As everyone is well aware, up until 18 months ago everything – and everyone – was chugging along nicely until the economy took a turn for the worse. Now, in most markets this wasn’t a good thing. However, I believe the ‘credit crunch’ has been to the overall benefit of the wedding market.
In one respect, those of us in the wedding marketplace are cushioned from the full effects of the economic slowdown that other businesses suffer; people will always continue to marry, and many couples have had dates and venues booked for a couple of years already. Our market cannot completely disappear.
However, what it does mean is that brides are far more likely to do some research before committing to anything. They want to have a look around and see what is available before putting their money where their mouth is – and so they should. This goes a long way to explaining why attendance figures at wedding exhibitions are on the increase.
Because of this, companies involved in the wedding industry are continually trying to come up with ways to tempt brides to use them. And so we come to the ‘Credit Crunch Cakes’.
Ack. I discovered a few companies promoting this option and it has become a personal pet hate of mine. Could anyone think of anything less romantic?! There also seems to be something vaguely insulting attached to it; these companies’ websites set out photo after photo of elaborate creations until you mention the word ‘budget’ and then you’re shuffled off to some dark corner where you have the choice of this or that, take it or leave it. It’s no wonder brides are heading to the supermarkets in droves and cake companies are disappearing.
It is true that we have designs here that just can’t be achieved on a small budget. But equally we can still do a three tiered ribboned cake in vanilla or lemon sponge for under £250 and we could give you this two years ago, when we first started out and the economy was still booming. I don’t think twice about re-working quotes for brides who want a specific look and have a set amount they want to pay; we can shift tier flavours around to help you come in on budget until the cows come home. This has nothing to do with economic downturns or credit crunches; it’s just good, simple common sense. I have lost count of the number of brides I’ve spoken to in the last 6 months who have ended up positively giddy because they’ve discovered they can have what they want at a price that doesn’t resemble the national debt of a small country.
So, if you’re researching cake companies and you come across these bland ‘credit crunch cakes’, do yourself a favour and hit that little ‘x’ button at the top right of the page. If the cake company can’t give you anything worth having from their usual portfolio, then you shouldn’t give them the time of day. Perhaps then you might take a little waltz around our gallery and see what you fancy. I bet it’s cheaper than you’d think …