About this vendor
Boutique Cakes for your Big Day
Cakes by Design is a wedding bakery located in McKinney, TX. This company specializes in custom confections, tailored to the taste and aesthetics of your special day. They describe themselves as a ‘boutique bakery’, putting both style and substance at the forefront of their business practice.
Cakes by Design is owned and operated by Tabitha Ballard, who has over a decade of experience creating breathtaking cakes for special events. She is excited to collaborate with couples to craft an iconic dessert piece that reflects the vibe of their event. Tabitha and her team prioritise involving couples in each step of the cake creation process.
Cakes by Design offer a number of services, including consultations, private tastings, and detailed custom design. Some flavors you can choose from include champagne, white chocolate, and French vanilla, plus fillings like coconut, caramel, raspberry, and more. All delivery and set up is managed by the team, allowing you to enjoy your delicious dessert to the fullest.
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Cakes & Desserts
- Cake Delivery & Setup
- Cake Tastings
- Cupcakes
- Groom's Cakes
- Other Desserts
Dietary Options
- Dairy Free
- Gluten Free
- Organic
Awards and Affiliations
Pricing
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Reviews
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4.9
out of 5.059 reviews
Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Couples raved about the delicious and visually stunning cakes created by Tabitha from Cakes by Design for their weddings. Reviewers praised the diverse flavors and moist textures of the cakes alongside the meticulous attention to detail in the designs. Tabitha's professionalism, helpfulness, and responsiveness were highlighted, making working with her a delightful and stress-free experience. Guests were impressed with the taste and appearance of the cakes, with many recommending Cakes by Design for future events.Review photos
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We loved our wedding and groom's cake. The prices were reasonable, the cakes tasted great, they were beautiful and multiple guests got second slices.
Response from the Vendor on 11/04/2024
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review. It means a lot and it was an honor to be a part of your special day. Thanks again and congratulations!
We ordered a two tiered cake (one to save, another to cut into) and 120 cupcakes, 30 in 4 flavors. Flavor, cake, design, everything was DIVINE!! The cupcakes were so soft and moist and absolutely perfect. I wish I personally got a photo of the set up, but the Knot won't let me upload a photo someone sent me and I saved. 104847390/10 would order from her again. Tabitha was an absolute pleasure to work with!!
Response from the Vendor on 10/19/2024
Thanks so much for taking the time to write an awesome review. I loved making your wedding cake and cupcakes and consider it an honor to be a part of your special day. Thanks so much and congratulations! Tabitha
We booked cakes by design for our wedding. Not only was the cake extremely beautiful but it was also delicious. It’s so rare to find a wedding cake that everyone is happy with, but our guests absolutely loved it! Tabitha made the cake of our dreams!
Response from the Vendor on 09/08/2024
Thanks so much for the awesome review. It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Thanks again and congratulations!
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Tabitha, the talented baker behind our wedding cake, deserves all the praise and recognition. Her meticulous attention to detail and passion for her craft shone through in every aspect of the cake, from the intricate design to the heavenly flavors. We're endlessly grateful for Tabitha's contribution to our special day, as her creation not only delighted our taste buds but also served as a beautiful centerpiece for our celebration. Tabitha's dedication and talent truly made our wedding unforgettable, and we wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone in search of a magical cake experience.
Tabitha was fantastic to work with! She was always quick to respond and happy to help. From our initial tasting to our big day, she made everything simple and easy. Her attention to detail helped make our day so special and we cannot thank her enough! Plus, the cakes tasted amazing!! We highly recommend Cakes by Design!
Response from the Vendor on 02/11/2024
Thanks so much for the kind words! It was an honor to create your wedding cake. Thanks for trusting me to be a part of your special day! Tabitha
Tabitha was easy to work with and communicate with. Her prices were excellent as was her cake. She was accommodating in setting a time for the tasting. We also got 10 dozen cookies from her which were a big hit. She decorated the cake with live flowers provided by the florist, just as we asked. She also plated all the cookies and they looked fantastic! I can recommend her easily.
We absolutely loved our wedding cake. My wife and I live in Chicago and our wedding was in Dallas. We requested Tabitha to create a Chicago skyline on our cake and she delivered. It was a great design and everyone at our reception loved the Chicago touch. Not to mention the cake tasted fantastic! Thank you so much Tabitha!
Response from the Vendor on 11/18/2023
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a lovely review! I enjoyed making your cake and your wedding looked beautiful! Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day! Tabitha
We loved our wedding cake! Tabitha did such an amazing job - our guests were raving about how delicious it was! We chose a simple design and had our florist leave flowers to be added to the cake. Tabitha gladly assembled them in the design we wanted.
Response from the Vendor on 11/06/2023
Thanks so much for taking the time to write an awesome review. I loved making your wedding cake and consider it an honor to be a part of your special day. Thanks so much and congratulations! Tabitha
Our cake was so yummy and a hit with everyone! We barely had any cake left. I'm gluten free and the cake was amazing! It tasted fresh and was the perfect consistency which is hard to do with gluten free. She has so many options of flavors to choose from and they are all so tasty! The cake design looked exactly how we wanted as well! She did a great job.
Response from the Vendor on 11/04/2023
Thanks so much for the awesome review. It was an honor making your wedding cake and being a part of your special day! Thanks again and congratulations! Tabitha
Tabitha was fabulous. We were super sure what kind of cake we wanted for our wedding, but our cake tasting meeting with her was amazing. She helped us design the perfect cake and it was THE BEST strawberry cake we’ve ever had. I highly recommend.
