The Bakery

I found Luz on Craigslist and was blown away by her prices because all other bakeries in the area were twice as much. We went to her shop next to the Chocolate Dipper in Salinas and were impressed by the pictures and the cake displays she had. We chose a four-tiered, rotated, square cake and got it to feed 150 people for $375 with delivery. We were SO happy to have found such a talented cake-maker for such a good deal. Throughout the months leading up to the wedding, I had "Liked" her page on Facebook and was amazed at all the cakes that she was making because they looked so creative and beautiful. Since she seemed in to making funky cakes, we decided to ask her to do one for our rehearsal dinner in the shape of our college's stadium. I am reluctant to admit that we ended up being a bit disappointed with both cakes we received. Sometimes, a bargain is just that. The first cake for our rehearsal was noticeably unfinished, and to her credit, we did agree on it last-minute. She also gave us a price discount for this cake because she was not able to finish all of the details that we asked for. It turned out okay and our guests at the dinner thought it was fun, but based on what we saw on her Facebook page and website, we thought it could have been amazing instead of just okay. We figured that she just ran out of time and was busy that night, and still looked forward our wedding cake. On the day of the wedding I got a voicemail from Luz at 4:30 pm or so, but I didn't get it until after the wedding because I didn't have my phone on me (our wedding started at 5:00 pm and I was getting ready). The voicemail said that there was a delay with the cake, but it was on its way. Luckily, I had no idea the cake was even late until after the wedding, because it was whisked inside at 5:30 pm when we were taking pictures. I was told later by guests that they saw the cake being set up when they went in for the cocktail hour. Although I didn't know that there had been a delay, it was obvious when we saw the cake that the job had probably been rushed again. The edges of the butter cream frosting were rough, the ribbon around the bottom was uneven, and the tiers were not symmetrical in thickness or rotation. We had hoped to get a butter or yellow-colored cake with dark green bottom ribbon (our wedding colors), but instead ended up with a white-colored cake with more of a bright green bottom ribbon (which looked fine, but still). Luckily, the flowers from the florist and our cake topper kind of took away from the flaws. One thing I am happy to report that while we didn't get any compliments on the appearance of the cake, everyone raved about the taste. We got marble cake with a chocolate filling, and it was delicious. I think that we were a little more disappointed in the look because we had seen on the websites what it could have looked like had Luz maybe not have been that busy the weekend and had more time (to this, I am giving her the benefit of the doubt). All in all, the cake was a moderate success, but brides beware that sometimes a bargain can come back to bite you.