Whether you are arranging a celebration cake for yourself, a friend or a loved one, there are a few simple steps you can take to make it run smoothly. Follow these steps and then let me do the rest of the work for you.
- Think about how you want the cake to look - Don't worry, you don't have to design the cake yourself but it is good to have a general feel for the sort of cake you'd like. The many cake galleries on this site can help you, or you can have a look on-line for further inspiration. This will help to give me a starting point for designing your cake. Don't forget all cakes are bespoke and can be adapted to any colour, theme, have elements added or removed, be made taller or smaller, be adapted to different sizes etc, etc.
- Think about how many people you want the cake to feed - my portion guide may help you with this.
- Think about what flavours you might like - take a look at my extensive list of flavours.
- Think about what icing finish you want - you can have no icing (known as naked), a thin layer of butter icing (known as semi-naked), a full coat of butter icing, coloured icing, textured icing, ganache or fondant.
- Make sure you know what date your want the cake for - This should be the actual date you are planning to present or eat the cake. We can then talk about collection timings. Please note that I ask for all celebration cakes to be collected from my home in Hockley, Essex. Please let me know if you need to arrange delivery (the cost of which will be calculated on a distance/time basis).
- Contact Finesse Cakes via email to check availability on
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - I aim to let you know my availability within 24 hours. My initial confirmation of availability is only provisional and is not secured in the diary or confirmed until a booking deposit has been received. Your booking deposit will usually be 50% of the cost of the cake. If you wish to secure your booking immediately, please let me know.
- Discuss design - Once I've let you know if I'm available we can then start discussing the design and collection arrangements. This is usually in the form of messages via email during which I will guide you on any ideas/options/info I need. At this stage I will usually be able to provide a guide price so you can decide if you wish to proceed with the cake.
- Receive full quote - Once you've let me know you are happy with the guide price, I will email you a full written schedule detailing all aspects of your cake. This document will include details for making you deposit payment and securing your booking.
- Make you deposit payment - Once you have made your deposit payment, please let me know so that I can confirm receipt - this will be in for form of an updated schedule again sent via email. If you have any queries regarding your cake between this stage and when the balance is due, please let me know as soon as possible via email. We can then discuss and make adjustments to the schedule/balance as necessary.
- 2 weeks before your cake collection date - please send over your final balance payment and let me know once done. If I don't hear from you around this time, I will drop you a reminder email. Once payment is made, I will confirm receipt via email. We will also finalise collection arrangements at this time. Collection is usually from 7pm the evening before or between 9-10am on the actual day.
- Collect your Cake - please collect your cake at the time arranged or let me know if you are delayed so that alternative arrangements can be made. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate short notice changes to collection time.
- After your cake - I really appreciate feedback as it helps to maintain my very high standards and is also great to share with my future clients. I will have taken loads of photos of your cake and will post them on my website and social media from about a week after your event (although this sometimes takes a bit longer). If you have any objections to me posting photos of your cake, please let me know asap.