FAQ Page
Q: Can I really save money by renting a faux cake? A: Absolutely! The cost to rent a faux showpiece cake is typically one quarter to half that of buying an elaborately decorated edible cake. The larger the cake, the greater the savings, because highly decorated edible cake can range anywhere from $3.00 to $15.00 a serving. For a hundred guests that's between 300 and 1500 dollars, for a fairly small sized cake. Renting an in-stock 6-tier cake from us (6", 10", 12", 14", 16" tiers) costs just $270.
Q: Ok, but once I order sheet cakes or individual desserts to serve to my guests, won't I have used up any savings I got from renting the cake?
A: No, because you can rent a 6-tier faux cake for less than $300 and find sheet cake for as little as 33 cents per serving at places like Wal-mart. It is entirely possible to rent a beautiful showpiece faux cake, serve sheet cakes to your guests, and still save money. And displaying a faux fondant cake but serving individual desserts is not as incongruous as it may at first seem. Many people like to feature a variety of elements at their reception, for example a cake, a dessert table with a chocolate fountain, and an ice sculpture.
Q: Why should I rent a faux cake from you instead of ordering dummy tiers from a bakery?
A: The cheapest part of an edible cake is the cake itself. The cost is in the time it takes the baker to decorate it. The more elaborate and delicate the decoration, the higher the cost. Since our cakes are for rent not sale, the full cost to create them is divided among multiple clients. Ordering fully decorated Styrofoam tiers from a bakery will cost you almost or as much as ordering edible ones, and some bakers will refuse to do dummy tiers at all because they dislike working on Styrofoam, which is light and shifts away from them.
Q: I want to order a real tier from my baker and stack it with the faux tiers, is that possible? Are the faux tiers foodsafe?
A: Yes, the top coat we use is foodsafe. Therefore, yes, you can stack real and faux tiers within the cake. However, to keep the faux tiers clean and to help with separation of the real and faux tiers in the kitchen, we ask that you have your baker place tier seperator boards wherever edible and faux tiers meet.
Q: What about the cake cutting ceremony? How do you cut a fake cake?
A: If you choose to substitute a faux tier for an edible tier somewhere in the cake, this problem is solved. Regarding fully faux cakes: Some of our cakes have slots within a tier in which you can slide the cake knife to simulate cutting. Others have a removable section in which your serving staff can place a portion of edible cake for you to slice into, which is a trick which has been used on theatrical stages for centuries, despite what some other faux cake companies would have you believe. Alternately, some people choose to simply cut into a portion of edible cake discreetly placed on a small plate located behind the cake.
Whether real or faux, showpiece cakes are always whisked away to the kitchen to be divvied up and plated by the serving staff immediately after the cutting ceremony, because cutting a wedding cake into precise 1"X2"X4" slices, (especially a round cake) is an art in and of itself, and the reason why many venues charge a per-serving slicing fee for decorated cakes.
Having mostly dummy tiers or a rented fully-faux cake is an idea which has been gaining popularity across the country for the last few years. In all likelihood you've attended a reception which featured a faux cake but just never knew it.
Q: If I serve sheet cake to my guests, can it have filling?
A: Yes. Though is is difficult to tort (or slice horizontally) a quarter, half and especially a full sheet cake, a professional baker can do it. Since no one will be seeing your edible cake before it is cut, your baker will most likely make up partial sheets to tort.
Q: Do you offer any edible portion of cake? A: No, we are not a bakery. You will need to order edible cake or individual desserts from the bakery or retail store of your choice. Wal-mart sells sheet cakes for approx. 33 cents per serving.
Q: Isn't there something odd about renting a cake?
A: Renting a showpiece wedding cake isn't any odder than renting the tuxes, the reception hall, and the limo. You could buy those things, but doing so would cost you a whole lot more money. By the same token you could get married in your living room wearing jeans and then drive off in your own car, and some people do just that. But if you're reading this, chances are you want something grander than that for your big day.
Q: Should I tell people the cake is faux?
A: That's entirely up to you. Some people love to tell their guests how thrifty they are. Other people have no intention of ever letting on, and there's no reason they have to.
Q: Can you ship a cake to me?
A: Yes, we can! We ship nationwide. And since our fully-faux cakes are much lighter than fondant-on-Styrofoam versions, the cost to ship them is much less, too.