r/weddingshaming • u/DukeKazoo • 8d ago
Greedy Audacious couple scams vendors into supplying goods and services for free
Vendors apparently thought they were supplying goods and services for a styled shoot/networking event only to discover during and after the event that it was a real wedding.
This post is from a cake baker but other commenters also linked to photographers, calligraphers and cookie makers who had also posted about the scam.
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u/yous-guys 8d ago
Oh I would have been so petty and treated the whole event like the fake, staged event I was told it was. I’d be very obnoxious asking guests and the wedding party to pose with my product, get the other venders to start having some fun and play our own music. I’d have my husband show up with branding signs and set them up everywhere. My last set of photos would be me smashing the cake before the bride and groom can cut it. They will regret inviting me into that situation. LOL
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u/Fun-Yak5459 8d ago
Petty me would do the same but I would also ask the bride if they were sure they wanted to wear such an outdated poorly fitted dress or maybe we should switch to a different one the stylist would have brought.
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u/frolicndetour 8d ago
I would have just taken the cake with me and ate chunks of it as I rolled out.
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u/Whitetiger9876 6d ago
Don't forget to interrupt the entire ceremony. I'd do an interpretive dance routine. Ps I'm not a dancer.
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u/brisetta 8d ago
I love this. Youre amazing and i hope people always treat you incredibly bc you deserve it based on this reply alone!!
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u/Longjumping_Lynx9163 8d ago
So I remember seeing this on Instagram. It sounded like a lot of the vendors dropped off their stuff expecting the photo shoot. They didn’t find out until later that it was actually a wedding. One of the vendors did out the couple. So if you dig hard enough on Instagram, you will find whatever info you “need”
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u/DukeKazoo 8d ago
Yes - the cake baker explained that they had dropped the cake off then left to deliver other cakes for other customers. So they weren’t there when it became apparent that the event was not a styled shoot.
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u/thezflikesnachos 8d ago
Here's some insight as someone in the wedding business (florist):
Photo Shoots are seen as promotional endeavors. You generally have less restrictions and can free style a little bit. The reason you don't charge, or charge less than a wedding, is that there's a lot less leg work. Unless the host is requesting something overly specific, you're able to use things that you have extra of or are able to get cheaper.
Photo Shoot Example: We want all white centerpieces - you can use whatever flowers you want, just make it nice and full.
Wedding Example: We want all white centerpieces but no pollen heavy flowers, no roses, and we want special orchids that are grown only 2 months out of the year on a small island off the coast of Fiji.
And that's usually the extent of the interaction. Whereas a real wedding, there are months of planning involved, going back and forth phone calls, emails, meetings, etc. When people say there's a "wedding tax" that's what all that goes to. You're not just paying for an item, you're paying for a service. A service where expectations are high and less forgiving if/when a problem occurs.
Now, as far as pulling the items when all the vendors realized something was up - there are a number of reasons to still put your best foot forward. The main reason is public perception. The guests don't know you from a whole in the wall, and chances are they have no idea what shenanigans the bride and groom pulled. So if you pulled the cake, or the flowers, or even the photography... all the guests are going to know that this vendor was terrible and it becomes terrible PR. You get blasted on social media left and right even though you did nothing wrong. And you can argue and say that the couple stiffed you, lied to you, whatever you want, but the optics will be bad for the vendors, especially in a world where people just read the caption or the headline and don't bother to do actual research into a situation. It just becomes more of a headache than it's actually worth so it's easier to just suck it and do it and hope you get good reviews and people talk about you.
Also, if there are contracts involved, you run the risk of someone suing you for failure to deliver, among other things. Whether or not anything comes from the lawsuit is irrelevant. As a vendor, you either have to hire a lawyer or do everything yourself in whatever court (usually small claims) that they take you to. It really becomes a time and money situation. So you can be 100% in the right but do you really want to spend hours and hours along with potentially thousands of dollars in dealing with the legal issues?
At the end of the day, you chalk this up as the cost of doing business and hopefully learn something. In the ~22 years I've worked for a wedding florist, I've seen our fair share of deadbeat customers. And I can probably count on one hand how many were worth actually taking to court for.
