Cake baker said she won't set my cake or dessert bar up

Check your contract to see what it says about set up. It seems unusual for a baker not to want to set up their own goods, as most usually won't allow anyone else to. If your contract says she is not setting it up, I think it's worth asking how much she charges to do it, as I would think the baker would be more competent than anyone else. Seems odd though.

I agree with PP, check the contract since it makes more sense for the baker to set up her own creations. Otherwise, your caterer or DOC could probably do it easily.

Most bakers I’ve gotten estimates from have a separate cost if they set up anyways so I would just go with your decorator because even if your baker did set up you’d still be paying extra

My baker had me leave my cake stand at my venue and delivered the cake and just set it on top of the cake stand. She should be able to do that much?! I would be afraid for anyone else to handle a wedding cake, those things are heavy and sketchy.

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I can leave my cake stand and I'm sure she'll put my cake on there but what about my dessert table?

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My contract doesn't say anything about it. She told me when I went for the tasting after I had already made the deposit.

View Quoted Comment That’s odd that you did the tasting after making a deposit. Is she making all the desserts or only the wedding cake?

If she is making the desserts, but only delivering them to the venue, then you have to designate someone to set up the dessert table. This should not be a very hard task. I would first check with your baker, to see if she'll do the setup for an additional fee. Depending on what that fee is, you may want to chat with your caterer/venue coordinator or DOC about having one of them do it. It might be worth a few extra bucks to pay the baker to do it. However, it might be too much. So, then talk to your caterer. They are already doing food setup presumably, so how hard could it be to set up desserts also?

Last resort, as a trusted family member or friend to help set it up before the ceremony starts. This should be someone who isn't busy getting ready right before the wedding. Most of us have someone in our lives who we can tap for this kind of favor. If you don't, I bet FH does. Explore all your options. This is by no means unusual, but it's not the preferred way of doing it, and I much prefer a baker who wants to be the setup person.

I think this is pretty normal , actually. This should be something that your DOC should be able to handle.

View Quoted Comment I found her at a wedding show I went to and I had tasted her cakes there and it was amazing so I went with her. When I reached out after the show she told me what the deposit was going to be for her to lock in my date which is New Years Eve. So I went ahead with it because she was also really affordable and not trying to charge me extra for the holiday etc. But she is making all my desserts. I'm doing a two tier cake,lemon bars,mini cheese cakes, mini banana pudding shot glasses, fresh fruit cups, pumpkin whoops pies and candy apples

View Quoted Comment She probably could but then that means I'll have to buy stands and platters for all my desserts uggghhh. The baker said she can rent them to me but I dont want to be responsible for getting that back to her after the wedding. I don't want to have to think about that

View Quoted Comment I'm pretty sure I could get someone to do it but I don't want my family and friends setting up anything. I want them to be just as surprised as I will be whan they walk in. I'm also her particular so it has to be done right. Between the decorator and the Doc I should be able to get it done

It doesn't sound odd to me. If you've an event coordinator they could help do it.

Most bakers would charge for set up anyways. If you already have a decorator you can pay this with her instead. If you have a coordinator she can set up for free. I’ll just make sure you tell her exactly what you want.

Our DOC set up our entire dessert table which included our cake & multiple desserts. She also placed our cake topper. I would ask your DOC to help with this. There should not be an extra charge. As far as a cake stand, many bakeries will let you rent a stand. We rented our cake stand from our baker and it was MUCH cheaper than purchasing one.

I think its kind of messed up that you put a deposit and she didn't mention that set up was not included in the quote. Our cake lady does set up the cake at the venue on the day of the wedding (On either a stand that we provide or one that she can provide for an additional fee). We aren't having a dessert table so I don't have any insight on that. But don't let it stress you out. It should be a fairly simple task. Ask your caterer, I don't see why they couldn't take a few moments to set it up for you

Does your contract say she will set it up? We paid extra for set up with our baker.

Hmmmm i agree with PP. I would read the contract terms and go from there. you can always talk to your DOC and see if they can do it for you. Amazon has cute and fairly inexpensive trays and stands!

View Quoted Comment That’s typical either you have your own or your rent theirs... if you rent their platters will she set it up? I agree with others, if you have a day of coordinator that should be something in her job description.

My cake baker dropped my cake off and made sure she sat it on my cake stand. Not sure if they do anything else. I think it all depends