Pricing guide
Pricing custom wedding cakes and dessert tables
A custom wedding cake is priced by the serving, not by the tier — and the servings, the flavors, and the sugar work move the number far more than the size does. This is for made-to-order cake work: one cake designed for one wedding, quoted like the event it belongs to.
Price by the serving, not the tier
Start from a per-serving price and multiply by the guest count you are cutting for. A tiered cake and a sheet cake for the same headcount can differ wildly in labor even at the same servings, so let the design — not just the number of tiers — set the per-serving rate.
What moves the price: flavor, filling, and sugar work
Fillings, specialty flavors, and hand work (sugar flowers, fondant detail, hand-painting) are where the hours go. Cost each serving loaded with those labor hours the same way you would cost a plated dish — ingredients plus the time the design actually takes — then set your margin on top. A cake that only marks up flour and butter pays for the wedding, not for you.
Delivery, setup, and the cutting
A wedding cake is delivered, assembled on site, and often cut and plated by your team. Price delivery and setup as their own lines, and if you are cutting and serving, fold that into the reception quote. Put a deposit line and an expiry date on the proposal — a custom cake is booked for a date, and the date holds only when money does.
Made-to-order, not a production line
This fits custom, per-event cake work — event and celebration cakes designed one at a time and quoted like weddings. It is not built for wholesale or high-volume batch baking, where the same recipe runs by the hundred for retail; that is a different trade with a different rhythm. If your work is bespoke and event-driven, price it here alongside the rest of the day.
Get exact costs from YOUR recipes
These are market ranges. CaterKit photographs your menu, costs every recipe from your ingredients, and prices the quote at your margin — free to start.