1. You write in to homemaydecakes@gmail.com. Then I will try to answer you as soon as I can, latest by the next day if I'm not busy with family or cakes. It may take longer to answer if you wrote in a busier day especially when my cakes are due which is usually during the weekends. My busiest period will be on Thursdays and Fridays and I usually deliver cakes (if any) on Saturdays. I will only give out my number to serious and confirmed orders and will usually whatssap or sms. I like everything in writing so that I can refer to them easily when I start doing your cakes. I usually call only when urgent and when I'm trying to find your place for delivery. You have to check with me by whatssap if you want to call because certain times are my baby's nap time, house chores, in the midst of stacking a wobbly two tier cake... and I really cant' talk at that particular moment. :)
2. If your event is on a Saturday for example, it is best to confirm with me a week before if you want figurines or flowers done as these need time to make and set. The earlier the better. The latest time to confirm your order would be on a Wednesday (or 3 days before your event) as this is usually the last day for me to get any necessary supplies from my bakery supplier. This is vital especially if I have a lot of orders for that week. I will accept no cake orders with complicated figurines at this point as I will not be able to make it in time.
3. I only have a quota of 3 cake orders per week or if I have a large wedding cake, that may be the only order that I will accept. Each cake is tended with my full attention and detail so my time is very precious to me and I can't always answer calls or SMSes right away.(Plus I have a toddler so mommies would know what I mean!) I don't appreciate people calling me or smsing me constantly asking about being updated with the cake as this breaks my concentration especially on my busiest days. I understand that you may be excited about the cake though..I mean who wouldn't be? :)
4. Process of making your cake. Okay so you've read my posts and you basically know what I do. The things is, these posts are obviously compacted to explain the process easier but what you don't realise is that it takes several days or weeks for some designs to be completed.
Basically what happens is this:
> You want to order the cake of your dreams.
> We email or whatssap back and forth till we get to an agreement on the design and price. I only check my mail twice a day or whenever I'm free. I am a one women cake decorator machine and mommy.. I really should get a clone.
>You pay a 50% deposit to secure your date.
>I will get the supplies to your cake the week before your event (I do this because I make my cakes fresh, not stored in the freezer for months, unless its a fruit cake which needs to mature a while to get the flavours right so I'll probably make it a month before and freeze it)
>If you have figurines or sugar flowers on your cake, these will be made first and will need at least a week to complete as it takes time to design, sculpt and set to harden. Any later and it will not have time to complete it.
>Eg. if your event is on a Saturday, the cakes will be baked on a Tuesday or Wednesday and has to be let cool for a day and then freezed till I'm ready to crumbcoat it with buttercream or ganache on Thursday. After crumbcoating, I will pop that in the fridge and only cover it with fondant later that night on Thursday or on Friday when I start decorating it. This is because cakes with buttercream or ganache need to settle and set before fondant-ing it so that it's easier to cover and no air bubbles will be created underneath once covered.
Any fondant cutting of designs, preparing and covering the board with fondant, cutting out fondant messages will be done several days before (from Monday to Thursday) in order for these to harden , ready for it be decorated unto the cake.
>Two days before your cakes are due, I will be concentrating fully on the deco. People sometimes forget that I take care of my daughter during the day and I DO NOT have a maid (Heck, this is why I took cake decorating courses so that I can make a business from home and spend time with my daughter at the same time) so I usually can't do my cakes during the day. Try doing that when you have a toddler that demands your attention all day and wants to eat your fragile little sugar creations. :)
Soooo I ONLY do my cake work only at night after the little boss sleeps. This means I could be doing your cake until 4 or 5 am in the morning on my busiest days (I call it CRUNCHTIME). In fact going until 7 am has happened a number of times and is really a norm.(and you wonder why I don't charge thousands and thousands for my cakes, right? Yeah me too.) THAT is how hard I will work on your cakes to get it perfect.
That said I'm sorry if I can't give any further discounts if I've already stated my price on a cake. If not, it won't be worth the backbreaking, life sucking and zombie eyed work for me. Time is gold like they say.
> After the cake is done, I will take pictures of my hard earned money maker and then box it ready for you to collect. If it needs delivering, I'd have to ask my designated driver to google your address, set the GPS and carry the precious cargo to the car and secure it so it won't cause me any heart attacks along the way. The delivery fee covers the energy of carrying the cake( most of my fondant covered cakes are at least 3kgs in weight inclusive of fondant and board, norm would be around 4-5kgs..more if with tiers and heavy figurines), paying tolls and fuel for getting almost lost finding your place. ;)
>Please note that for now I can only deliver cakes on weekends. This is because on a weekday, it's quite impossible to carry cakes and a clingy toddler to the car alone ya (try it, I'm sure you will pengsan..LOL) and like I said I don't have a maid. If you want cakes delivered during the weekday, I can only deliver it after 8pm and it depends on where you are. If it's too far, I may not be able to as I need to get my child to bed on time.
You may pick up as well and I will only give out my address and map to find my place after securing the date with a deposit to show you are a serious customer. Safety purposes you see. I'm sure you understand.
> After all that, I have to clean my messy abode before ants take over my house and before my toddler starts putting sugar residues in her mouth. Then it's the washing of thousands of greasy pans and utensils and of course, my workspace.
You may think it you're just ordering an expensive cake. You are actually paying me for my labour AND my artwork. If you think about it, I'm pretty cheap compared to commercialised custom cake bakeries but not too cheap that it compromises the standard and quality of work...and that's because I love what I do.
I find that I can't help but connect to my cakes by how people treat me. I know I shouldn't but my best cakes are often for people who are kind and has the best intentions. If you have a child that has a birthday coming up, I often imagine that I'm making the cake for my own child...yeah it's a mom thing. If you are getting married, I will often translate the happiness of a couple that I meet or interact by email through your wedding cake.
Whatever it is, your money is put into good use and quite often the result is that YOU will get the credit for ordering such a wonderful cake and that's fine by me :) I hope this page/post will give you a clearer understanding of what happens when you order cakes from me. Any questions or enquiries, please don't hesitate to write to homemaydecakes@gmail.com. Happy cakes to all.:))
Thanks for visiting Home May'de Cakes!
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