We used LadyCakes because it was included as part of our package with the Marriott. We paid to have our reception on the yacht and were told the cake was included. There are very few guidelines given about the cake other than it will be based on the number of your guests. We only had 30 guests and were traveling from out of town so I didn't want a tiny cake.
My fiancé and I flew to Florida for the cake tasting and to meet with a few florists. The cake tasting was sub-pare. I had friends ask me after did you try...[insert cake flavor here]. LadyCakes offered a handful of flavor options. We settled on vanilla cake with salted caramel frosting. We DID NOT receive those flavors, but I'll get to that.
I decided I wanted a 3 tier cake for the wedding. We were flying in from out of town to have a beach wedding and reception on the yacht so a tiny cake just wasn't going to cut it. LadyCakes said the bottom tier (10 inches) was included and we paid an additional $300-ish for a 8 inch dummy tier and 6 inch edible top. (I found out later from numerous friends we overpaid!)
I wanted a cake that had flowers all over it. I was under the impression those flowers could be edible and made but upon meeting Bess she informed me the florist would need to do the flowers. She came across as someone who wasn't really interested in doing the work or putting forth the effort.
Since my fiancé and I picked vanilla cake and salted caramel frosting and didn't want a tan cake, Bess talked us into doing white fondant all over the cake. We sampled the fondant and it was actually not bad. Also included in our $300-ish add-on price was Bess doing white piping all over the cake. We paid her the 50% deposit and were on our way.
Upon going home and researching some of her previous work I decided not to have her do piping all over the cake. Her piping wasn't really the look I was going for with my wedding. I emailed her and told her we decided against the piping. When I asked, she informed me the price wouldn't change even though she'd be doing less work.
Weeks before the wedding I found my cake stand and emailed her to be sure the size would work. It was a 12" stand with a mirror top so I wanted to make sure she didn't put our cake on a 12" base. She never responded to my email. Then, my fiancé called to make the final payment. He said he was calling to make a payment and she said hold on. Then came back and said, "you owe $300-ish dollars." he said, "No, I've already made a payment and I'm making the final payment." She huffed, then said, "Hang on!" She put him on hold for another minute then came back and said, "You owe "$150ish." She was very abrupt with him and totally unprofessional. Also, he was inquisitive as to why she didn't seem to have a cordless phone. He also reminded her I had sent an email and told her about the cake stand we bought. She gave push back but finally gave into what we needed.
At no point in dealing with LadyCakes did I feel Bess was interested in what I wanted. I always felt like every encounter there was push back.
So, the day of the wedding came and I didn't see my cake until the reception. It was beautiful but the credit for that really goes to the florist. The florist did an amazing job of showering the cake with flowers.
There were a few issues with the cake that I got from LadyCakes.
1. The cake had minimal piping around the top of the tiers ( we agreed no piping would be done)
2. The bottoms of the tiers had a ribbon around them. This was not discussed with us.
3. The cake was vanilla with vanilla frosting, NOT salted caramel as we purchased.
4. I would have never paid to have my white cake rolled in white fondant if I was getting white icing.
The cake was good. It was delivered on time. It was not what I ordered and it was overpriced. We did not save the top tier and we are planning to return to the Marriott on our 1 year anniversary. We are also planning to purchase a 1 year anniversary cake to celebrate while we are there but unfortunately it will not be with LadyCakes.
UPDATED RESPONSE 5/16/2016:
1.) Providing my review of your customer service, establishment, and cake is not slander.
2.) I have copies of all emails. I emailed you Wednesday, July 15th, 2015 and said, "Bess,
I've been thinking about the cake we discussed for our wedding and I'd like to not have the piping on top of the fondant. Let me know if you need anything from me." You responded the same day and said, "Ok great. I have updated the contract. Thank you."
3.) I have detailed photos of the cake and also of the icing. So, unless you found a way to make white salted caramel icing (which the first time we met you said couldn't be done) I'd suggest you stop accusing me of "slander."
4.) I did not see or taste the cake until the reception and was gone for 2 weeks on a cruise ship. There's no need to follow up with you.
Simply stated, we didn't get what we wanted or paid for and I have no problem proving it to anyone. read more