Posts by Scott Reed12

feralmoose32 said:I mean, you’re really gifting a little box to the whole family or the couple—it's not like you're handing out 12 ounces per person... 🤷

And you know what? Yeah—I completely miscalculated my math there.🙂

It's too late now; we already pulled the trigger on something else to give to the guests.🙂

rowdyjackal922 said:5 oz to share (tin included or not) 😉
A fancy box might mean you're only getting 5 oz of actual cookies—maybe just 4 or 5 pieces total. Honestly? Better to skip the box and just give the 5 oz of treats itself. A full pound would be the sweet spot, though 8 or 9 oz would still make a decent little gift.

...the local bakery owner was likely referring to the box size—smaller box, less weight....
I completely agree; gifting a mere handful of cookies feels a bit hollow—so we've decided to pivot to something else entirely. That said, a full pound is simply out of our price range.
Given that we're looking at roughly 150 guests, we'd essentially need an additional 110 pounds of pastries just to cover the gifting side of things.😲

slyskipper4 said:Hey ladies,🙂 I’ve been scrolling through this thread, but honestly, it’s just way too massive to navigate—I feel like I'm drowning in posts... so please forgive me if this has already been covered somewhere else in the chaos.🤣 I was wondering, roughly how far in advance should I be finalizing everything and putting down a deposit for the wedding desserts? We're looking at about 100 guests, and I'm trying to figure out how much cake we actually need—keep in mind, there won't be any extra treats kept at home, it's just about having enough for the venue and making sure everyone gets a little something to take home with them...😍 Thanks!

Booking desserts is a bit of a moving target... personally, I put my deposit down three months out, though when I was visiting local bakeries, they told me three weeks is plenty of notice. Then there is Monica—she follows a different "philosophy" entirely. She’s pregnant, so she refuses to overwork herself—she’ll only take on a handful of orders regardless of her actual staff capacity (her words, not mine)... but I digress.
As for the quantities... our baker suggested roughly 10 ounces per person, which works out to about 6 pounds for a hundred people. She suggested bumping that up to 15 ounces per person if we wanted enough for everyone to take some home, but even that is subjective—it really depends on how large your dessert boxes are.

Melissa Campbell5 said:I've actually got some fair flyers sitting right here in front of me from the expo. If anyone has any actual hands-on experience with these brands, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the following cookies: Mus, Srceko, Steffi Sweet Secret, Kasnar, or Simic?! :-)
thanks so much! :-)

In my opinion, Simic is top-tier... I believe I mentioned that a few posts back—if you just take a quick moment to skim through this thread, you'll see there's already an abundance of commentary regarding every single brand you listed...🙂

Edward Mendoza3 said:Does anyone happen to know the current price per pound for pastries at Smith's Sweets?

Smith's Sweets—the standard price is $27/lb, though the proprietor gave me a bit of a fairground discount of 10%, bringing my cost down to $24 per pound. As for their whipped cream cakes, you're looking at starting from $3.25 per person—depending on how picky you are about flavors—while the fondant options start at $4.00...

Roger Phillips54 said:We went ahead and finalized the order for the cake at the Sweet Secret this past Saturday.

Monica was actually at the top of our list, but the employees and the manager were so incredibly indifferent and checked out that we ended up crossing her name off immediately.
Look, let’s be clear: their cakes are absolutely delicious. I have nothing against the quality of the baking. But when I try to get a straight answer through their messaging system, the experience is just maddening. I reached out to ask about a price hike they mentioned would take effect on March 1st due to the new state sales tax, asking specifically how much the increase would be. Her response? "I don't know, maybe a dollar, maybe two, I'm not sure." Honestly, give me a break. If you're running the show, how can you not have a clue about your own pricing? It's incredibly frustrating.
We’ve decided to move on from them. To be perfectly honest, I just can't stomach working with people who lack backbone or show zero interest in what they're doing.
And they still have the nerve to charge a delivery fee, even when you're practically living right next door to them. It’s a bit much, isn't it? 12 miles.

