Wedding Cakes
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May 2008
Re: wedding vendors
We were thrilled with our wedding vendors-- they're not dirt
cheap, but we saved a lot of money on them compared to some
high-end folks and the quality was great.
Jen's cakes-- based in Los Gatos, but travels up to East Bay.
Beautiful, delicious cakes, much, much cheaper than others I
found.
mamamolly
we purchased two of the most delicious cakes at
Ladyfingers in Oakland. We ordered a layered carrot wedding cake,
plus a regular to-die-for black-bottomed chocolate cake for
extras. We had them just top with smooth cream-colored frosting,
and Monica decorated with the flowers. Everyone absolutely raved
about the cakes! And, they were the least expensive that I found
after all my searching -- something like $4/slice. It's a little
hole-in-the-wall bakery and the ordering experience wasn't
terribly impressive, but they delivered the cakes on time and in
perfect condition, and the cakes were fabulously delicious.
http://www.ladyfingersbakery.com/
Have a wonderful wedding!
- loved my wedding experience
If you want an amazing wedding cake try Judy Chadwick of True
Confections. She will make you anything you heart desires as well
as special cakes for food allergies- she can do wheat-free,
dairy-free and only uses real ingredients.
Judy Chadwick (510)665-9836
website: www.trueconfectionscakes.com
rachel
May 2007
Re: Outdoor wedding on a budget
I'm sure you'll get a ton of suggestions for caterers, but I
would like to recommend Ladyfingers in Oakland for your cake.
They made our wedding cake, and people still rave about it. At
that time, they were not organic, but they use very simple
recipes (butter, flour, cream). We still go there to get a mini-
version of our cake for special occasions. Good luck!
fondly remembering our wedding cake....
April 2004
I checked out he archives re: wedding cakes and only found a
couple of suggestions on where to purchase a wedding cake. I'm
looking for more recommendations and prices. What can I expect
to pay for a two decker cake that will serve 50 people? Any recs
for the Virginia Bakery on Shattuck?
Thanks,
Diana
We got our wedding cake at Masse's (on Shattuck also, but
between Black Oak Books and Saul's near Vine). It was
spectacular and the most yummy wedding cake I've ever eaten (we
got the chocolate orange). Many, many guests commented on it.
They are also lovely people to work with, and drove the cake
around in their air conditioned van for several hours as it was
unseasonably warm and our wedding site had no refrigeration. I
don't remember the exact price, but it was reasonable (I think
$4 a slice, but this was over 2 years ago). Good Luck
Wedding Vetran
Don't feel that you have to go with a bakery for your wedding cake. I would
really like to recommend my wedding cake maker, Laura Farell (I just got
married this past September).
Laura works out of her home and will make any cake design you want. Her
rates are reasonable, her cakes are beautiful AND *delicious* (that was very
important to me). Most importantly, she was WONDERFUL to work with. She
made the cake process a pleasure. During the stress of planning a wedding, it
really made a difference for me. Also, she is very conscientious and reliable.
I just can't say enough about her or recommend her hightly enough. We are
planning to have her make an anniversary cake for us for our first year
anniversary, too.
You can reach Laura at: 510-390-2800.
LOVED my wedding cake!
My friend Suzanne does fabulous wedding cakes! Usually you can
expect to pay anywhere from $5-15 a serving for the cake. She
definitely is on the lower end of that scale. You can check out
some of her work at her website www.heirloomcatering.com (look
at suzanne's cakes, her portfolio is amazing!). She does all
kinds of cakes/flavors/designs and really works with you to
determine what you really want.
Alex
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Have you tried
Montclair Baking Company for a cake? I don't remember what they
charge, but we were on a strict budget, so I think they are
reasonably priced. Their cakes are wonderful and they will even
give you an anniversary cake for free next year so that you
don't have to eat yucky frozen stale wedding cake.
Cake lover
Look at the cakes at Masse's Bakery (two doors down from Black
Oak Books on Shattuck Ave.) before deciding. Their cakes are so
beautiful and they taste as heavenly as they look.
Ann
I ordered my wedding cake from Just Desserts on Piedmont
Avenue. I don't remember the price (it was 6 years ago), but
was able to have 3 different types--it was a 3 layer cake. I
chose poppyseed, white cake w/raspberry filling, and weekend
cake (a chocolate cake). All three were incredibly delicious.
