This week has had me on a roller coaster of emotions.
It all started early on Monday morning, when I received an email canceling an order for Saturday- which, but late Monday afternoon was reinstated. I gather there is a long story behind the initial cancellation, some stories are better left untold.
This week I have had my Best friends Birthday- My Mother in Law, and Brother in Laws Birthday, My sister's Best friends birthday, and on Monday- My own mothers birthday! Thats a mouthful! So far I have only made cake for one - with that blog entry to follow!
My New cake studio is up and running- although it is not 100% complete- I am seeing clients in my new room!
Located downstairs at my home, the new Studio (once complete) will not only have my mammoth collection of wedding cake magazines on display- but also some cakes, and feature pictures around the room. The Crisp White and Stainless look was devised by my husband- and has received rave responses from the clients I have met with this week!
Yesterday Morning the Lovely Karen from Bliss Floral came over to drop off some flowers for a clients cake, and to my surprise- and delight!- she had bought me a Massive bunch of flowers- Just because! How wonderful is that! Such a totally unexpected- and much appreciated gesture!
I recommend Karen to my Brides- not only because I used her myself- but she does such wonderful flawless floristry! Her passion for her work really shows in the end product. As you can appreciate I get to work with many florists, and there are a chosen few that I would recommend without hesitation, as their work is always impeccable.
The Bunch of flowers was a mix of mini gerberas, lilies, freesias, and lotus leaves! Gorgeous!
So heavy it almost tipped over in the vase!
On a more somber note, I have had some disappointment lately with clients not showing up for scheduled appointments. As you can appreciate seeing clients and organising their cake- face to face- is a highlight of the design process. I organise consultations around my baking, decorating and delivery schedule, so often this time is very scarce.
Currently I have a 4 week wait for clients wishing to meet with me on a Saturday Morning, and a 3 week wait for an after hours appointment- so when clients simply don't show up I am left feeling not only frustrated, but disheartened for the genuine clients who are left waiting (seemingly unnecessarily) for weeks, for their consultation.
I try to be as flexible as possible, to accommodate my clients with times that suit them- so when I had a request from an interstate Bride for a consultation on Friday ( as she was only up here for the weekend) I shuffled my schedule to fit her in. I confirmed the time with her on Friday Morning, and I was bitterly disappointed, not because she rang 10 minutes after the scheduled time to say she was running late, but when she rang 20 minutes later (wanting to still attend her consultation), and was short and blunt with me- because I could no longer see her, as I had prior commitments, which meant by the time she got to me I would have had around 10 minutes with her- barely enough time to introduce myself let alone design a cake for her.
I am not one to publicly criticize, I have always had ( and still do) such fabulous clients, but it really does make you feel down when you go to such effort for each and every consultation, and clients just don't show up.
This week's consultations did end on a bright note though! I met a fabulous couple yesterday morning- the Groom grew up in Scotland- so I got to chat to them about my upcoming trip, as well as designing a gorgeous cake for their wedding in June!!
It all started early on Monday morning, when I received an email canceling an order for Saturday- which, but late Monday afternoon was reinstated. I gather there is a long story behind the initial cancellation, some stories are better left untold.
This week I have had my Best friends Birthday- My Mother in Law, and Brother in Laws Birthday, My sister's Best friends birthday, and on Monday- My own mothers birthday! Thats a mouthful! So far I have only made cake for one - with that blog entry to follow!
My New cake studio is up and running- although it is not 100% complete- I am seeing clients in my new room!
Located downstairs at my home, the new Studio (once complete) will not only have my mammoth collection of wedding cake magazines on display- but also some cakes, and feature pictures around the room. The Crisp White and Stainless look was devised by my husband- and has received rave responses from the clients I have met with this week!
Yesterday Morning the Lovely Karen from Bliss Floral came over to drop off some flowers for a clients cake, and to my surprise- and delight!- she had bought me a Massive bunch of flowers- Just because! How wonderful is that! Such a totally unexpected- and much appreciated gesture!
I recommend Karen to my Brides- not only because I used her myself- but she does such wonderful flawless floristry! Her passion for her work really shows in the end product. As you can appreciate I get to work with many florists, and there are a chosen few that I would recommend without hesitation, as their work is always impeccable.
The Bunch of flowers was a mix of mini gerberas, lilies, freesias, and lotus leaves! Gorgeous!So heavy it almost tipped over in the vase!
On a more somber note, I have had some disappointment lately with clients not showing up for scheduled appointments. As you can appreciate seeing clients and organising their cake- face to face- is a highlight of the design process. I organise consultations around my baking, decorating and delivery schedule, so often this time is very scarce.
Currently I have a 4 week wait for clients wishing to meet with me on a Saturday Morning, and a 3 week wait for an after hours appointment- so when clients simply don't show up I am left feeling not only frustrated, but disheartened for the genuine clients who are left waiting (seemingly unnecessarily) for weeks, for their consultation.
I try to be as flexible as possible, to accommodate my clients with times that suit them- so when I had a request from an interstate Bride for a consultation on Friday ( as she was only up here for the weekend) I shuffled my schedule to fit her in. I confirmed the time with her on Friday Morning, and I was bitterly disappointed, not because she rang 10 minutes after the scheduled time to say she was running late, but when she rang 20 minutes later (wanting to still attend her consultation), and was short and blunt with me- because I could no longer see her, as I had prior commitments, which meant by the time she got to me I would have had around 10 minutes with her- barely enough time to introduce myself let alone design a cake for her.
I am not one to publicly criticize, I have always had ( and still do) such fabulous clients, but it really does make you feel down when you go to such effort for each and every consultation, and clients just don't show up.
This week's consultations did end on a bright note though! I met a fabulous couple yesterday morning- the Groom grew up in Scotland- so I got to chat to them about my upcoming trip, as well as designing a gorgeous cake for their wedding in June!!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment