Three cake tastings down, one to go.
I’d like to say they were all wonderful and everyone was fabulous, but it’d be a horrid lie. Our first tasting had a wonderful vendor, really a sweet woman and she was so accommodating! All of our questions were answered and our fears quelled. It was unfortunate that the cake wasn’t impressive. Mr. Gummi Bear and I are both very easily swayed by how much we like the vendor as a person, so we felt bad that we weren’t sold on her cake.
The next tasting, which we were very excited to go to, turned out to be the opposite experience. We sat, looked at books, ate cake and were impressed… only to wait an extra half hour to be greeted (or not really, she didn’t say hello or introduce herself) by a woman with a calculator and a scowl. She was rude, unaccommodating, condescending, and was flat out making up numbers out of thin air. She claimed that what the first cake vendor said was possible, was impossible, and made sure to tell us that on a good day, without traffic, in a normal car, it would take over 2 hours to go to our venue. It takes 50 minutes with normal driving as it’s on the way to my parents’ home, so I’ve driven the distance numerous times. I let it go, I wasn’t going to argue how ridiculous that time estimate was, she was just flat out mean to us. I politely tried to leave several times, only to be bashed about how I couldn’t have what I want (so, I should give in and go with her). We left thinking we’d rather not have a cake than have one by her.
Which led us to our next vendor, who is located only 3 blocks from us. So we walked down the street, picked up two slices of pizza from the local bakery, and strolled in to chat. We were very disheartened and almost had decided not to get a cake at all, considering our last two meetings were not at all what we were looking for. But we were very surprised! She was sweet, funny, easy to talk to about her designs… and she also agreed with our first vendor, it IS possible to have a buttercream cake delivered to our venue! And then the tasting… GOOD! We got our estimate and left smiling, reconsidering our thoughts of foregoing a cake altogether.
We have an appointment with another baker this Saturday, but we may have already found her because we’re very easily swayed by “clicking” with our vendors. How about you?
Yup I’m the same way, quite easily sold if I like a vendor. I don’t think it’s a bad thing though, it’s important to get along with these people because you are entrusting them with the important task of making your wedding details all come together. They are more likely to make a point of doing a good job for you if they get along with you and share your vision.
We actually only met with one photographer - I did a ton of research ahead of time on pricing and style, and narrowed it down to just 3 that we liked in our price range. The first one we met with was so awesome we just looked at each other and said, “Why would we waste our time shopping around when we know we’ll be thrilled with him and it’s a good price?” I think the key is to just do your research ahead of time and create a shortlist of quality vendors who are in your price range to meet with. It’s really important if you know you’re easily swayed by charming people to make sure they’re in your price range, or you will talk yourself into spending more than you wanted to just for the opportunity to work with someone you like.
oh i hated my cake vendor representative. she was stuck up and kept telling us, “we just don’t do that” when all i was asking for was a cream cheese icing and to put a couple of drops of food coloring in our filling! and to top it all off, their bakery has the word “creative” in their name! such a misnomer. from the samples in their store, their swirly piping wasn’t even very well done.
but unfortunately, they come with our package in our venue. so we have to go with them unless we want to shell out more money to go with someone else. pooo!
I have a question, haven’t seen it answered anywhere yet. Are cake tastings free?
Tricia/Laura S - I agree, it’s definitely really calming to click with your vendor. At least, I feel more relaxed since they obviously think about the same things and understand what I am looking for. It means my vision has a higher change of not getting distorted!
aoedorothee - I agree, some people use the “wedding” as a way to beat you down. You have to have a cake, so they can treat you the way they want. Is your cake included in the reception price even if you don’t have one? Even if you have to pay a fee, the competition between bakeries may be good enough that the cost of an outside baker + reception fee is less than or equal to the cost of using the in house baker! Definitely try and negotiate, I’m not a good haggler, but if I have to, I bring out the parents. 
Tammy - most are free - it depends on each vendor. Just like catering tastings, you just have to ask. Only one of our 4 tastings cost us anything, and the cost will go towards the cake if we choose her. 
Tammy - my vendor “technically” charges $10, but she didn’t charge us. Nor did she charge the 7 other recent brides I talked to.
Go with the vendor you feel comfortable with as long as the “goods” are acceptable — b/c you’ll feel better about interacting, giving direction, telling them what you want, etc. I did this with our florist and now she’s quite honestly my favorite one of the bunch! I love her and am so, so glad I went with her.
same here! i’m easily swayed if tthe vendor is someone i can connect w/. i’m actually going cake tasting this sat. in san francisco. would you mind sharing the name of the baker you were impressed with? =)
I paid a little more than I wanted for a vendor or two but I did it for the right reasons. The person was so easy to work with or they not only understood my vision but they worked to make it even better. I wanted to support the small local businesses and I’m so glad I did.
The first cake shop I went to kept trying to make me add layers onto my cake and acted like there was no way to have a 3 layer cake while my second through fourth shops couldn’t quote me anything less than $800. My fifth shop had the pans laid out for me to visualize, she gave me options as to which style square I wanted and she came in at under $300. It was amazing. Service is just as important as the product to me.
Most of our vendors we picked based on quality of product and personality.
I’m in the Bay Area, too…gosh I wonder if the second baker was the same lady I saw who was super rude–acted like I was supposed to know exactly what I wanted and then bashing what I wanted…ugh…she made me so uncomfortable! I don’t care if you’ve won awards, if you treat potential clients like that, they aren’t going to come back.
Jen: Carolyn Wong was the sweetest, her cake is good and she’s just a pleasure to talk with.
n: sounds like the same person, east bay + awards on the wall? is it?
I agree. I based a lot of vendors not only on there work but customre service and personality. I basically booked my day of coordinator over the phone, we talked for over an hour and it was like talking to an old friend and when i met her we clicked even more. The same thing goes for my florist. She greeted with so much warmth and enthusiam and had great work. I think some vendors forget that we are the customers we don’t really need them bu they need us!!!
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Mrs. Gummi Bear, San Francisco
Age and Occupation: 25, Japanese Importer/Illustrator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Game Developer/Programmer
Engagement Date: April 15, 2006
Wedding Date: October 13, 2007
Blogging Since: June 19, 2007
Venue: Organic farm an hour from San Francisco
About Me: I live for anthropologie, design blogs, sweets, japanese zakka, and vintage goods. We just bought our first home together and live with our two puppies and cat - it's a strange mixture of vintage, high-tech (we have 7 computers and 21 video game systems in all), and a whole lot of fur. Our wedding tries to embody the Japanese idea of "slow life", which is truly taking the time to enjoy food, company, and your environment!
Almost all of our vendors were picked based on personality and if their stuff didn’t suck.
Basically, if we really liked them, and their product was good, we were willing to pass up someone that wasn’t personable but had better goods.
If that makes any sense.