Tuesday, January 12, 2016

How do I Order a Custom Cake?

THE PROCESS....

Ordering a custom design cake should be quite easy, however, it can seem quite daunting to someone who has never done it before. Unlike walking into a grocery store where they have ready made cakes in a show case and all you have to do is get them a pipe on a message or even a retail specialty bakery that may have cakes for same day pickup, all our cakes are strictly custom, and made to order.

So how does it work? It really isn't that complicated.

1) RESEARCH

Before giving us a call do a little research first to see what kind of cake you would like. What kind of style are you looking for, elegant, vintage, retro, etc?  Do you want flowers, modeled figurines, stripes, polka dots, etc? Check out our GALLERY or look on the Internet for some pictures of cakes you might like.



2) CONTACT US, CHECK AVAILABILITY AND PROVIDE DETAILS

The next thing you need to do is contact us. You can do that 3 ways 1) use the ORDER form on our website, 2) email us directly or 3) give us call. We do not accept text messages or messages via Facebook.

You need to establish whether there is availability for your cake. Here, at Just Like Gram's, everything is made to order and decorated by hand. Plus, I am the only staff member at Just Like Gram's so I do EVERYTHING from shopping for ingredients, baking, decorating, washing the dishes, paperwork and delivery.  There are limited places per week for cakes and we do book up regularly. We typically require two - three weeks notice for a custom cake. All our cakes are baked fresh the week they are ordered for, so often last minute cakes are hard to squeeze in. Especially during wedding season, when wedding season is in full swing, wedding cakes are often booked 9 months in advance. To avoid disappointment, it's best to book well in advance. For example, we are usually booked up by April for the months of June - August.

Some of the details I will need in order to provide you with a quote are:
  • the date of your event
  • the occasion/nature of your event (i.e. wedding, birthday, baby shower)
  • delivery or pickup
  • how many people you will need to feed
  • a phone number in which we can contact you
  • what flavour of cake you would like
  • an idea of what kind of design you are looking for




3) QUOTES, RETAINER FEES, AND PAYMENTS 


Once we have established availability and know the design and number of servings, we can then provide you with a quote.  To book your cake and reserve your date with us , we require a 50% non-refundable retainer fee via cash, cheque, credit card or email transfer. This again confirms your order and holds the date for you. Without the retainer fee, your order is not confirmed and the date is still available for other clients. The remaining balance is due at the time of pickup. Wedding cake order balances are due two weeks prior to the event. 



4) SHORT NOTICE ORDERS

A lot of planning, organization and time goes into creating a custom cake. Quotes and designs need to be arranged, plus special materials and equipment may need to be ordered in. Also, we need to factor in the time for communication between us and client in planning a cake, plus there might be changes made to the design due to budgets and payments need to be cleared before ANY work can begin on any cake. AND then there's the actual cake making!!! For this reason, any cake ordered  within two weeks of an event is regarded as a short notice order and may incur a rush order fee. 

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Happy New Year...2015 Revisited!

Looking back over the year 2015 and I must say it was an busy year. We continued to design numerous wedding and celebration cakes.  Many exciting things happened this year. 

First, probably the most exciting thing to happen this year, was that my husband and I opened up an office in Fort St John for both our environmental consulting business and my cake design business.  When we were stetting up the office, I took one of the office spaces inside for my cake business. I wanted to have a place in town for clients to pick up their orders and also a place to hold client meetings. I wanted to move that aspect of my business away from my home. Even though I still have my commercial kitchen attached to my home, I just didn`t want clients coming to our residence. I wanted to restore a sense of  privacy. 






2015 was another busy year in the cake business. I always get asked,  "What is my favorite cake design?" That's hard to say because I do so many cool cakes during the year. However, looking back there were definitely some cakes that stood out. Here are just a few of my favorites...








On the non-business side of things, it was a busy year for our family. This year, we took a family vacation to the Yukon. It was amazing! I love the Yukon so much .. it is one of the most beautiful places in Canada. We are already planning a second trip.


It was also this year that I discovered a hidden passion... horses. I always sorta liked horses... FROM A DISTANCE. They were nice to look at, but that was IT! Nothing more. Well, my daughter has been taking riding lessons for some time and really wanted to get a horse. We live on an acreage so we had the room, but were waiting for just the right time. AN opportunity came up this past summer and my daughter acquired her first horse ASH. 

I was thrown in the deep end then. I had to start learning about horses REALLY fast. Not only did I start to learn how to care for them, I actually started to like them and wanted to be around them. The next thing I knew I was purchasing a horse for my self... EARL. I love spending time with him and have already signed up for my first Natural Horsemanship class. Wow...t's amazing how things change! I am excited to see what 2016 brings.