How much should a baby shower cake cost?

By admin

A baby shower is a beautiful way to celebrate bringing a new human life into this world with all those around you that you love and who love you. Whether you are throwing one for a friend or a family member or one for yourself it is important to factor in the cost of all the items to make sure that we are staying in budget.

As with most parties and celebrations the cake is often the centre of the event, with everyone standing around watching the individual cut it and then tucking into that moist sponge and creamy frosting. This article will be focusing on the cost of that wonderful cake and alternatives to the traditional big cake we always see.

And who does not love cake? Baby showers are a special milestone for any mother-to-be and no such celebration should be without cake.

And with a human growing inside you you deserve a slice or two of a perfectly created celebration cake, you should have your cake and eat it.

But how much should you be expected to pay for such a cake? Are they going to break the bank? And what if it is just a little too much, what are your options?

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Breakdown of the cake prices 

baby shower in their backyard

As can be expected the price of the cake can significantly vary depending on the clients wants and needs, size of the shower, delivery charges and required decorations. For example, for a basic, but lovingly made, cakes you can spend as little as $20, this will serve about 6 people.

The price will increase with the number of servings, ingredients, additional adaptations, or any creative sort of cakes, such as baby shaped ones. Let’s focus on the bigger picture, or the bigger cake should I say? How much is this sort of cake likely to set you back?

For example, take a standard round cake that serves 56 people, so 12 inches wide, with icing flowers and no extra personalised writing on top, this would have an estimated cost of around $254 (a pretty big wack of money!). It is important to note that this does not include delivery charge or serving plates.

These is likely to be an additional cost, this may be different with different companies, it is important to ask this prior to ordering. Any other modifications such as personalisation on the icing will also cost more money. For example, adding a name or due date to the top of the cake.

Why does it cost this?

The reason for the increase in price in relation to the size of the cake and additional wants is that not only is it obviously more materials used but also more manpower and hours are put into creating your ideal baby shower cake.

A small basic cake can be made easily by one person with little or no help but larger ones that may need more hands, more extravagant ingredients or special delivery will be bumping up that price much more.

In addition to this if we factor in things like delivery this increases as well, large cakes are not easily moved in the back of the car, and would you want to after spending $250 on it? I highly doubt it! So special delivery is likely to be something you require, increasing that price even more.

The way we price cakes can be broken down into 2 main equations. One for smaller cakes and smaller events and the second for larger events with lots of people.

The first being for a large cake, big baby showers or weddings: 

The Cake Price = Labor (hours of estimated work x the companies hourly rate) + number of servings the cake will provide + Delivery 

Our second calculation is for smaller cakes: Cake Price = Labor (hours of estimated work x the companies hourly rate) + Cost of Ingredients + Overhead + Delivery + additional items such as plates.

pink cake on cake stand

What else might change the price?

Now let us think about the taste of your cake and how this might affect what you pay. For example, if we take a sponge cake this is going to cost a lot less than a triple chocolate fudge brownie icing cake.

This is down to basic math, more ingredients, more money resulting in a higher price. 

If you are having a personalised cake, blue for a boy, pink for a girl and writing on it with congratulation X & X, then you will be expected to pay more for this product.

It is also important to note that you may be required to pay for any specific dietary requirement cakes, gluten/ dairy free may add an extra cost to your bill due to requiring special ingredients.

Alternative ideas

Let’s move on and now look at some alternatives to the large cake and see if this is likely to reduce the price of the event.

Cupcakes

It is becoming more and more fashionable to have perfectly sized individual cupcakes for each person attending your baby shower, not only does this reduce waste but it is also easier to create, reducing that hourly rate cost!

You also do not require plate or forks which could reduce your cost more! And they are super cute!

Cupcakes are often priced a little less than the traditional larger cakes due to not requiring as much time and energy. Cupcakes are great for large parties, price and looks wise, but smaller events it is equally expensive to buy a cake as it is to create a cupcake tower.

Most people will consume 2 cupcakes so keep that in mind if you decide to order these, one is just not enough!

In relation to ordering time, cupcakes can be produced quickly thus ordering very far in advance may not be required. 

Once again these can be personalised which is likely to add to the overall cost but it will still be significantly less than the traditional cake.

One thing to note about cupcakes is that you may have to rent the display case, depending on if you want them to be in a tower or if you are happy to just have them on plates.

cupcakes on a stand

Do It Yourself

Moving on! We are next going to look at Do It Yourself cakes. Not only are these great fun but these are likely to hugely reduce your spending.

Companies out there will drop off premade cupcakes, or cake balls and decorating equipment for you and your group to have a go at creating the perfect baby shower cake. Not only is this interactive and a great laugh with all your friends but it is likely to cost you a lot less than a specially designed and created cake.

The products you get might not turn out to be something as beautiful as a professionally done cake but who can put a price on enjoyment and creativity?

Novelty cakes 

Fun cakes are what we are next going to consider. We are going to look at the novelty cakes that are becoming all the rage.

These are not just something fun but are also brilliantly unique, adding that extra flare to your baby shower. However, these are likely to set you back much more, they tend to be smaller and more detailed but take a huge amount more time and energy.

Often your standard cake shops do not create these, they are developed by much more specific cake makers who specialise in novelty cake decorating. 

Ranging from 50-200$ depending on the detail and time that it takes these cakes can be seen as a huge price hit. These cakes are often suggested for smaller gatherings due to the time it takes to create the largest ones.

Novelty cakes require a lot of notice prior to even starting to bake the cake, getting the right colour icing, pictures and even draft cake ideas is really important. This means that they will require pre ordering far in advance and often a down payment or deposit. 

Cookies

sprinkles on cookies

For our final stop we are going to consider the idea of baby shower cookies. Simple, yet equally as elegant and effective as a cake.

Much like the previously discussed cupcake, cookies are likely to significantly reduce the cost of your shower. Perfectly decorated and produced easily this product is likely to be a hit with your guests and a cheaper alternative to a cake.

Once again, cookies are pretty quick to produce and so pre ordering very far in advance may not be needed.

Personalisation can also be added to these for an increased fee but as with the other cheaper products it is likely to still be significantly less than larger event cakes. 

As with the cupcakes, you may have additional costs of display ledges depending on how you wish to present you sweet treat.

Summary

In summary, if you are wanting to get bang for your buck it is suggested that cupcakes or cookies as an alternative to a whole cake is a perfect idea. However, if you are wanting a fun and new cheaper alternative, Do I Yourself cakes are the way to go.

Looking at the more expensive side, novelty cakes in the shape of nappies or babies’ bottoms are likely to give you less product for more money. They are also likely to have to be ordered far in advance to ensure that they are created in perfect time.

Larger cakes are great for big parties, working off the number of guests attending equalling how much you are likely to pay. These cakes can come with a lot of additional features that which may add or reduce your cost of your purchase. 

In conclusion, it is essential to work out the vibe of the event, is it more likely to be a fun and silly event with games and DYI cakes or a more sophisticated one with slice cakes on plates? That will determine your choice of product.

You also need to think about the requirements of the cake and how many guest you are expecting to feed, including any special dietary requirements. Cakes do not come cheap, but alternatives are great, fun and a little different and can have the same effect as a large cake.

Factor in what is important to you or the person you are throwing the shower for and do your research, check different companies, and see what products they can create and how quickly, find their speciality. And I highly recommend doing a taste test!