 or 5 times the cost of ingredients is based on the amount of work I am doing.

Depending on how complicated the flowers will be to make, it sounds like $3.00 per cupcake is a fair price.

One other way to validate you pricing is to call local bakeries. That will tell you if your pricing is competitive.

As for storing them, most craft stores that sell Wilton products carry the cake boxes. Get the Sheet cake box. If you are making ahead and refrigerating/freezing the cupcakes - wrap the box in several layers of plastic wrap to keep them fresh. Do not store them with the fondant flowers, or preset the flowers - if they move in transit and you don't have extra stuff (which reminds me - plan on extra stuff to repair anything at the reception hall. Put the flowers in their own box - use crumpled tissue to keep them safe. I hope you have an SUV or van available to use - you do not want to stack the boxes - they need to be flat - or you will have tons of repair work to do! Recruit at least one friend to help put the flowers on the cakes at the reception. I pay helpers $7.50 an hour - plan on being there about 2 hours to set up the cakes, place flowers and do a general cleanup.

Good Luck!

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