QandA

1. What exactly are the PRICES and EXTRA charges for Cake Dot's Wedding Cakes? Basic cake flavors with buttercream icing start at $3.75 per serving, with a minimum of $150; this includes the use of fountains, pillars and silver plateaus if you want. Also, most designs are included in the price of the cake: swirls, scrolls, Swiss dots, single dots, Cornelli Lace, quilted etc. There is an extra charge, however, of $5.00 per tier for basketweave because of the amount of time and amount of buttercream it requires. Now if you want fondant flowers on your cake, that is extra too and the amount depends on what flowers and how many. Cake Dots know you have to keep an eye on your budget so the amount will not break the bank. OK? OK. :)

Fondant is an additional $1.50 per serving. Again, the designs etc. described above are included in the price. Of course, if you are having fondant, you certainly wouldn't want to cover it with basketweave.

Chocolate Ganache icing is an additional $1.00 per serving.

Cake Dot does offer FILLINGS and those are found on the Cake Fillings page.

Price increase. Not!! All cake ingredients and supply prices are going

nuts plus the gas increases are absolutely killing us, REALLY killing us!!

However, and we know other wedding cake artists are definitely going

to shoot us, we are still holding at our present price of $3.75 per serving.

We are not kidding when we say we are really struggling to keep our

prices down. Cake Dots is doing everything possible, including holding their breath, NOT to raise the price per serving, but you can be sure, if the prices for dairy, wheat and gas go up one more time, you will be able to hear Cake Dot herself scream wherever you are . . . Secret note: Cake Dot and is having sleepless nights regarding all the new prices of everything! Not good.

PRICE: We have checked the price per serving of many bakers and bakeries around the Columbus and Franklin County area, and we've decided we are staying at our starting price of $3.75 -- we are not about to raise our prices to $4.50, $5.00, $5.50, $7.00 or anything else -- even though we should and could. We have noticed too, that many bakers don't even list or post their prices! They say, come in and we will give you a price. Surprise, surprise. Not nice. We feel you should know OUR prices up front.

One more thing Cake Dot 's has to mention, you can get less expensive cakes and you can get more expensive cakes, but Cake Dots' cakes are homemade from beginning to end by Cake Dot and Tad only!!! Our cakes are carefully made using the FRESHEST ingredients not only to taste good but look good to eat. Period. And, Cake Dots will keep our present prices, continue to use the best ingredients, make the best cakes and do the prettiest work we can. How's that?

We could hardly believe our eyes when CAKE DOTS saw they were listed in the BEST OF THE KNOT 2007 and was also mentioned in the May 2007 issue of City Scene Magazine (along with 5 Cake Dot's cake pictures). We were totally flabbergasted but must admit, we work hard at doing quality work and giving the bride the best bang for the buck.We are still doing our best to do a reasonable looking happy dance, lol. Not a pretty sight for the talented people out there.

8. Do you offer sample tastes of your cakes? Cake Dots does not have ALL the cake flavors listed on their flavor list on hand, but we do offer several cake flavor samples for tasting's at your consultation; these are cakes from recent weddings because we want you to taste what brides actually served to their guests at their wedding. We do not make "special tasting cakes" to impress you and then make a cheaper recipe for your wedding cake. What you taste is what you get.

9. Where is Cake Dots located? Cake Dots is a home business and located in South Columbus, easily accessible from Rt. 23/High Street and 270. Cake Dots REQUIRES an appointment -- please take heed to the words "Requires an appointment" since Cake Dot herself, not Tad, may have her hair up in rollers and goop all over her face -- it would not be a pretty sight!! Please don't "just pop in." "Popping in" is NOT a good thing.

Cake Dots is about 20 minutes from most locations around Columbus: Dublin, Hilliard, Gahanna, Westerville, Bexley, Reynoldsburg etc. Since Cake Dots is just off of 23 and 270, it is very easy to get here. And for those coming from Marysville, Powell and New Albany areas, it does take a touch longer but usually only one consultation is needed--it's not like you have to make a weekly trip to say "Hello." If you have questions, please call for help.

A little not of interest: Enchanted Acres is a beautiful adult community that Cake Dot loves and it has been written about in the Columbus Dispatch several times, plus other national papers, as being one of the most beautiful and well-kept adult communities in the country -- ah, adult community is not to be confused with "adult-theme" or "nudist" -- Cake Dot thought that tidbit of info might be helpful.

