Wedding cake collapsed at venue: is a full refund reasonable?

[Bridemom]

I have recently got married. We contacted a cake maker to make a butter cream 2 tier cake setup and delivered, as we arrived at the venue the cake was leaning, throughout the day it got worse an eventually the top tier fell over ruining the cake cutting moment and spoiling the pictures.

We are both not cake people but we bought the cake for the iconic cutting moment. Are we wrong to request a full refund? We have been offered 1/3 refund and more like a list of excuses for an apology blaming the venues floor and it being left out for a long time. I would expect a wedding cake to stand for 6 hours with no problem. I have suggested that a 2/3 refund would offer an amicable agreement. What would you guys do?

I would accept the offer given. 100 % refund, no.
I know Meghan and Harry had a buttercream cake but they had a high end cake maker, a load of staff to handle the cake, setting up, look after it once set up, storage etc. Five star handling of said cake.
Buttercream cakes can lean for a range of reasons. Uneven cake layers, poor dowels. But they can indeed lean because of heat. They aren’t as sturdy as fondant or rich fruit cakes.
If you went to a local cake maker who is decent but not five star, the venue was without anyone looking after it, not set up well, no air conditioning, and nobody did anything once it was observed to be leaning then those elements were your court.
The cake maker made your cake. And delivered it to the venue. This was all that was asked of her.
100% refund is not appropriate no.

I think its disappointing and that a partial refund is due.
Yesterdays temperatures would have been quite unpredictable given you likely ordered the cake several weeks or months ago.
However I would, given that they delivered and assembled it, have expected the baker to give some sort of advice on how long they'd expect it to last, or whether it should be refrigerated if not due to be eaten until much later. Because they must have encountered similar issues in high summer.
And I would have expected it to be held with rods.
If you've ever watched GBBO very hot weather and soft texture baking is a recipe for disaster.

We got married when there was a heatwave....but we had the only cool, rainy day of the entire summer. No issues with cake. One of my favourite pics is my mum putting her jacket over me because it was raining. The best man left the sun roof open in DH car and the seats were soaked and there was an inch of water on the floor when we collected it the next day.

Also if anyone ate any of the cake then it would be massively unreasonable to ask for a refund.

Unless they didn't eat it because the cake was declared "ruined" and not cut / offered to guests.

All this stuff about it being too hot shouldn’t matter. An experienced baker should have been prepared for that and either agreed to make a different cake or found a solution.

Yeah I agree. I would think it was funny and not even consider asking for a refund.

An old fashioned royal iced fruit cake would have had pillars on top of the icing on each tier and the actual cakes would have borne the weight of the tiers above. My sister’s wedding cake collapsed because the icing cracked and couldn’t bear the weight. A modern cake is usually doweled all the way through with each cake on its own board, and all the weight is on the cake stand. The heat of the day is irrelevant.

Yes, I totally agree with @SallyDraperGetInHere The cake maker and the venue are responsible.
I also used to work at wedding venues.
I remember only one cake actually collapsed and that was because the MOB refused to let us dismantle it and screamed at anyone who tried to tell her and banned us from touching it.
All the other cakes were saved by refrigeration, dowels, or temporarily dismantling them.

Yes a full refund. I am a cake maker and would do an immediate refund and offer a complimentary cake. These things do happen especially if the weather is very hot but that is not your issue. You paid for a service you didn’t receive .

All of this depends on what the cake maker said about storage and also whether the b/g wanted to go for it anyway.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect a couple on their wedding day to be anticipating concerns about whether a cake would survive, however hot it was.

You would hope the cake maker would have been telling the couple at the time of the contract (when frankly they're not worrying about a million different things like on their ACTUAL WEDDING DAY) it must be stored in particular way (or I am not accepting any responsibility.)

But if this happened this past weekend, the cake maker should also have mentioned it to the venue when they delivered it.

OP, I'd check on all this.

It really isn't acceptable for someone who values their trade to just be like: over to you, FU** YOU, especially if the item is for a wedding.

But like I said above, if the b/g wanted to take the risk cause they don't like fruitcake or they or the venue didn't store it properly, that's a different matter.