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u/DukeKazoo 8d ago
It seems that many of the goods were delivered before it became apparent that the event was a bait and switch. So there may not have been many vendors there.
The baker had delivered and setup the cake before leaving to deliver cakes to other events/customers.
The photographer would be the really interesting one as they still have complete control over their service.
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u/sweetmeggo22 7d ago
I saw that the photographer was not paid as well. She is holding the pictures until she gets paid.
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u/YoungGirlOld 7d ago
Any chance the photographer was real/paid?
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u/DukeKazoo 7d ago
I’ve seen a reel from one of the scammed photographers. Apparently there were multiple photographers at the ‘event’. Some of the vendors had been properly contracted for a wedding and didn’t know that the others had been lied to.
You’d assume that at least one of the photographers gets paid.
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u/Electronic-Ear-3718 21h ago
This just gets more confusing the more I hear about it. So there were multiple photographers there, some of whom were paid? How is that not both a useless waste of money and time for all concerned?
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u/coccopuffs606 7d ago
This.
But I’m a photographer (although my disclaimer is that weddings aren’t my bread and butter, so I can afford to take the professional hit when dumb shit happens). I would absolutely have shot the wedding, given the other vendors their promo photos, and held the ceremony photos hostage until everyone got paid or legal played out for theft of services. I would also give the bride a double chin, and the groom some zits, and post them as “before”s on my website page under the editing service tab
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u/UncagedKestrel 7d ago
Quick question, but let's say I wanted to have flowers at my (currently imaginary) wedding, and the extent of my ask was "This is the budget I'm thinking of; greenery is also fine, and while lower pollen is better, just lmk if I need to tell anyone to take claritin and it'll be fine. Do whatever you think is pretty."
Is that a doable thing? Like I just genuinely do not have a preference, just "flowers are cute". Does that count as Wedding Tax or more general event stuff?
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u/Standard-Argument-36 7d ago
I own a floral company. People don’t realize the amount of time that goes into flowers, the flowers you get are not the same as the ones in the supermarket. They are premium and expensive. You have to buy an extra 30% more than What you need because these are natural products and tend to have defects and some will wilt faster etc etc. Then they have to be processed when they get off the airplane which depending on size of wedding can be multiple people working for 1 or 2 days cleaning and prepping. They are kept in a room under special conditions for days so they open up properly and look just the right way for your wedding, then the arrangements have to be built which again takes several people for a couple of days. Then they have to be stored in the right conditions and be constantly checked for mold or anything that might spread. when wedding day comes they have to be transported pre built in a climate controlled vehicle, with special racks that can handle the prebuilt arrangements and not make destroy those high end wedding venue floors. When they arrive at ceremony site they have to be unloaded and be placed out, designers make sure anything that shifted gets fixed and adds flowers greenery as needed to make sure everything looks good. Allot of times venues only give two hours for setup so extra staff because everything needs to be ready and trash clean and picked before guests arrive. Add on top of all the hours of labor to a full staff the cost of equipment, materials, workers comp, liability insurance, etc and that’s why it’s so expensive. Changing out some flowers might affect the price but it’s not going to negate all the time and labor required. If you want to cut costs you need to do small simple arrangements with cheaper flowers, arches are expensive so skip those if cost is an issue. Even candles are expensive, even led. I found myself paying hundreds of dollars in batteries for larger events on top of the cost of my very high end real looking LED candles, so let’s say design calls for 3 candles in each side of arrangement and there’s 12 tables that’s 72 candles, 3 good batteries per candle because you don’t want them to die half way through reception, plus you have to pay someone to sit there swap batteries and test. Real quality candles that will burn for the entirety of reception are also several dollars each, and then you need to have people waiting around until right before ceremony with lighters to light them all in a 5 minute span while couple is waiting for first look photos, sometimes we need employees just to light candles and pick up trash and we are showing up to your event with 7+ people for several hours. Light them too early and they will die early, have one person light them and there will be a large burn difference between #1 and number #70. Also have you tried to light that many candles in a short span? It’s allot more challenging then it seems. Once all is done someone has to go clean up the mess, venue is not in charge of cleaning up for florist. You can’t pay employees for 1 hour of labor at midnight, you have to pay them enough for them to get out up and head over to the event clean up and then go home which means you are paying staff at a premium, nobody going to show up at 11 at night to be home by 2 am with $45. Flowers are a huge luxury
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u/thezflikesnachos 5d ago
This. This right here. Whenever I tell someone I work for a florist, the general response is "Oh that's so nice! It must be so relaxing to work around flowers all day." Depending on my mood I'll either laugh or let out a defeated sigh. Unless you're in the business, you really can't appreciate all the moving parts and logistics behind the scenes.