Finally, here are links to the written directions to "Cake Dots Wedding Cakes" plus a map we have drawn in addition to a link to MapQuest. It seems MapQuest has people getting off at Rt. 104 or Williams Road and those are definitely not the best way. We have tried to give directions from 270, 71 and 315 which of course, are the main arteries. If you have questions, please call. OK, here goes:

10. How can I reserve my wedding date and can we make payments? Cake Dots require a $75 date-retainer fee which is non-refundable. Without the retainer fee, your date is not secure. The retainer fee is deducted from the total cost of the wedding cake. And yes, the balance, after the retainer fee is subtracted, can be, and preferred to be, made in two equal payments. The first payment is due 120 days before the wedding and the balance is due three weeks before the wedding. This usually is the preferred method of payment. Cake Dots found some bakers require a 50% deposit of the total cost upon booking. Yikes! Cake Dots brides and grooms are normal people with jobs and budgets, and kids and car payments etc. We try to help the best we can.

Questions about icing.

14. What is Buttercream Icing? Cake Dots buttercream icing is absolutely delicious and very smooth and used on all of her cakes, even those who want fondant (the buttercream is under the fondant). Cake Dots' buttercream is it not the overly sweet, gritty and sugary buttercream used by other bakers -- it is her own homemade recipe using the finest buttercream ingredients and no Crisco is used. Please note, Cake Dots' buttercream icing is perfect for both warmer/hot months and cooler/cold months. No need to worry.

16. What is fondant? Cake Dots use the best fondant available. It is a malleable sugar dough and has a neutral, sweet taste. It can be used to make sugar flowers and many of the beautiful designs on your cake. Fondant is placed over Cake Dots buttercream-iced cake which gives your cake a beautiful porcelain-like finish and does not affect the overall flavor of your cake. Fondant can be plain, painted, embellished -- whatever your dream cake requires. And, like pie or pizza crust, you can choose to enjoy it or leave it.

17. What about cake plates/boards? Cake Dots wedding cakes are placed on a beautiful white or foil covered cake plate/board -- some are disposable cake boards and some are not. Cake Dots will make that known at the time of the cake consultation. There is a deposit required that is refundable upon return of the structural pieces. This new structural systems seems to work wonderfully and Cake Dots and the brides are very happy with the system. We at Cake Dots continually research and do everything possible to make your wedding cake and day perfect. Also, Cake Dots offers silver cake plateaus for you to use at no cost--Free!! There is, however, refundable deposit for the silver plateaus and other miscellaneous items needed if you want pillars, stairs, water fountains etc.

If the cake board and/or other equipment is returned to Cake Dot within two weeks of your event, your deposit check will be either returned to you or simply voided and ripped up. Beyond that date and without special arrangements, the check is cashed.

11 Are the cakes fresh? Ok. Is this a trick question? Maybe Cake Dots should say, " We have a stash of premade cakes sitting in our cupboards and when a bride places an order, we whip out the ready-made cake?" That would go over like a ton of bricks! Seriously though, Cake Dots' cakes are always baked fresh to your order. ALWAYS !!! Nothing is premade. We promise. What else can we say?

It's OK to make an APPOINTMENT and not call to reschedule or cancel This will definitely place you on Cake Dots naughty list--not a good thing. Cake artists understand when you make an appointment, something may come up and you cannot keep your scheduled commitment. PLEASE be courteous and call to reschedule or cancel. After all, Cake Dots schedules appointments that meet YOUR needs and times. Don't be afraid to ask if we can meet at such-n-such a time. We love talking and meeting with brides on their scheduled appointment days. :D Honest!! One thing though, please limit your guests to one or two, thus making a total of 2 or 3 people counting yourself. As mentioned, Cake Dot bakes from her home and space and seating is very limited. Cake Dots arrange their schedule and their family time to fit your needs, besides, Cake Dot has a secret life ! Sex Goddess.

12. Simple Cakes Are Less Expensive Than Elaborate Cakes Oh you think so, huh To stay within your budget you go for the cake with no design and the cleanest lines imaginable. Simple. A "I like simple cakes" person. Well, guess what? That might cost you. :) You might as well go for shoot-the-moon decorations. The reason: cake artists are able to hide little goofs behind the Cornelli Lace, scrolls, swags, swirls, etc. and thumb/finger dents behind flowers, lol. Cake Dot's DH (darling husband) is good at making these. Your really simple cake with no decoration has to be completely flawless -- something for which we cake artists might make you pay an arm and a leg, especially if they ice the cake on a Friday and have to remove it all on a Saturday to redo it!!! Grrrrrrrrrr. Plus travel is not kind to "no design cakes." Definitely another "grrrrrrrr" here.

13. It's Cheaper To Make Your Own Cake Ya think so? Try it and you won't like it. We are sure of that. :) Wedding cakes can seem expensive, but just take a few minutes to add up the cost of ingredients; tools and equipment, not to mention the time spent baking, making the icing, icing the cake and decorating it in addition to getting it to the reception site -- the stress alone will kill you. Plus, if you want handmade fondant flowers, think of the time researching how the flower is made and then the amount of time needed to make them -- you've got a costly and very labor-intensive project on your hands. There are trade-offs even if you are a pretty good baker. Besides, Cake Dots is sure you have tons of other wedding things to do than take valuable time to bake decorate your own wedding cake.