After that, we decided to head over to the Sweet Secret.
We showed up right after business hours, and since we hadn't called ahead, I decided to give the owner a quick ring just to let her know we were standing on her doorstep. She didn't hesitate for a second—she practically sprinted to open the door. Once we got settled, she and her daughter sat down right there with us. They didn't just give us the cold shoulder or try to rush us out the door; instead, they pulled out their catalogs, started taking notes, and really engaged in the conversation, offering suggestions and talking everything through with us.
They aren't going to charge us for delivery from the warehouse in Chicago to the distribution center in New York. In fact, they’ve offered to throw in a slightly larger cake at no extra cost just to make sure we're satisfied.
The cake features a stunning arrangement of fresh white roses and delicate mini roses—and just to be clear, those floral decorations are at the customer's own expense.
They even went through the trouble of packing up half a pound of assorted cookies for us to take home as a gift.

I prefer to call it "knowing how to sell yourself."
We decided to go big and do three distinct layers for this one. For the base, we went with a rich chocolate infused with Ferrero cream. The middle layer features dark chocolate paired with raspberries, and to top it all off, we finished with a decadent dark and white chocolate parfait—we even tucked a few whole raspberries inside the white chocolate just to get that perfect visual pop.

We couldn't be more thrilled!😍

I second this! 🙂
I called them about... I don't know, a week ago, and I had the exact same experience—nothing but inertia and total lack of interest. When she told me she didn't know the prices—even though the sales tax hike was announced two weeks ago 🙂—it was just pathetic.
The woman spent the whole call basically sighing into the phone because she’s expecting a baby in her sixth month and doesn't want any extra work on her plate... seriously????? 🙂

Oh, and she definitely knows the delivery fee—$0.83 per mile. :-)

Daniel Smith8 said:We went with chocolate mousse, strawberry-chocolate parfait, and hazelnut-pistachio parfait.

Parfaits are pretty standard, then you've got Black Forest, vanilla sponge with chocolate or fruit...

Our cake was slightly frozen, giving it this ice cream-like texture—honestly, a total lifesaver for summer weddings. 😍

Thanks... I was actually thinking of something like a chocolate raspberry parfait... maybe even a mocha vibe...
An ice cream-style cake sounds like a brilliant idea... 😁

I have a quick question for the group—what are the most common flavor profiles people actually go with for wedding cakes? I can't really act as my own judge here since my tastes are split between three completely different styles, so I’m curious what you all ended up choosing for your big days.

steelsailor74 said:Can someone please help me out... I saw a mention of a lady named Stephanie a few posts back who bakes amazing cakes. Could anyone shoot me a DM with her contact info or let me know how I can get a hold of her?

I would honestly be so incredibly grateful!! 😉

If you're talking about Stephanie from that small town in the Midwest, I can send you her number—I actually gave her a call two days ago. To be blunt, she seemed completely uninterested. I asked if she had any availability for my date, and she just brushed me off—claimed she wasn't sure, said she’s on vacation until after Easter, and didn't even have her calendar handy to check. Basically, nothing promising there. Her price is $20, though delivery is free...

If anyone else is looking, I tried some treats from Mrs. Smith (Smith's Sweets) and they are fantastic. In fact, I just "booked" her today...

Richard Myers13 said:We ended up trying some treats from Sugarland on Sunday, and let me tell you, their ganache is nothing short of phenomenal! My partner is a huge fan of the four-flavor chocolate cake, and honestly, that dark chocolate sponge is just 😍 perfection. Personally, I was completely won over by the iced lemon zest with raspberry, though my partner found it a bit too tart for their liking—but I live for those kinds of flavors! In the end, we've decided to stick with the classics to make sure everyone is happy, so we’re going with the four-flavor chocolate.

What’s the price range looking like for the cakes? And the bite-sized pastries...?
Honestly, just reading through these posts is making me hungry. 😂

Linda Johnson15 said:Anyone been to Lido lately? What’s the verdict?

Are we talking about a wedding or what? This thread is specifically about bakeries...

If you actually mean for a wedding, I attended two events there this year—and frankly, they were stellar.
The food was spot on, and the staff—exceptionally polite and professional—really knew their business. Kudos to them! 🙂
🙂🙂