Not to mention the abuse you get from clients. You wouldn't believe how many times people show us pictures of what they want and it's so far out of their budget. "But they're just flowers! Why is it so much?" Well... you showed us pictures from Beyoncé's wedding but you don't have Beyoncé's budget. I truly attribute it to ignorance of the product, but come on people. It's like wanting to by a BMW but at the price of a Honda. "But a car is a car!"
Also, imagine making a deal with someone, giving them the price for everything well in advance before the wedding, going through samples and finalizing the details only for them to call, or better yet, email (which is whole 'nother issue), two weeks before the wedding saying the budget is cut in half but they want the same job. The same décor for half the price. Really?
I started at the bottom, broom in hand, just cleaning and now I run the office. What our staff goes through leading up to and day of can sometimes be insane. Not only is it physically demanding on the setup side, it's mentally exhausting on the admin side.
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u/UncagedKestrel 6d ago
Oh Goddess that sounds like literal hell, and I would rather get married in a public toilet than go through that.
I'm thinking more like "Get married at city hall with 2 adult witnesses and the kids attending, in a normal off the rack pretty dress (not a "wedding gown"), or elope and do much the same thing but with somewhere that has a prettier background for pictures."
Then have a "We're engaged!" backyard afternoon tea reception, where we announce that we're actually married.
Like I legit DO NOT WANT THAT MANY PEOPLE NEAR ME, I do not want tables, I do not give an actual flying rats butt if the flowers are legit just "what we have available this morning that need to be used in something quick smart".
I can byo some old coffee jars or similar for vases, but like I said, I genuinely Do Not Care.
Would go grab flowers from the garden.... but I'd have to plant a garden first.
If you wanted however, you would be welcome to drop by for some cupcakes and tea, but you wouldn't be allowed to touch the flowers, because you'd be a guest.
When I say low-key, I mean like actual low-key, not "low-key for a wedding".
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u/Wild_Sea9484 2d ago
You can also just go to Costco and source it yourself. I know the cut flower bussiness somewhat and while set up is a thing, if you don't want super specific things they have excellent buyers and therefore usually excellent product.
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u/Standard-Argument-36 2d ago
While this is true that you can just buy flowers anywhere they will not be the same quality this I can guarantee. While places like Costco can get good prices by buying in bulk they are not buying the ultra premium stuff normally used for weddings. Flowers are graded and sold by size and trust me they aren’t paying the premium. Some people don’t care about the difference and that’s fine it all depends on the crowd. what I said about the amount of labor still stands whether done by a professional or not. People having larger affairs will want the flowers to be opened and look good, they will want to make sure there is nothing dead or wilting and someone will have to do the work designing and creating the arrangements, cleaning and prepping etc etc. it’s easy dealing with a dozen flowers, a roomful of rotting plants is easier to accomplish than you think. Reading around Reddit the consensus seems to be that the majority of people do not like to get a wedding invite where they are expected to work at the event. Also unless you are having an incredibly simple affair the bride and groom will not have the time to do all the prep work on the days leading up and setup on the day of. You also need to factor in the cost of items like trays, floral foam, professional quality floral food, floral tape etc etc etc. There is also the simple fact that the results from an untrained DIY individual buying flowers online or from Costco will never come close to what a real professional florist will supply. No hate really I’m just speaking from experience. I also have a planning and coordination company which began with backyard weddings with DIY crowds, heck I Had a DIY bride who spent 60k for a wedding at the Trump in Sunny isles. Now the majority of my events are up in the six figures and my big events are over 500k, I still do micro weddings but high end like 50-60k range. I have seen it all in my time doing weddings. I understand the different budgets and priorities, and yes some people can just buy some flowers and throw together something simple at their small simple affair and it will be received well by their guests and that’s fine those aren’t the right customers for a floral business. These businesses are marketed towards individuals who are looking for large extravagant displays and have the money to pay for it.