I'm a professional cake maker. I don't offer buttercream wedding cakes during the summer for this reason and I'm surprised the risks weren't pointed out to you. I would have recommended a dark or white chocolate ganache. I delivered a 3-tier ganache cake on Friday to a barn where it stood from 11.30 am until cutting at 7.30 pm with no air conditioning in 30 degree heat and it was fine. A ganache cake that is dowelled properly should be fine. With regard to the refund - what do the terms and conditions say?

Always check your cake maker is registered, insured and, preferably, qualified.

Id have honestly thought it hilarious. I hope you did get a photo of it on the floor.

People are wild, ruined the iconic cutting moment? Maybe my divorce has made me too cynical, but if the worst thing about your marriage is the top tier of wedding cake fell off, I’d take that as a win.

I think you are due a refund!
My friend got married in the summer - the baker advised her that it may not last in the heat, and gave the option of having a decorated polystyrene cake for appearances that she could cut and have photos of and then she made a three tier cake that was stored in the correct conditions which was delicious. I only know the cake they cut wasn’t real because I was a bridesmaid.

Did you have a lovely wedding? If so, concentrate on the good parts, and accept 1/3. I think that's a good amount of compensation.

This happened to my cousin a few years ago, they brought the cake cutting photos forward a few hours and got on with the wedding. The cake maker provided the cake asked for. They don't have control over the weather or the cake after it was delivered.

Congratulations on getting married! 💕

I can see why you'd be disappointed, but I think you also need to consider whether pursuing this is in your best interest or not.

Marriage is a whole series of ups and downs- good things, bad things, funny things, serious things.

The cake collapsing and you not being able to take a "cake cutting photo" is understandably disappointing - but you can't change it. You can, however, choose to make it BETTER. In years to come, are you going to remember your wedding day for the cake ruining the day, or bringing laughter?

Absolutely listen to the cake maker and ask the venue what went wrong - but dont let it overshadow a day which was meant to to celebrate you both as a couple. Celebrate the love you both have.

That sort of cake is intrinsically very weak and squishy and therefore it's very unsuitable as a wedding cake. The cake maker should have advised you on the type of cake that would withstand being left out for six-plus hours.

You would have needed a traditional rich fruit cake, with almond paste and royal icing. All wedding cakes used to be thus, with good reason!

No but a decent baker will consider the climate and weather after delivery.

If they made and built the cake and gave no special instructions to the venue like a cooled room or anything then they are 100% liable!! They know the venue so assuming they have never had this before? If they have then they are cowboys, if not then they know all possible variables and should have accommodated to last the full day (as a wedding cake should)

You can’t leave a buttercream cake out for 6 hours in this heat and expect it not to melt, it’s covered in butter!! It will melt then slip off. YABU and the venue is too it should have stayed refrigerated until it was time to cut. I’d complain to the venue for not taking care of it, this is not the cake makers fault

Way more detail needed! What sort of cake was it? (If it was a “naked cake” or buttercream and this was yesterday I’m not surprised). When did this happen? Who are you demanding a refund off the venue or the cake maker?

I think 1/3 refund is reasonable.
The list of possible causes sounds like excuses to you because you are expecting a full refund, which is unreasonable.
The cake would have been stable when left if set up by the baker.

They can't control the temperature of the venue or ensure the staff follow instructions. Any cake is likely to get soft in the conditions we've had in England the past few days, if that's where you are.

Cakes in hot weather can be tricky. Sorry you didn't get the photos you hoped for - I hope you did a Chandler and Rachel with forks instead 🙂.

I don’t think a full refund is reasonable. How do you prove it wasn’t a whole host of factors outwith the fault of the maker that it collapsed? It was very warm.

That’s so hard!

On the one hand, her part in the program started and stopped with making and delivering the ordered cake - which she did. So I would say she doesn’t owe anything and you should take the goodwill 1/3 refund.

But despite what others are saying, it wouldn’t have occurred to me that one wedding cake ingredient is sturdier than another when I ordered it. So it would have been nice to have a warning, especially after it was set up, but I guess that isn’t obligatory of her company to have done so.

It is a shame the wedding planner or venue didn’t realise though and try to do something to fix it during the day, before the disaster!

I hope you had a lovely wedding nonetheless!

I mean buttercream isn't the most sturdy and to leave it out for 6 hours in the heat is a disaster. I'd expect and iced cake to hold up. Not butter cream

Butter melts butter cream melts even quicker not the right choice of cake for a wedding as its going to be out a while. You should have been advised of this but its pretty obvious its going to melt