They have numerous other selections and you can make an
appointment there and have a full size piece sample each kind--
yum!
$300. and I DON'T recommend the Virigina bakery - their cakes
are all sugar. Try down the street at Masses.
anon
Personally, I would not do Virginia Bakery for a wedding cake. I think they are
overpriced for a really plain cake. Why not try Crixa on Adeline?
Wedding cake is usually between $4 and $8 a slice from a bakery. If you want
to go cheaper, find someone who is getting into the business or someone who
does it as a side business. As someone who works lots of weddings, I see tons
of buttercream frosting left on plates--and it is the most expensive frosting.
You might want to try whipped cream frosting or something else.
Holtz Weddings
Masse's Pastries is great and will make you a memorably
delicious and beautiful cake. They're on Shattuck, right next to
Saul's and Black Oak Books.
heidi
Wedding cakes are generally priced per serving. When I was
married, a typical price was between $2 and $5 per serving, as
best as I can recall, but that was many years ago. There will
be an additional charge for delivery, and sometimes there are
additional fees based on how you want it decorated, but the bulk
of the price is just $X times Y people. Don't forget that
you'll need more ''servings'' if you want to save a top tier in
your freezer.
I would not recommend Virginia Bakery. Their cakes are
relatively inexpensive, but they taste like it. And I have
heard, from someone who used to work there, that their
ingredients are often not fresh and their kitchen cleanliness
standards not the best.
We used Katrina Rozelle and were thrilled. More expensive than
most, but for us it was worth it; the cake both looked and, more
importantly, tasted fantastic. Friends have had good
experiences with Delices (in Walnut Creek), Just Desserts, and
various small custom bakers. What you need to do is call around
and arrange tasting appointments. You go in and they will have
a platter of several different flavors for you to try, as well
as photo albums full of decorating ideas to look at. These
appointments are ordinarily free. It makes it pretty easy to
choose the one you like best, and it's often the part of wedding
planning that the groom is most enthusiastic about. ;-)
Holly
Check out Montclair Baking in Oakland just off Mountain Blvd. in
Montclair.... I see couples sampling wedding cake selections all
the time (you get to come and taste the wedding cake selections
ahead of time!). The wedding cakes that she makes are truly
incredible to look at and it is my favorite bakery for our
family celebrations.
mmmmm.....good
I can't say enough about Ladyfingers Bakery in Oakland. Their
cakes are delicious and inexpensive compared to other places we
looked. We had the black bottom cake for our wedding, and if
memory served, it was about 2.50 a slice (this was also 4 years
ago, though), meaning a cake for 50 would run in the mid-100
range. That being said, it's not the place to go for some
fancy extravaganza of a cake. But, if you want a delicious and
attractive cake, I think it's the best game in town.
Also a good place for birthday cakes! We go to Ladyfingers on
pretty much any occasion where a cake is required. I don't
know anything about the Virginia Bakery.
Jennifer
I don't know about cakes from the Virginia Bakery, but I
highly recommend Masse's Pastries. Their cakes are
phenomenal. I highly suggest you don't get just one big
wedding cake, but go for multiple different ones, since they
make so many amazing cakes. They are located on
Shattuck btwn Vine and Rose (near the Longs Drugs). I first
found them when I was looking for a place to get my
wedding cake 5 1/2 yrs ago and have gotten cakes from
them for many occasions since. At that time, their prices
were in the upper middle range of the bakeries I looked at.
Plus, they are really friendly and easy to work with. Good
luck.
Jennifer
Try Barbara Llewellyn Catering in Oakland and Orinda. We got
our wedding cake from there and the prices were reasonable
compared to other places and the cake was absolutely fabulous.
People are still commenting on it two years later--saying it was
the best wedding cake they'd ever had. She did a tasting for us
in her kitchen--we must have tried 1/2 dozen kinds before we
picked the one we wanted.
She also make a fruit-juice sweetened bride's cake for me since
i can't eat white sugar. it was delicious and lots of people
ate it instead of the regular one and didn't know the difference.
Telephone: 510.832.1967
Good luck
anon
We had a Virginia Bakery cake for our wedding. It was great! i
didn't have any major fancy decor on it, though. It wasn't my
first choice, but it came as a package deal when we were
married on Hornblower Yachts. If I can recall, they had lots
of options and it was very hard deciding which cake we wanted
because they were all so yummy (especially the caramel
filling). Many of our guests commented on how good it was.