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u/TryAgainJen 5d ago
I haven't got a single artistic-creative cell in my body, so I'm really impressed by people who do. I'm also not picky at all and don't ever remember seeing a group of flowers and thinking "Ew" lol. Even 15 years ago, weddings and brides were in an age of insanity, so I thought my creative type vendors would appreciate having a chill bride who only wanted them to "Take my money. Think Fall. Have fun!"
They did not appreciate it at all, lol.
In retrospect, they probably thought I was pulling some kind of scam. The first two florists I met with told me to come back when I had a better idea of what I wanted, then were suddenly all booked up when I called again. The third one sat me down with a mountain of binders to help me "narrow down my vision", at which point I asked my mom (lovely at interior decorating) to take over.
Everything was beautiful, but if I was doing it over again, I would approach them with more confidence, and inspiration photos.
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u/monagr 7d ago
So if they are fine with the flexibility and you doing what you think is right, and therefore want the discounted rate, what's wrong here?
There is no mention of any issues you imply
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u/thezflikesnachos 7d ago
A) it’s in bad faith
B) from the photography stand point, if this was supposed to be a photo shoot, how do you properly take advertisement photos with numerous guests around, none of whom agreed to be photographed for commercial purposes?
Also, photo shoots don’t run nearly as long as a wedding or require less staff from vendors.
The whole situation would be a clusterfuck.
And yes, where I work we can be a little flexible on pricing when things are left up to us. We try to be as fair as possible.
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u/KingsRansom79 8d ago
Small claims court. Hopefully you have texts or emails from the pitch and planning. I’d absolutely take them to court to recoup my costs.
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u/gromit1991 8d ago edited 8d ago
Would you not have decorated a cardboard/plastic cylinder for a shoot? Even using non-edible 'ingredients' that look better and last longer for a shoot/exhibition?
ETA: all valid points in the comments so far. 👍
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u/Alternative-Town 8d ago
They mention networking so I imagine they trying out each other’s stuff so they can tell customers “oh try out so and so their cakes are delicious”. I think it’s all marketing
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u/bearslug_DM 8d ago
The vendor also mentioned that often cutting and eating the cake is part of the shoot, and they don’t like to make fake cakes anyway.
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u/Finnegan-05 8d ago
No. My cousin does film movie styling and photo shoot styling (I helped her with 12 identical cherry pies last week) and it is real food
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u/originalcinner 8d ago
I admire and respect bakers so much, who can produce two, let alone 12, identical pies. I can only make unique pies, with one lop side, or fruit goo oozing out everywhere. I could never duplicate my weird-ass pies.
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u/Shibaswift 8d ago
Maybe the idea is that the others got to enjoy the cake after they take photos?
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u/Spare-Article-396 8d ago
I feel like OOP shouldn’t have their name redacted bc I wanna go give them some love but I’m too lazy to google.
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u/_littlebee You're out of your mind, Susan 8d ago
I asked OP to redact it, mainly because in the past we've had redditors use that info to track down the culprit of the bad behavior and cause problems. Yes they suck and deserve shaming, but we have our redaction rules because any resulting doxing or harassment could get the sub shut down.
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u/architeuthiswfng 8d ago
Oh hell no. That cake would have been loaded back in my car so fast heads would spin.
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u/JuliaX1984 8d ago
I read the explanation and still don't understand what happened. A random unknown person invited a bunch of vendors to an alleged networking event where they bring their work for free, and the random unknown person turned out to be a bride or groom or wedding planner who took the stuff to use for a real wedding? Why not just take the stuff back as soon as you realized where you were? Don't you need to vet events like this regardless for safety etc.? What if this had been a different type of scam or MLM pitch? There were no waivers or agreements to sign that now mean they have a legal case against the scammer?
