I have been thinking about writing this post for a while now after seeing this post.
We love what we do and wouldn't change it, but it is sometimes uncomfortable to have to explain why we can't lower our price when asked: why is that cake $X dollars?
Today I would like you to take a tour with me through our behind the scenes expense reality.

Overhead:
Food related business, this includes your pastry chef/cake designer, have the highest overhead of all of the businesses involved in a wedding, yet these are the first places most people want to find a way to "cut down their cost" and or try to get a deal by asking for a discount.
Overhead includes rent, utilities like water, energy, gas, trash, recycle, phone and internet services, insurance and let's not forget all of the regulations placed by the health department and their fees.
In this category we can also include equipment purchase and maintenance. It is very expensive to open up a commercial kitchen and have the right equipment that the health department approves and it is an investment that has to be recovered by the business, specially if your baker has taking a loan to make it happen not only he/she has to worry about the investment but also about the interest needed to be payed on the loan.

Food cost:
This changes based on the quality of the ingredients used by your baker but it normally equates to 25% - 30% of the total price of the sales, sometimes we go over based on ingredients that go up in price when we have already committed to a price with a client and we hold our word regardless of running on a little higher then we should

Labor cost
Boy this one is pretty big! Labor cost can take 30%-35% of the total sales. This doesn't mean we are getting payed all of this money, what this means is all the expenses that come with having employees register with the state plus their actual salary.

On top of the above expenses we have the constant changing nature of the wedding business which means constantly getting new tools to fulfill the new designs, books and classes to make sure we are on top of the game and can offer our clients the best service and skills for their money.

Other expenses:
Gas, office supplies, packaging needs and support pieces for each one of the cake, cleaning supplies, accountant's fees, attorney's fee, bank fees for the business account, credit card charges for all of those credit card payments and a few more...
Of course some bakers charge more then others based on their experience, education and skill level and to put this into perspective is like going to the general medicine doctor or going to a specialist.

I hope this post helps you understand the way our business works and why we price our goods the way we do... as I mentioned before we love what we do and we want you to love what we can do for you!

Cupcake towers are a fun and pretty way to enhance the little goodies and we really like using little sugar flowers to brighten them up. The flavors were Lemon-raspberry, Chocolate-Hazelnut and Mocha

Here is to continue on our crazy Labor day weekend



This has to be one of the prettiest weddings i have seen at Devil's Thumb Ranch and all was planned and executed by the oh so talented Kara Delay from Pick me!
The bride, Frances, wanted to make sure all of the details of the wedding were cohesive from the very clean and elegant decor, the classic looking wedding cake with sugar flowers to having the amazing Hazel Miller and her band perform for her guests. Definitely a great wedding

This weekend was madness while everyone else was enjoying the holiday weekend we were making some beautiful wedding cakes and dessert tables - more on those during the week.
For now here are a couple of cakes


This simple white chocolate buttercream cake with fresh berries was delivered to Sunspot Lodge in Winter Park Resorts

Our second cake was at Devil's Thumb Ranch with the lovely Rami from Pick me!
Thank you to both our brides, Jenny and Kim from making us part of their special day

This is our last post for this fabulous wedding and we left the best for last: The cake and Decor
I can tell you how fantastic everything looked and it was hard to imagine the venue as a skiing mountain cafeteria. Design works was fantastic to work with and did an amazing job. Hope you enjoy!








It was a sincere pleasure to work with this great couple, Thank you for making us part of your special day, we loved it!

As promised here is the continuation of the Spruce Saddle wedding: The dessert table!
Hope you enjoy!






We love all things crunchy and these two cookies Almond Florentina and Coffee cream filled Lace cookie roll are no exception



Hazelnut-chocolate tartlets with Caramelized Hazelnut drop and a Macaron and cream puff cone




The mini cupcake offerings were Tangy lemon, Red velvet, Caramel-vanilla and Upside-down Flourless chocolate with raspberry cream



On the soft side we had Butterscotch pudding, Chocolate-Hazelnut mousse and Vanilla bean Sabayon


The dessert table was a super fun part of the wedding for us to put together but it wouldn't looked that good if it wasn't for Design works and their magic!

Located in Hotchkiss Colorado Ela family farms is, as its name entitles, a family-owned all organic farm. Their biggest crops are Apples and Peaches, and they have other crops in smaller scale such as heirloom tomatoes, berries, cherries, plums and pears.
They also produce the best jams, fruit butters and apple sauce we have ever tried.
We had the opportunity to visit their farm and tour the Hotchkiss and Paonia towns where we had found great food and even better company





We have been very fortunate to have found and work with Ela Family Farms. All of the members of the Ela family are extremely kind and knowledgeable.
For two years we have been using their products as part of our baked goods. One of our most popular cakes is our light lemon curd cake with their yummy raspberry-peach jam.
They are part of many of the farmers markets that go on in Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins. Their fruit season is about to start and let me tell you, you won't find better tasting peaches and apples any where else.
We encourage you to visit them at the farmers market not only you would get a fantastic/tasty product, you would be supporting local farmers!

We had a great time this weekend going all around town and the mountains. One of our favorite weddings was this at the Hotel Boulderado in Boulder. The bride loved the lace on her dress and wanted to make it a big part of her cake.
The hotel has a sweet charm to it, with lots of dark wood and the amazing glass ceiling. The day was beautiful and we were able to enjoy a short walk along the river before heading back. Pictures of our other weddings to come!