Cake & desserts

Wedding cake & baker contract: what to check before you sign

A wedding cake is made fresh, once, and delivered hours before you see it — there's no reprint and no second take. The contract is where you lock down what it will look like, what it's made of, who carries it in, and what happens if it shows up wrong. Here's the checklist, written for the couple.

1. The design, in writing (not just a photo)

You probably picked your cake from an inspiration photo, but a photo isn't a spec. The contract (or an attached design sheet) should describe the number of tiers, the height, the colour, the icing type (buttercream vs fondant behaves very differently), and any sugar flowers, piping or hand-painted detail. The more the design depends on the baker's interpretation, the more you want it pinned down.

2. Servings, tiers and flavors

Confirm the guaranteed number of servings and how it maps to tiers — bakers cut to different "serving" sizes, so a "100-serving cake" from one is not the same as another's. Lock in the flavors and fillings per tier, and check whether changing them later triggers a new price. If you're having a smaller display cake plus hidden "kitchen" or "sheet" cake to feed the room, make sure both the display size and the total servings are written down.

"How many servings are guaranteed, and is that based on a slice size I'd actually recognise as a portion?"

3. Delivery, setup and the cake-cutting fee

Three costs hide around the cake. First, delivery and setup: a tiered cake should be assembled on site by the baker, not handed to you in boxes — confirm who delivers, when, and that setup is included or priced. Second, the venue's cake-cutting fee (often charged per slice by the caterer, not the baker) — see our catering hidden-fees guide. Third, any deposit on the stand or transport. Get all three named so the "cake budget" you signed off on is the real one.

4. Allergens and dietary needs

If any guests have serious allergies (nuts, gluten, dairy, egg), the contract should record what you disclosed and what the baker commits to — including whether the kitchen can guarantee no cross-contamination or only "made without" a given ingredient. These are not the same promise. Don't rely on a verbal "we'll be careful"; for an allergy that matters, get the specifics in writing.

5. Rented stands, pillars and toppers

Cake stands, separators, pillars and fountains are frequently rentals, with a return deadline and a damage/loss charge if they don't come back intact. Find out who is responsible for returning them — you, the venue, or the baker — and by when, so a forgotten stand doesn't quietly become a charge on your card weeks after the wedding.

6. If the cake is late, wrong or damaged

This is the clause couples skip and later wish they hadn't. A cake can't be redone in an afternoon, so look at the baker's remedy: if it arrives the wrong flavour, the wrong design, damaged, or not at all, are you owed a refund, a partial refund, or nothing? Be wary of language that limits the baker's liability to the price of the cake with no duty to deliver something edible and on time. A guaranteed delivery window and a clear remedy matter more than a small discount.