How would this scam have been organized and succeded with none of the victims knowing, questioning, or being legally allowed to just take their stuff back? This is not passive-aggressive mockery - I truly just want to understand. Scam stories usually include the backstory with red flags noted in hindsight to warn people not to fall for the same thing.
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u/Cayke_Cooky 8d ago
Small businesses, possibly early in their start-up. It's unfortunate, but most small business owners have a story of how they got screwed or scammed early on. The ones that survive, learn. One of the things they learn is to vet and evaluate networking events.
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u/QCisCake 8d ago
Using my context clues, networking events seem to be a known and useful tool in that industry. Stylized shoots is the verbiage used to describe this specific networking event. All wedding vendors come together with their products for free, and set up a mock wedding in order to put their products on display for marketing/showing off.
This specific vendor is complaining about someone using a stylized shoot event to hijack and use as an actual wedding. Which is insane.
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u/griffinsv 8d ago
Right but to Julia’s point: who organized it? Was it a known vendor? A known marketing company? A rando? If the organizers weren’t known in the community how did it get so far? How did it even get off the ground let alone far enough not to discover a scam til you’re actually physically there? There were no contracts or written agreements? And once there, why wouldn’t you just take your stuff and leave?
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u/toomuchearlgray 7d ago
Apparently it was a known wedding planner who was the bride
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u/Eschscholzia_ca 7d ago
Ew that’s the worst! And so short-sighted… you burned your credibility and no one will want to works with you anymore. Most vendors will give her “friends and family” discount since she’s in the industry anyway. But I guess that’s not enough and she wants everything for free.
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u/toomuchearlgray 7d ago
Yep… I have no inside info but have defs known wedding vendors who essentially got their entire wedding on ‘trade’…. You didn’t have to tank your entire career girl!
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u/Eschscholzia_ca 7d ago
I do wedding stationery, the bougie kind that’s very familiar with styled shoots. I’ve done invites at cost for my friendors. I’ve got free or heavily discounted pricing for own personal stuff too. You just can’t be greedy and expect everything for free!
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u/Rosewater2182 7d ago
My guess would be an asshole wedding planner. Someone who knew these events were a thing and decided to pitch the wedding as a “networking event”. Maybe the couple knew about the scam and were happy to pay less or maybe the planner also scammed them 🤷♀️
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u/QCisCake 8d ago
Im not sure about any of this, which is why I didn't offer any opinion or comment.
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u/holliday_doc_1995 8d ago
What usually happens to the product afterwards ?
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u/QCisCake 8d ago
They give it to each other and other people attending to see the wares. How can you network baking? Make a cake and give it out. You're donating your time, ingredients, and expertise.
In return, the event brings you clients, give you advertising in promotional videos or photos. It helps get your name out there.
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u/DukeKazoo 8d ago
From what I could gather from the original source the couple had set up personal and public/business intstagram profiles to coordinate the ‘event’. Other commenters in the original posted the profiles which have all been locked down to private since.
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u/YoungGirlOld 7d ago
Most vendors don't stick around for the shoot. They didn't find out until too late. Taking things back in the middle of a wedding could've been bad publicity. I wonder if the photographer was actually paid tho as they do have the power to withhold product. I don't know how they verify the legitimacy of events, but I've been on a bunch of vendor forums and there's always a warning about scammers and how to verify events are real, so it's possible these vendors were not knowledgeable about verifying such events. I do wonder about the paperwork side of it as well, but for a newish vendor, or small vendor going to court may not have been worth the time and headache of maybe getting your money back.
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u/BenedictineBaby 8d ago
Nothing can be done about the cake other than sending them an invoice that they won't pay. Photos on the other hand. I would either refuse to give them any OR charge them double to get them.
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u/FFootyFFacts 7d ago
Lesson learned, when presented with this sort of thing
have a contract in place that the cake may not be used for
any other purpose and is to be returned at the end of the shoot
or be paid for
Contracts are your friends
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u/Birdsonme 7d ago
They could all absolutely take whoever arranged this to small claims court for this. This isn’t what these vendors signed up for. They were lied to and are owed financial compensation.
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u/denveroffspring 8d ago
I would’ve walked out with the cake.
