Cake pops instead of cake

@MTB I completely skimmed over the budget when I read this thread the first time! $10k won't even cover decent catering for that many people.

This was a baby shower, but I snapped photos because it was super cute! I'll be having a dessert bar instead of cake for guests & we'll have the "ceremonial" cake to cut just for us

Thats what i was going to say we have all our vendors booked without going over our budget and we even have a coordinator we are not doing a lot of traveling over the city everything is within 5-10 mins of where we live. The food was excellent at the tasting and she has done events i have been to she gave us a excellent price at only $12 per person

That's amazing. What are you serving?

If i remember correctly the lady doing our cake pops are $1.10 per person

I think I'd echo a lot of the folks here when I say do a small cake to cut to make your parents happy, cake pops to make you happy, and get a sheet cake to (just in case) make everyone else happy. You can get a nice sheet cake from the grocery store for under $50 to supplement your small cake and probably be fine (provide your caterer is ok with that idea). I also think having them displayed on the table at each place setting is wise.

I'm avoiding this situation by having donuts because I do not like cake and cake pops but I hope the advice helps!

@polly wow how many donuts will you have to have? I have only seen that at a brunch bridal shower and to be honest i rather check in for more cake pops i just dont want to even have to worry about the cake or what to do with the cake that is left over after because i dont want it.

@alwaysms we are having baked chicken, baked talapia, mixed veggies, mashed potatos, garden salad and rolls

Incredible price. I catered professionally and I don't remember even a cake and punch reception for $12/head. Good shopping!

Thank you @alwaysms trust me I shopped before I decided because I wanted cheap without it tasting cheap

I'm having 175ish people so I'll probably get 200ish donuts, about 50 or so donut holes to fill in and around the donuts, and am also probably going to have something else small that comes from Costco. If you look up donut wedding cake on pinterest they have a lot of fun ways it is stacked, maybe they have the same for cake pops.

Thanks @pollye I love when people do things different at weddings

@Always? There is always location and quality to filter into the mix.

@MeettheBrowns: Isn't it obvious? She's cutting corners on how how guests are treated. She's barely hosting them at all, much less doing it well.

I live in an extremely LCOL area, and even here the cheapest catering was BBQ at roughly $13.50/pp. Stuff like baked chicken or tilapia? At least $30/pp.

I think there are likely friendors involved here.

Either way, there's no way this will be hosted properly, not with a $10k budget and a 285 person guest list. Yikes.

Budgets are different everywhere. OP could you have a sheet cake for those that want cake? And if only 1 cake pop each, I think a great idea would be to deliver to each seat, or if that's not possible have them on the tables when guests arrive.

@mna since you are so worried about my budget and vendors you are more than welcome to give me money to pay the extra. anyone who is interested in my vendors you know how to see them on here

@robin i could but i really just hate the cake idea so im going to look into getting more cake pops

What does LCOL stand for?

How in earth are cake pops less expensive?! They are MORE work and materials than a regular cake!

I hate cake pops. They're mushy and always dipped in cheap, bad white chocolate and I'd so much rather have a beautiful sponge cake.

Cake pop displays can be tricky also. The picture you posted where they look like Tiers requires a lot of food styling and "glue", and I seriously doubt your baker would include that for $1.10 per person. They will probably be laid on a platter for people to grab.

If you place them on their place settings doesn't that seem more like a favor?

@formal pajamas she told me to let her know what i am thinking for the display so i just wanted some ideas. You really need to taste hers if you are in stl because they are nothing like they are so moist omg i want some right now. lol