2. What about the cost and size of the wedding cake? Cake Dots wedding cakes start at $3.75 per serving for basic cake flavors with buttercream icing, with a minimum of $150 .

The size is based on the typical wedding-cake size served across the country - 1" x 2-1/2" x 4" high. Cake Dot uses only the very finest and best ingredients, only real butter, real sour cream, etc. to provide the moistest and tastiest cakes possible for your guests. Cake Dots set very high standards for ourselves and the flavor of our cakes. When decorating our wedding cakes, we don’t stop at “good enough" or "that'll do" or "that's OK!!” We cannot emphasize enough how each cake must be done to the best of our ability, and a work of art before we leave your reception site!

We are good, home cake bakers and proud that our cakes look like real food and are absolutely delicious. (Check out Cake Dots GUEST BOOK)

Now please note, you CAN get cheaper wedding cakes but you must realize that they most likely use cheaper ingredients, a "production line" attitude, and carelessly put together and carelessly iced cakes, which result in a bland tasting and not so pretty result. All you have to do is look closely at other wedding cake bakers' pictures, and pay attention to how small the pictures are. The smaller the picture, the less likely you are able to see the workmanship. And speaking of workmanship, if you are lucky enough to get a nice-sized picture of the cake, take note of the icing and see if it looks smooth or lumpy. Did the baker take time to smooth out that buttercream?

Sad to say, but Cake Dots know of production-type bakers who specialize in making only small wedding cakes because they can decorate and produce more cakes per weekend, and also because the talent for a beautiful centerpiece is nonexistent These bakers always offer kitchen cakes, because kitchen cakes take less time and need only basic decorating skills. If you can't tell the size of other bakers' cakes, check out the size of the flower, or the size of the plateau the cake is sitting on. You can just about judge the cake size by those items. A bride needs a cake she can be proud of, not a thimble!! Geesh!!!!! Those small wedding-cake bakers just don't want to spend the time, energy and attention to make a beautiful cake!! That's all there is to it. Cake Dot gets a touch angry with this but what can we do!!! So if you want a beautiful wedding cake and one you can see and be proud of, Cake Dot's will stand on their head to make you one.

Now don't get Cake Dots wrong, we do offer “kitchen cakes” when requested and when the wedding cake is at least 130-150 servings to help the happy couple stay within their budget. We also try to finagle the wedding cake cost if we can. We want you to have the perfect cake. If you want a beautiful centerpiece wedding cake, Cake Dots will proudly make your wish come true. Cake Dots will do whatever you want.

6. Are you meeting with the person who will bake, decorate, and deliver the cake? Yes, When you meet with Cake Dot or Tad, you are meeting the owners, the bakers and the decorators. We take the order. We bake the cake. We decorate the cake. We deliver and set up the cake. WHEW!!! -- 24/7 :) Cake Dots is not like a larger bakery where an order is passed from employee to employee; Cake Dot and Tad do it all. Love it.

As mentioned above, Cake Dots schedules appointments to meet your needs and times. We like to have BUSINESS CALLS during the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. but we schedule appointments for consultations to meet your needs, even if that means having consultations after 5 p.m. Don't be afraid to ask if we can meet at such-n-such a time. We love talking and meeting with brides on their scheduled appointment days. :D Honest!! One thing though, please limit your guests to one or two, thus making a total of 2 or 3 people counting yourself. As mentioned, Cake Dot bakes from her home and space and seating is very limited.

7. Why is Cake Dots ONLY opened Monday through Thursday? Monday through Wednesday, and sometimes Thursdays, Cake Dots meets with brides plus starts baking for the weeks wedding cakes. Friday is wedding-cake decorating day and Saturdays are weddings, therefore, Cake Dots is actually working and delivering, setting up, and finishing the detail work on the beautiful wedding cakes. Sundays, of course, is the only day Cake Dots can get caught up with her other chores and even then, the business of cake is still being done; inventory, ordering, washing cake pans that didn't get done in a timely manner etc. Actually, Cake Dot's is busy 24/7. Cake Dots hope that everyone understands that they can't ice a beautiful wedding cake with the telephone in one hand and meeting with beautiful brides between strokes. :)

19. Does Cake Dots pay a fee to be recommended? Cake Dots refuse to pay someone or an establishment to recommend us. We know that the Columbus Athenaeum charges an ENORMOUS fee to be their "recommended bakers list" and Cake Dots will not pay to be recommended by the Athenaeum or any place else, for that matter. and we at Cake Dots were totally flabbergasted to discover that other bakers who are "recommended," those "house bakers," or whatever you want to call them, have also made deals to be recommended in the establishment's "package." Cake Dots refuses to do the Payola thing. We are PROUD that the establishments who recommend Cake Dots do so because our cakes are gorgeous as well as delicious. We do NOT MAKE DEALS TO BE RECOMMENDED. We are recommended ONLY because the establishments like our cakes. Whew.