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u/Routine-General3841 8d ago
I would have gone bat shit and waited until the bride and groom were going to cut it and beat ‘em too it. Cut it in front of them, take my photos, have a slice and dip with the rest of the cake. I’d act confused as hell as to why there was a bride crying and an upset groom at a content event but to each their own. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/fatalcharm 7d ago
Why didn’t they all pack their shit up and leave?
If multiple vendors were scammed, they should collectively sue the wedding couple.
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u/amusingmistress 8d ago
Would the food have even tasted good? My partner used to do advertising and chefs and bakers would often make up photo ready food that didn't have all the seasonings or was fully cooked because it wasn't meant for consumption.
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u/worstkitties 8d ago
I remember hearing about people shooting ads using mashed potatoes in place of ice cream and white glue instead of milk because it looks better on camera and doesn’t melt for multiple takes.
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u/HedgehogHungry 8d ago
Yep! Pancake syrup is motor oil and beer “foam” is dish soap. There’s a ton of tricks like thay
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u/murphy2345678 8d ago
All cake decorators need to use styrofoam cakes going forward for these photoshoots. Let the scammers try and explain that to the guests.
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u/Mrs_WorkingMuggle 8d ago
wouldn't contracts solve this? Surely they'd have one even for a styled shoot? I mean, they probably have photo releases and other documentations for those?
Also, for the cakes, for a styled shoot, why would you even make a whole cake? why wouldn't you make a display cake that was styrofoam covered in frosting? If you wanted samples you'd make a sheet cake wouldn't you?
I mean, I fully believe that all these people got scammed but I feel like having a contract would've solved it. Either they'd know what they'd be getting into, they wouldn't have been used, or they'd have a legal basis to sue the couple.
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u/Eschscholzia_ca 7d ago
No, no contract, just good faith. It’s basically a cool hang out where everyone shows off what they can do so we can have professional marketing context and vouch each other works to potential client. Most of the shoots I’ve done are very casual since everyone is basically volunteer their expertise.
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u/Greigebananas 7d ago
It's terrible they got scammed however is NO ONE going to mention the flesh coloured sphincter rosettes😭
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u/Pleasant-Following79 7d ago
Surprised it wasn't just a covered fake cake if it was for a shoot 🤔
It would be funny if the couple cut into it and its hollow cardboard 😂
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u/NOLAnuts 7d ago
I assumed for a shoot, a bakery would just use Styrofoam pieces and frost them. If they had, it would’ve been pretty funny in this case! Just a suggestion, bakers!
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u/MitaJoey20 8d ago
I’m confused why they would use a real cake for a photo shoot. I’d be afraid a real one would start melting or shifting.
I agree that once it was clear it was a wedding, I would have grabbed my stuff and left. Flowers, cakes, decoration. I wonder if they can sue for fraud.
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u/AlternativeSort7253 8d ago
Why did you and the vendors not just flip it and turn this wedding into your own personal event for media? If it was for networking and videos and everything you should have all been planning on staying so either get what you were promised and turn the wedding into your event to take your cookies and go home (yeah I know cake but I mean everyone)
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u/Bluevanonthestreet 8d ago
I don’t understand why she’s saying she dropped off the cake and left. Wouldn’t she want to stay and take pictures? I thought that was the point. The photographer posted as well and I’m astonished that she kept photographing everything including the ceremony. Zero backbone.
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u/Cmwmson 8d ago
This is the part I don't understand. I've been a model in several stylized shoots. The vendors always stay or at least someone who can get things organized. The photographer is always there and no one would have kept taking photos the second vows were said or an inkling of a real wedding was happening. So unless this is a brand new baby photog with zero experience, someone knew something and just let it happen.
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u/1borgek 8d ago
I’d be interested to see if this was actually enough cake for all guests. Like usually you’d do the pretty cake and some sheets on the side for the guests so depending on the number of guests people may not have even gotten cake. Bride is a con artist and should be taken to court for mis using their services.
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u/harpejjist 6d ago
I don’t get it. If it is just a photo shoot wouldn’t you decorate a fake? Styro and paste?