My first choice (I really didn't have one with Hornblower, just
Katrina Rozelle-$$$$ or Virginia-$$) was The Bear Claw Bakery
in Old Pinole (510-724-3105). They make delicious cakes from
scratch and have lovely designs. I get almost all my cakes
from there. They may seem pricey but the work (and love) that
goes into making a wedding cake shows. I know because I used
to work there. They put a lot of energy into their cakes.
Call Terri and she can give you a rough quote on how much your
size cake can cost. Tell her Kerri sent you.
Kerri
I talked to my sister, who is a pastry chef for one of Bradley
Ogden's restuarants, and she said that market rates are about $3-
$7/slice. Where you are in the price range depends on the
extent of the decorations you have - as this is all hand done.
If you're interested, she does wedding cakes, and can be reached
at 408-219-2718. Her business is called Something Sweet.
Anonymous
I tease my husband that the only reason I married him was to have
Perfect Endings as our wedding cake. Located in Napa, founder Sam
Godfrey has quite a following nationwide with fans like Oprah Winfrey
(he did her 50th) and Katie Couric from the Today show. I was worried
that the cake might be just hype, but it truly is so yummy. Tastings are
availabe in Napa or on weekends at a location in San Francisco. They
do cakes for events all around the Bay area and can accomodate nearly
any budget. From my experience in getting cake quotes last year, you
can expect to spend $500 to $750 for a cake your size. It can't hurt to do
a tasting to see for yourself. Their Web site is www.perfectendings.com. I
also hear that Katrina Roselle Bakery on College in Oakland is very
good, but I haven't personally tried it. Congratulations, and good luck
with your cake!
-a cake lover
I think Masse's in Berkeley is already listed in the archives
but it's really worth recommending again. They did our wedding
cake last year and not only was it beautiful and tasted great,
it was the least expensive I found. The search for a cake in
the Bay Area was a real eye opener - prices ranged from $2-$10
per slice (Montclair Baking gave us the bold $10 price). Marsha
and Paul Masse are really kind and talented people which also
influenced my decision to buy at Masse's (I really felt I got
personalized service and they really care about what they
make). Katrina Rozelle is very good too but I don't know about
price.If you haven't already, you can check out
www.herecomestheguide.com for others. Good luck!
patricet
I got my wedding cake at a little bakery in Martinez and for the
life of my I cannot think of the name right now but it was
sooooooo delicious and creamy and wonderful! I had about 160
people at my wedding and the cake cost was aboooout $500 but if
your serving only a small amount of people than you can get a
much smaller cake and trust me, its worth it! You can go in as
well and get samples of their varieties and THEN pick what you
want to order. It was absolutely wonderful and the decor was
perfectly, ''icing on the cake''. Maybe someone else will come up
with that name- its right off of a Main street in martinez...
with a French name... its a bakery...
shaana
You can find a cake for only 50 people for quite a reasonable
price. I think you'll find cakes in the range of $150 - $500.
I got my wedding cake from Virginia Bakery. It was 4 tiers, and
was enough to feed 300+ people. Including delivery and setup,
it was just under $600. This was an amazing deal. Lots of
people liked the cake. It looked very pretty. I had them ice it
in white, and stack the layers, the ultimate in simplicity.
then, my florist added fresh flowers. Of course, they are
capable of much more complicated designs. However, it is not
a ''gourmet'' cake, you won't remember it for months to come.
For a fabulous cake (which probably is more money than you want
to spend)you should check out Masse's Bakery on Shattuck and
Katrina Rozelle on College.
I would be surprised if Virginia Bakery were to charge you more
than $200 or so for the cake you want.
Have fun tasting and otherwise investigating!
Tamar
Years ago we used Katrina Roselle bakery on College Avanue in
Oakland (near Dryers). Wow is their stuff good! We had a big
wedding reception but didn't want a huge cake so we got a three
tier round cake and two small sheet cakes (which were cheaper
and no one minded). The cake was yummy. We finished it (on
purpose). One year later we bought a small cake for our first
anniversary (much better than a 1 yr old cake). Cake tasting is
one really fun part of wedding planning so I'd say, make an
appointment at Katrina Roselle, go taste their cakes, find out
about prices and see what you think. Bakeries don't expect you
to commit if you taste their products.
anonymous
While I don't have a good recommendation for you, I would like
to tell you that I do NOT recommend Perfect Endings, based on
my experience. I spent a fair amount of time with the person
who took my order and described how I wanted the frosting to
look. Based on my description, he said, ''you mean 'home-made'
looking'', to which I responded yes. The day of my wedding, I
walked into the reception hall to find a cake that looked
nothing like I wanted, as the frosting was completely smooth
and glassy looking, not at all home-made looking. Of course I
was upset, given how much I paid and how I wanted everything in
the wedding to reflect my husband's and my taste and style.
