Thursday, July 31, 1997 at 9 PM ET in the Kitchen Conference Room -- Cake Decorating with Dolores777 and Pwd sugar. Why should we as cake decorators do the Bridal Shows? Pros and Cons 

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FRUIT PIZZA from Roca Mesa: SPREAD OVER COOKIE, DECORATE WITH FRESH OR CANNED FRUIT

TOPIC: "Why should we as cake decorators do the Bridal Shows? Pros and Cons"...

I'm sure Pwd sugar will have more for you since she participates more than I do in bridal shows. Let me start off by saying this, I don't do bridal shows usually. Maybe one per year. I do them only when they are reasonably priced and local. By local, I mean we are located 30-40 minutes above Cincinnati and most shows are held closer to there, even downtown. When a show IS held in Hamilton (where our shop is). I do not like to deliver cakes to Cincinnati-downtown. I'd just as soon they don't know about me LOL. I sometimes do participate when they don't over-charge. Over-charge...sometimes a booth costs $400-500.00. (One local hotel charged this...they didn't have the show this year...I wonder why)...I'm sure I would recoup the cost. But I am as busy already as I want to be - with wedding cake orders. Since I am located on a busy 4-lane highway through Hamilton (Route 4), not many people don't know about us anyhow.

PROS: Just one or two big cake order from the show can cover the entire cost of participation. It helps to keep up on what's new, the latest trends etc.. Besides, it IS lots of fun. ---AND I get a new cake made for my window!

CONS: Participating in a Bridal Show doesn't JUST cost the amount of the BOOTH. It also entails asking employees to work (usually on Sundays) and paying their wages, food and usually Sunday (double-time) wages, plus any other expenses. This can be quite costly. It also entails whatever table or other decorations, cake samples or anything else that we must purchase for the show.

We have brochures to hand out to our brides. Our brochure tells all about us. We make our own brochures on a computer and print them out on our desk jet printer. This way, we can make changes whenever we like. Topics include: Front cover: "CUSTOM TIERED CAKES" 'Baked fresh - Never frozen', our name (Sugarcraft), address, phone number and a cake picture. Other topics include: PRICING, SERVINGS, PASTRY FILLINGS, CAKE FLAVORS, GROOM'S CAKE, ICING COLORS, CAKE TOP ORNAMENT, DELIVERY, FLORIST FLOWERS, SECURITY DEPOSIT AND PAYMENT PLAN. We show some cake setups and what they will serve according to tiers shown. (This gives brides help in choosing styles. We also mention that we do PETITE FORS, WEDDING MINTS and sell BRIDAL ACCESSORIES...like the cake knife, bridal books, toasting glasses, pen, garter, ring pillow, table skirting, aisle runner and wedding seeds to throw.

A CAKE: For shows, I create a 'showy' dummy wedding cake (styrofoam cakes). Then I make sheet cakes for samples. As for how many servings, first, I DO want to run out of cake. I call the people in charge and find out how many people they are expecting. They have been very good at projecting the number. We use dental floss to cut the sheet cakes. It looks very professional...sliding the string through. And it cuts so clean you have very few crumbs at all...even when filling is used. Usually we make both white (with strawberry filling) and chocolate (with Bavarian Cream filling) cakes. These are pre-made fillings we carry in the shop. The cake is scored into serving-size pieces with a tiny rosebud on each piece.

Below is my favorite homemade filling:

PINEAPPLE FILLING

Mix all ingredients together. Blend well. Make a "wall" of regular consistency buttercream icing as usual. Spread filling evenly over each layer. This filling is very thin and good! I love it with white or, especially, yellow cake. WEDDING MINTS TOO: We also make up butter mints. This is easy, not expensive and SO impressive! Often referred to as "Wedding Mints" Below are 2 recipes for the tiny sugar mints often served at wedding receptions. These are usually done in the bride's color theme and her favorite flower-shape, etc. You only need one single mold of each shape. There are many shapes to choose from. You can make these ahead and freeze theme. (You should store Cream cheese mints in the refrigerator until serving time!) These are delicious and great for other occasions too!

EASY BUTTER MINTS (Pictured in my NEW wedding cake book)

Cream butter and salt together until well blended. Add milk. Add sugar. Remove from bowl and knead until mixture is well blended. Add flavor and color. Store leftover dough in the refrigerator in Tupperware. Keeps a long time.

TO MOLD: Shape a marble-sized piece into a ball, press into granulated sugar, taking care NOT to coat back. Press firmly into the yellow-flexible mint mold. Immediately umold. You can unmold these directly onto a pretty serving dish or tray and, not being coated on the bottom, they will remain in place. If mixture sticks to the mold, add slightly more confectioners' sugar. Let set uncovered, for a few hours, for desired firmness. Wrap tray in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Makes about 200 mints. Recipe can be halved. Amount depends on size and choice of mold used.

YELLOW MINT MOLDS NOTE: If mixture sticks to the mold, add slightly more confectioners' sugar. Let set uncovered, for a few hours, for desired firmness. Wrap tray in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
PWD SUGAR'S PART:

Bridal shows are a great place to market yourself to a large number of customers in a short period of time. Depending on the size of the bridal show you might be able to show 100 to 1000 brides, friends of the bride (future brides), and the brides family what you can do to meet their special dream of a cake in a 3 to 4 hour period. It requires some advance preparation on your part to successfully show them what you can do that is different from others in the same business. Cake tasting - cakes must be baked, iced and a basic decoration should be sufficient for this. I usually bake 12 x 18 cakes and stack two flavors. Kaluaha fudge and white or Kaluaha fudge and Italian cream or white and strawberry flavors. Just so I give them two flavors that taste wonderful. So a 2 layer 12 x 18 will serve 100 people and when that is gone then you pull out another 2 layer 12 x 18 to be served. You will also need small plates, napkins, forks, cake server, cake mitts and possibly punch. You will also need someone to serve your cake to leave you free to talk with the brides. Don't forget the table must be rented, a cloth and skirting must be rented and a small amount of decorating will be needed to make your table look nice.

The negative aspects are the time, expense and hassle of setting up for a short period of time. The positive aspects are the exposure you get from a large number of potential customers in that short period of time. You must consider whether these bridal shows are really an asset for you.

In addition to the tasting you will need albums with pictures of cakes you have done. Your cake prices available for the bride. Cards for the bride to take with her so she can find you in the future. Possibly a couple of dummy cakes or examples of the sugar art that you do. Such as a bridal couple made from sugar, a flower arrangement made from sugar, or maybe a couple of sample cake tops.

So you see just to get set-up at a bridal show is a lot of work on your part. Most bridal shows that I have done leave you wondering if anyone really wants your cakes. Very few of the brides will book a cake at a bridal show. This last weekend I had three brides who wanted to make an appointment to order their cakes. The first thing I ask them is the date of their wedding. All three of them were getting married on weekends that I had already filled. Every 6 months you have a brand new market with new girls who are getting married. If you are so busy that you just can't book any more cakes other than your regular customers - you have no need to do the bridal shows. But, if you are new to a community or you are a non advertising home decorator and have a good product to offer then these bridal shows are just what you need. If you are a home decorator who does not have a legal business then you run the risk of the bakeries turning you in because they don't want your competition. You are putting yourself in an open situation that says you are competing with them. The bakeries in our town don't participate in the bridal shows. They have enough business from walk in's that they don't need the hassle of doing the bridal shows.
ICES:::::: NEXT WEEK'S TOPIC: Thursday, August 7, 1997 at 9 PM ET in the Kitchen Conference Room -- "The basics of baking and decorating cakes"

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