21. Do you give discounts? Actually, If a bride books a wedding for 100 total servings for the month of December, January, February or March, Cake Dots will offer a discount for the brides cake. December,January, February and March are not typically wedding months, soooo, let's see what happens. Cake Dots has never done anything of this nature before, so we will give it a try. There are a couple of things that go along with this though:

1. You must contract during the consultation and

2. You must remind Cake Dot of this discount -- her mind is flightier than a bat at of the deepest caves in the earth and at times and goes faster than her motor mouth. You must keep her down to earth -- geesh!! What CAN we do??

See this little area here, the actual base is even smaller than this. This is NOT a cake topper. It is a beautiful figurine made by Enesco of a wedding couple and is not meant to be a cake topper. Some brides are using this and if you want to use it, please, please let Cake Dots know beforehand so we can take the right dowels etc. to prop it up and then camouflage, such as flowers, is needed to hide the ugly dowels.

See this part up here? There is nothing holding this part of the skirt up and it is HEAVY. Read my lips: H-E-A-V-Y. The figurine doesn't feel that heavy when you are holding it in your hot little hand, but when you put it on top of a small, iced cake, it decides it wants to lean and then fall and attract a lot of stressful attention, lol. This part of the skirt is the part that makes the figurine topple. Sure it looks pretty, but I must state again, be prepared to have dowels inserted here and then you need to have something to hide the dowels. As you can see, there is a fair amount of air space between the base of the figure and the portion of the flowing skirt.

This darling figurine was too large and too heavy for the top tier. Please check with Cake Dots regarding the size of your top tier and let us know if the topper you like is a touch heavier than most. Cake Dots will make adjustments to support the weight for you. After all, we want you to have the topper of your dreams. Cake Dots would have worked on the top tier for this buckeye couple if Cake Dots knew in advance of the weight. Plus, the top tier should have been la touch larger in size (diameter) for this topper to fit. Please check or let us know if you are choosing a figurine instead of an actual cake topper for your cake and we will be happy to make adjustments.

If you want initials or monogram on your top tier, there are several brands made especially for that purpose. Just look for little feet to be stuck into the cake when your purchase them. Cake Dot thinks initials and monograms on the top tier are absolutely beautiful but please look for feet if possible. NOTE: Cake Dots can make your initial if you want!!!

Cake Dots realize we get a touch wordy in our descriptions and info above, plus we repeat a lot (Cake Dot's fault), but we want to give you as much information as possible.

The above subjects are just a few things you might want to consider, and although some may not concern you as much as others, or you may have a completely different set of concerns, always remember you are free, no extra charge, to ask whatever questions you have.

Where does the time go? This is a really good question and it's basically dealing with subject #7 above and #8 below.

Cake Dot has a very hard time keeping track of the time during the working day. If you would like to have a consultation with Cake Dots and you fill in the form at the bottom of this page or on another page, and Cake Dots have not gotten back to you within a reasonable time, PLEASE call us. Cake Dot herself prints off the information and puts it on her desk and if it's too early to call you, she will start working on cake stuff and forget to get back to the phones. Then, the next thing before you know it, it's really late and she and Tad are worn out; Cake Dot heads for bed and Tad heads home. We are SO SORRY but please give us a call. Once Cake Dots get into baking and decorating mode, we stay there until we hear bells, lol. So call us if we haven't answered your emails. (Note: Dee, Tad's wonderful wife, has taken vacation days from her work to do our "Mary Alice" duties on occasion and has really helped us with our phone calls and scheduling consultations. However, she can't do this on a weekly basis so we are asking for YOUR help. Please call if we haven't gotten in touch with you. Thanks.)

WOW!!! It happened again. Thank you so much.

We were thrilled beyond belief to receive a complimentary copy of THE KNOT magazine and a very nice letter, telling us that we were in the publication "BEST OF WEDDINGS 2008."

Not only that,

we were voted higher than we were in 2007.

Cake Dots noticed that the bakers who happened to receive a higher rating were actually bakery "shops" (with all the fancy ovens, mixers and lots of staff and stuff).

No home baker received a higher rating than Cake Dots!

We were totally flabbergasted and yet extremely humbled!! Cake Dots cannot express the gratitude we have for our wonderful brides -- you are the best in the world.

Again, THANK YOU so much.