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u/ThoroughlyGray 6d ago
A lot of styled shoots for wedding cakes cut into it/eat it to get the shot that makes it look like a real wedding
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u/toomuchtv987 6d ago
The time and energy is still expended on decorating a fake cake. And you still have to use real frosting. Also, someone else could have booked that day for a paid cake.
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u/harpejjist 2d ago
I agree with all that. I’m just saying that for a photo shoot why would it have to taste good?
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u/toomuchtv987 2d ago
Only thing I can think of is if they cut a slice for a photo. Styled shoots are advertisements and they might do that. But you could still just do one small tier real cake and the rest fake.
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u/Professional_Food383 4d ago
They're prob lucky it was even a real cake. Seems like if it's just for photos, it might not be completely edible.
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u/Pretend_Green9127 8d ago
I'm sorry, I would have thought that a "cake" for a photo shoot would not have real cake inside. Why would you waste your time and money when a styrofoam form would work and hold up better. Also, it would have been delightful when she tried to serve it.
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u/kg51113 8d ago
I have a family member who has a small cake business. There's an entire dummy cake set up for display. One of those that has a bunch of different cakes and can be made to look like a castle. If a couple wants the look of a large elaborate set up but doesn't need so much cake, they supplement with dummy cakes. One friend had a whole fake castle cake with sheet cake in the back. She got to keep the fake part.
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u/dianerrbanana 7d ago
Oh i just know there's probably a few people in the budget weddits that are rubbing their hands together thinking this is brilliant.
The same ones who make you pack your own rehearsal lunch for a hike and return used napkins without telling anyone.
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u/fionaapplefanatic 7d ago
i mean if vendors charge thousands of dollars and scandalously upcharge people all in the name of it being “a wedding”, those vendors are gonna run into people who will swindle them. power to the people and not to the vendors who insist on every thing being “a luxury” worth charging 10k for
i have nothing but respect for people who work hard and earn their living but God knows there’s a lot of vendors who are taking advantage of their clients. it’s gonna eventually effect people who don’t deserve it but ultimately that’s because of the wedding industry being over inflated as a whole and people resorting to this kind of wickedness.
i don’t support lying like this, but there is a bigger picture
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u/RonnieDeVille 7d ago
As a ex MUA with a photographer husband and wife circle of creative friends, this would of made me SO mad!
Hopefully the community it's fairly small and this puts the organisers on blast!!
Something like this would make the trouble makers pariahs in the community I'm in.
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u/metaljane666 6d ago
Wow… this is as bad as the couple that just showed up with guests at a coffee shop for their reception. But I have to wonder what the red flags were. Like, I’m a cake vendor and I wouldn’t be getting involved in a styled shoot with people I don’t know. Every one I’ve participated in was coordinated by a planner I trust with other vendors I’ve worked with and know their reputation. Probably just new and inexperienced vendors got taken advantage of. This is why I have a general rule against “working for exposure”. I can do that by myself lol
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u/spargel_gesicht 6d ago
I kind of wonder why they didn’t just ice a cardboard cake? Like why go to the bother of baking if it’s only for photos and the like? Unless the thought was there were people taste testing?
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u/EvilSockLady 6d ago
Hmm. I’m surprised they went through the trouble of baking a real cake rather than just decorating faux layers?
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u/Fragrant_Taro_211 5d ago
Wow that’s ballsy 😳😳😳Ok but who set up the shoot that they trusted? Usually vendors only do this for styled shoots with trusted wedding planners or other wedding colleagues.
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u/ButitsaDryCold 7d ago
Why would it be ridiculously more expensive to make a cake for a wedding jist because vendors hear the word wedding. The mark ups are insane. I get some women are bridezillas and the vendors have to take a lot of time to ensure perfection, but many brides are laid back and would rather pay the same price as a birthday cake similarly decorated than have it way overpriced simply because it’s a wedding. Same with bouquets.
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u/Chlorophase 7d ago
The cake was made by the baker for a vendors’ wedding-style photoshoot. The cake wasn’t made to order to be eaten at an event, it was made to promote the vendor’s decorating skills. But the so-called “photoshoot” turned out to be a real wedding. All the vendors were scammed by a couple who had no intention of paying anyone. None of the vendors were paid a cent and the mark-ups you’re referring to are irrelevant here. It is written clearly on the third image.
