Birthday Cakes: A Tip for You!

Here's a little tip for you. If you are ordering your child's birthday cake from a source other than, say, family ... it is probably a good idea to arrange for pickup or delivery the day before the party. That way, if there is a problem, there is still time to correct it (hopefully).

Case in point--this is what my sister and I were presented with when we went to pick up my daughter's birthday cakes last year:

That is supposed to be a pink, flower-shaped, pull-apart cupcake cake. Oh yeah ... small detail ... it's supposed to read, "Happy 1st Birthday, Kate!" I ordered two of these.

Fortunately, I had remembered this tip that my sister shared with me. Plus, I've been around for so many birthday parties for my nieces and nephews that I knew to allow for some extra time ... just in case. (One time, one of my sister's BFF's little girls ended up with a Spider-Man cake. The dad had picked it up on the way to the party and hadn't checked it before he left the bakery. LOL! It may not have been so humorous at the time, but it makes a funny story now!)

Anyway, since I'd arranged for pickup the day before the party, the bakery was able to correct the order in time for the big event. I still don't know how the above cake came from the order I put in. It's a really long story, but I placed my order with the manager herself and also took in a printout of examples with very detailed instructions typed out. Well, the printout was nowhere to be found later. Fortunately, I'd saved it in Word, so we were able to get another one to the bakery the night before the party.

The lady who helped us was very nice and apologetic about the whole thing. In the end, the cakes looked and tasted great. But word to the wise ... allow some extra time in case a mistake needs to be fixed.