Parties and wedding events emerge as the Covid lockdown restrictions fade away, and my cake studio is bustling more than ever since the last week as I begin to receive so many enquiries of the “pending” orders. I had to spend the whole day at the market yesterday and now have to organise everything. It felt so alien to be around so many people at the same time, I mean, we have been in isolation forever now!
So yeah, I visited the market yesterday for all the ingredients for the orders I have received, and man oh man, how surprised I was to see the prices that had gone soaring up in the sky! The government coming out of lockdown sure has thrown the general public in carriageway for recovering the economy and I was shocked to be paying £35 for a 10 pack of tall cake boxes that costed me £28 earlier! And then we always get asked why bespoke cakes are so expensive, no one even realise how much effort we put into creating their dream cake and sometimes there’s no profit for us.
Anyhow coming home, there has been so much to do in the kitchen, the cake studio had to be freshened up for new clients all the cupboards had to be restocked with the new cake materials, the foils of the stoves had to be replaced, and don’t even get me started about the ovens!
Had it not been for my darling husband who intervened and cleaned the ovens before I got home from the market. Cute, aren’t they, sometimes? I was actually not talking to him for not going to the market with me to get the supplies, but I learned that he stayed behind to ready the kitchen for me while I was away because he knew I was very stressed out about it. I think he’s earned his own cake! :)
I had a portfolio of more than 50 orders in a span of 2 months for weddings and other parties before the lockdown occurred, which then got delayed and postponed, for which I had to return the deposits. Some, however, left their deposits with me because they considered the money safe with me, considering all the other expenses they had to carry out for their weddings and parties. I have around twenty-three such orders which I have to do now in less than a month. Some of them called me, updating me about the new dates of the events, and, having taken a break of more than six months ( phew ), I feel fully charged and ready to resume my services. I am also expecting more orders, now that everything is coming back to normal. Clients who took their deposits back have been emailing me their queries if I would be able to take their orders again. Any time, of course! I’m all charged up to receive new orders!
It would have taken me the whole weekend to organise my cake studio to welcome my brides and grooms for consultations. I’m really looking forward to meeting them and can’t wait to discuss all the details of their dream cake design.
The time is better than ever to book your events these days! Summers are here, the sun shines bright on us (most of the time anyway) and the morale is higher than ever as we walk out of the lockdown. I must say, it’s been a tough year, but we all sure are glad to have walked out of it successfully. The vaccinations really did work, didn’t they? I remember me and my husband were a bit hesitant about getting vaccinated at first but decided to see what happens since we were the ones who had to get vaccinated in the category of over 35.
The rollout was successful with the older people and we figured if they could make it, what could go wrong with us! And it did really work out well for us too!
What are your takes on the vaccination rollout? Do you think we are actually walking out of the pandemic? Or should we be worried about new variants?
Let’s see and pray to start living a normal life like the good old days!
Ushba Adil