The fact that they made an error is forgivable, however, the
reason I would not recommend Perfect Endings is because of the
way the owner responded to my request for a partial refund, to
make up for my not getting what I ordered. He refused any kind
of refund, saying that I got what I ordered, and went on to say
that had I wanted rougher frosting, I should have said that I
wanted something home-made looking. Funny, given that is
exactly what I said when ordering. Perfect Endings would
accept absolutely no responsibility for this mishap. I was
stuck with the full cost ($700 to feed 100), and was obviously
disappointed with the service.
Tracy
I got my wedding cake from Amy Hatwig in Emeryville. It was so
delicious & beautiful. I would highly recommend her. I don't
remember what it cost, but it was definitely reasonable. We had
a 3-tier with 3 different flavors. www.amycakes.com
Jeanne
I missed the original post, but I have to recommend our wedding
cake provider--La Farine in Rockridge (across from the safeway).
The cake was wonderful--gorgeous and delicious. They also gave
us a 4'' cake on our 1st anniversary, so we didn't have to save
the top.
My two experiences of Katrina Rozella were at two different
weddings. In both scenarios, the cake was partially frozen. It
was explained to the bride that the rounds are pre-made and
frozen, which was sort of disappointing given the expectation and
the cost. The cakes tasted freezer-burned. The weddings were 4
and 7 years ago, respectively; something might have changed since
then. I recomend Masse's in No. Berkeley for a yummy, freshly
made, aesthetically-pleasing cake.
Sweet Tooth Gal.
For wedding cakes you should try Hopkins street Bakery. We had
two excellent cakes for our wedding (one groom's cake). Their
was much better than other cakes we tasted including Katrina
Rozelle and their prices were so suprising low that we ordered
enough so that each guest could have two pieces of cake!
ds
I missed the original posting - but I can't rave enough about our
wedding cake. Nora del Chamberlin at Custom Cakes. She
is in North Berkeley. She never freezes her cakes as she
makes them the night before (I use to work for caterers and saw
many brides unhappy with their cakes because they didn't taste
like the did at the tasting), and is the cheapest thing going.
People asked me for two years who made my wedding cakes. She has
a minimum number of servings and books up fast.
Julia
I know your post was a while ago but I saw that someone mentioned
Amy Hatwig and I wanted to second that recommendation! Amy is
fabulous and so are her cakes- www.amycakes.com. She came to the
city to the yacht our wedding was on- in the pouring rain at 5:30 in the
morning! Our ceremony was at sunrise and the sun came out at just the
right moment. Everything was amazingly perfect, especially the cake.
We had a typical three-tiered cake but it was carrot because I love carrot
cake. It even tasted good a year later when we ate the frozen top tier.
snowshoebunny
June 2003
I would like to give my fiance a ''groom wedding cake'' in the
shape of a Raiders helmet. Can anyone recommend a bakery that
could make such a cake and deliver it as well? Thanks.
Martina
Go to Neldhams (sp?) on Telegraph Avenue, between 45th and
51st. The quality and good prices will amaze you...
David
Julie Durkee at Torino Baking could make such a cake. Her
number is 510-548-2900. It won't be inexpensive, but her cakes
are delicious (great wedding cakes, too) and she can make a
cake to look like anything! I have seen her do an iceburg,
sandy beach and bucket of champagne bottles, so I know she
could do a Raiders cake.
Just on the cake note, another great place to get delicious
cakes (but not crazy shaped ones like Raider's helmets) is
Crixa Cakes which is one block north from the Berkeley Bowl on
Adeline (510 548 0421). Its small, indepentantly owned and
Elizabeth, the owner, has a real gift for delicious cakes of
all kinds. Great for birthdays, etc.
Good Luck!
Rebecca
Torino Bakery (Julie Durkee, www.torinobaking.com) in
Berkeley does any kind of cake you can imagine, and they
taste super! Not cheap, but it's your wedding.
Kitty
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