50 years ago, my aunt was a very well-known cake decorator. She trained in France, and taught making sugar flowers. She was once of the best decorators in our area, eventually making cakes costing tens of thousands of dollars. That was the heyday, but the business dropped out in the late 1990s, and they were not doing nearly as well for a long time.

After a while, she could no longer makes cakes, so my cousins took over the business about 15 years ago. They revitalized it, started doing art cakes, and getting well-known in the industry. More business came, and with that, the particular species of choosing beggars called "bridezillas." You see, the average bridezilla wants everything done her way, to an exact degree. Sometimes, price doesn't matter, especially if Daddy is picking up the tab. Then, there's the bridezilla on a budget - all the entitlement, none of the funds.

Quickly, my cousins figured out that with the low-budget brides, you have to explain how the cakes are priced. If he said, "$1000 for a cake with 250 servings", they'd balk. If he said, "The 'art fee' is a flat $400, plus $2.40 per serving for 250 servings... which is $1000 total", they were much more likely to pay.

One day, a bride and her mother came to the shop to choose a cake and design. As a prep, my cousins would bake small cakes for taste testing, of the flavors the bride wanted, usually 3-4. It takes time and effort to make them, because each once may need to be mixed separately, though baking should be at once. Each small cake needs to be built as a layer cake, then decorated with at least a buttercream or fondant to match the big cake.

They bridge and her mother picked the flavor they liked, talked about the number of guests, and then settled on a design and color scheme. My cousin then gave them the price, something like $1,500 for everything (it was a big wedding), which always includes delivery, setup, and breakdown/packing of leftovers. The bride and her mother got very upset at the cost, and one said, "We can get a cake at Wal-Mart for $150!"

Sure... but a Wal-Mart cake isn't what they make, and he was done with dealing with them. He stood up, and said, "Well, I'm sorry we couldn't reach an agreement. I hope your wedding day goes well, and you have a happy life with your new husband. Good luck." He when waved them to the door. Needless to say, they got upset and started to squawk. "I'm sorry, but I cannot compete with Wal-Mart on price. My cakes are works of art, and the quality difference is obvious. But if price is your only consideration, then I'm sure a cake from Wal-Mart is going to be in your budget and you will be happy with it." He then talked them out, not even listening to their complaints, just saying, "Have a nice day."

Obviously, they were trying to negotiate a better price and using Wal-Mart as their comparison. The difference is that my cousins never competed with Wal-Mart, they only competed with bakeries that specialized in making custom wedding and special occasion cakes. It's like going into a custom motorcycle shop, planning a build, and then asking them to match one price with the Yamaha dirt bike dealer down the street.

They shut down the cake decorating business soon after. From then on, they only made a few one-off cakes for special occasions - family events, or friends who are very close. No more commissions, no more bridezillas.

The story does end on a much happier note. The people who got rich in the Gold Rush weren't the ones looking for gold. They were the ones selling shovels, pans, and other equipment. My cousins instead ramped up the other side of the business, selling the colors that bakers use for decorating. What had been a small operation is now a multi-million dollar a year world-wide business, selling hundreds of colors for batter, fondant, and cream, edible glitters, and the equipment for decorating, like air brushes.

A choosing beggar bridezilla helped push my cousins to go from "surviving" to "thriving."