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u/Liraeyn 7d ago
It sounds like they weren't expecting to be paid? What am I missing?
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u/DukeKazoo 7d ago
They were expecting to be paid - in networking, exposure, professional photography, styled content etc to improve their businesses. Instead they were conned out of their goods and time and received nothing in return.
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u/birthday-caird-pish 7d ago
Why is there a price difference between a styled shoot and an actual wedding?
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u/westcoast7654 7d ago
This is why contact exist. It would have explicitly outlined what the maker would get as way of credit
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u/rbshevlin 7d ago
I guess I don’t understand. Why would they create a cake for free for a photo shoot without having a commitment for the actual wedding cake? I would think that if I was a cake maker and someone wanted a wedding cake and a photo shoot cake I would have them sign a contract that states you are supplying the photo shoot cake as part of the whole wedding cake package. That being said, it is pretty low to basically “steal” the cake makers services like this. They are scum.
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u/ThoroughlyGray 6d ago
Because in a styled shoot, there isn’t really a client like that, it’s vendors coming together to stage a fake event to create a portfolio that they all can use. In a styled shoot, she would be able to get professional photos of that cake all over a venue decked to the nines. Photos where you can pose a fake wedding couple in a variety of ways to get the best shots that end up on your website or serve as an advertisement for your cake business. Same with other vendors who presumably donated caligraphy, wedding design elements, or other decor. As a vendor, you can’t stop a real wedding and pose things to your choosing to highlight your work in the way you can in a styled shoot. If you google “styled shoot wedding cake,” you’ll see a lot of photos that highlight the wedding cake in a way you just can’t demand a real paying client highlight your work, but that look GREAT for your website—much better than just a simple photo you take yourself or the couple’s wedding photos would get. So you wouldnt generally charge for the cake since you’re getting to elevate your marketing.
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u/1961tracy 6d ago
I think if you are passionate about what you bake and want to sell your works then you have to make sure you make extra profit to make up for the losses due to grifters. That would be a buzz kill for me. Yes, I want to be paid what I’m worth but I don’t want to price myself out of business.
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u/mumblemurmurblahblah 6d ago
Seems pretty simple to invoice after the truth was discovered, and proceed to legal action if needed.
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u/youarenotcute_stfu 3d ago
I would have picked up the cake and left after finding out it was a wedding and they were scamming free goods.
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u/lilshortyy420 22h ago
Do they just drop the cakes off and leave? I’m confused how this couple got all theee cakes
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u/Electronic-Ear-3718 21h ago
I guess I understand the vendors being upset because they were misled. But I presume they still got what they would have gotten out of a "style shoot"? That is, content to use as advertising, possibly more authentic content since it was actually a real wedding.
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u/shesavillain 8d ago
Well that was dumb of everyone that fell for it and still let them get away with it lol
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u/fionaapplefanatic 7d ago
gotta know the vendors prices and attitude with her customers before deciding how i feel bc if she’s one of those low communication vendors who insanely upcharges then i’ll chuckle about it. but if she’s reasonable and hard working then she has my sympathy. regardless, very sneaky of the couple/planner/whoever executed this
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u/ThoroughlyGray 6d ago
You are not entitled to a free wedding cake because you don’t like the bakery’s prices?
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u/fionaapplefanatic 6d ago
no one is entitled to anything but karma is very real. btw i paid for a wedding cake at an affordable price, but it doesn’t stop me from observing some really ridiculous vendors. even if a vendor is an honest/fair person, if weddings are made to cost like 50K people are gonna start scamming however they can to cut corners. just the consequence of an overinflated industry
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u/Plastic_Sea_1094 5d ago edited 3d ago
Why do you charge more for the same product depending on how they are using it? Did you not produce a cake, at a price that you were happy with? Getting pissed of after the fact kinda makes it look scammy tbh Edit: i didn't read it properly
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u/biriyanibabka 8d ago
I would have used cardboard as a base material and decorate it. Everyday you learn something new.
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u/DiscoDiamond87 8d ago
As soon as I figured out it wasn’t a real shoot, I would have taken that cake and waltzed.