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Some wedding cake bakers spend their workday in a bakery that specializes in wedding cakes. Some work in the bakery section of major retail or grocery stores. Some wedding cake bakers even run their business from their home, while even others work exclusively at a wedding planner service. How they spend their workday depends a lot on which environment they actually work in. A wedding cake baker that works in the grocery or retail bakery will not just bake wedding cakes. She may be in charge of baking and decorating cakes of all types. When a bride orders her wedding cake from one of these establishments, the wedding cake baker will show her a book of different wedding cake styles. This will limit the bride's choice to some degree. The wedding cake baker will write up an order to fit the style of cake and the bride's color choices.
The wedding cake baker will then bake the cake and decorate it, all while fitting in other duties, such as baking other cakes, and cleaning up her work area. When the cake is done, it is usually transported and set up at the reception by someone from the bride's family or wedding party. -
Those who bake wedding cakes exclusively, such as in an upscale bakery or a wedding cake service, must interact on a much more personal level with the bride to design the cake. The baker will meet with the bride and groom several times to make sure that she has grasped exactly what the bride is envisioning. She may schedule days where she just meets with clients to design the cake.
The bride will choose the cake flavor, the type of icing and the overall design of the cake. The wedding cake baker must have an artistic eye to correctly envision what the bride is describing. The baker may offer advice and suggestions as well.
A wedding cake baker can also offer the bride and groom a taste testing appointment. She will bake several types of cakes, or the exact one the bride has chosen. Then the baker will offer the bride and groom sample pieces to taste test.
The wedding cake baker may work with the bride many months in advance to assure that the bride has exactly what she wants. The bride may change her mind several times before it is time to bake the cake. The wedding cake baker must assure that all of the cake orders stay on track, and any changes are added to the bride's particular file. -
The wedding cake baker makes sure to arrange her workdays so that each cake is baked and decorated as close to the wedding day as possible to ensure a moist, fresh cake. The baker will spend most of the workday baking the many layers of the wedding cake. She may spend the next work day decorating each layer according to the bride's instructions.
The wedding cake baker must be sure that all of the equipment used for baking and decorating is kept in working order. The ovens the cake is baked in must be perfectly level. Uneven layers would be a disaster, and the wedding cake baker would have to start all over. The baker will check the level of the ovens on a regular basis.
Decorating the cake may take an entire workday. Each level needs to be decorated and stored while the next level is being worked on. The baker must have a large refrigerated area to keep each layer in. The icing colors must be mixed to match each layers trim and decorations.
Finally, a wedding cake baker will spend several hours of a workday transporting the wedding cake to the reception. The cake must be set up before guests arrive. This may take several hours depending on the elaborate nature of the cake. The wedding cake baker may need to install fountains, lights or whatever else the bride has requested for the wedding cake display.