Response from the Vendor on 10/23/2023
Hello, thanks so much for the wonderful feedback! It was an honor to be a part of your special day. Thanks for entrusting me with your cake! Congratulations! Tabitha
The cake was BEAUTIFUL and so DELICIOUS!!
Response from the Vendor on 06/29/2023
Thanks so much for the kind words. It was an honor to be a part of your special day. Thanks for trusting Cakes by Design for your wedding cake! Tabitha
Great cakes and experience! We met with Tabitha within a few days of finding her online and tasted a variety of cakes - all fantastic. We did a simple wedding cake and an Arkansas cake & loved the way both turned out. Super easy process and very responsive all while tasting great.
I highly recommend Cakes by Design! This cake was not only so delicious (my wedding guests made a point to tell me how good it was!) but also beautiful. Working with Tabitha was wonderful - she worked with me to figure out my favorite flavors and with the help of her expertise we came up with a really fun and unique 3-tier wedding cake with different flavors/fillings on each tier! I wanted a very simple design and it turned out just as I imagined. She was very responsive and timely and just a dream to work with. I will definitely be using Cakes by Design again for any future needs!
Response from the Vendor on 12/29/2022
Thanks so much for the glowing review! It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Thanks again and congratulations. Tabitha ❤️
Tabitha was AMAZING to work with! From the tasting, communication, and the wedding day she was superb. Every guest raved about the cake! We were told by multiple people that the cake stole the show. It also looked beautiful in person and photographed well.
We did a white cake with chocolate filling and additionally a cafe latte cake. Both were delicious and we're very excited to try out the top layer on our first anniversary.
Thank you for your hard work!!
Response from the Vendor on 12/07/2022
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave an awesome review! I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Congratulations! ❤️ Tabitha
Tabitha did a wonderful job on our cake she created for our October 8th, 2022 wedding. Since I was planning my wedding long distance, it was my mom and grandmother who met with Tabitha and chose her to make our wedding cake. When our wedding day came I was thrilled with how everything turned out, the cake was beautiful and tasted absolutely amazing. Tabitha graciously worked with my family and I to match flavors to our Mexican theme- Chocolate Cinnamon Dulce de Leche and Cafe con Leche- which complimented the rest of our menu perfectly. We're grateful to Tabitha for creating such a delicious cake for us (and my grandmother) to enjoy!
Response from the Vendor on 12/06/2022
Thank you so much for the amazing review! I love what I do and I couldn't have been happier to be apart of your special day. Thanks again and congratulations! Tabitha
Tabitha brought our vision to life with our wedding cake. But the outer appearance had NOTHING compared to the jaw dropping flavors she astonished us with. We had NO cake left over by the end of the night.
Response from the Vendor on 09/06/2022
Thank you so much for your awesome review! Im honored I got to be a part of your special day and Im glad you enjoyed everything. Thanks again and congratulations! ~Tabitha
Tabitha was extremely professional and a pleasure to work with. The cake tasting was such a fun and delicious process, in fact it was hard to choose because all her cakes were so delicious. She delivered the cake as promised and it looked and tasted even better than we hoped for. So many of our guests complimented how tasty our wedding cake was. I HIGHLY recommend Cakes by Design for anyone wanting the most beautiful and yummy cake.
Response from the Vendor on 08/01/2022
Thanks so much for the wonderful review! It was a pleasure making your wedding cake. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks again and congratulations! ❤️ Tabitha
Tabitha did a phenomenal job with our wedding cake. From the time we met her for a tasting we knew she was the one who would make our vision come to light. Not only did the cake look fantastic just like we wanted, it was absolutely delicious! Never have I ever had a cake taste so great. It was so moist and flavorful! I would highly recommend!
Response from the Vendor on 07/14/2022
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to write a review! I love hearing back from my brides! Thanks so much for letting me be a part of your special day! Congratulations! Tabitha
Absolutely amazing!!! Tabitha was so kind and professional from our initial cake testing meeting to wedding day! I originally met her for a tasting with my mom and we LOVED her cakes! But I hesitated to book her before my husband tried it too. Tabitha went above and beyond and baked free cupcakes just for my husband to try the following week! This meant so much to me and did not go unnoticed! Her prices are super fair and her cakes look AMAZING! Both cakes she baked were completely eaten on my wedding day and our guests raved about how good they were! So thankful to have found Tabitha through the Knot! I would recommend her to anyone!
Response from the Vendor on 07/14/2022
Thanks so much for the awesome review! Your cakes were so fun to make and Im honored that I got to be a part of your special day! Thanks again and congratulations! Tabitha
Tabitha created a delicious wedding cake May 28, 2022 and it was absolutely delicious along with beautiful!! Everyone raved about the flavor of the cake and how beautifully elegant it was!! I highly recommend her Cakes!!
Response from the Vendor on 07/14/2022
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to write a review! I love hearing back from my brides! Thanks so much for letting me be a part of your special day! Congratulations! Tabitha
Love Tabitha’s customer service and professionalism enjoyed working with her booking our cakes!
Response from the Vendor on 02/18/2022
It was a pleasure meeting you and I cant wait to make your wedding cakes!
So glad to have found you!! The tasting was amazing! And I was so excited to realize I was getting whole cupcakes instead of slivers; made it much better to truly taste the flavors. The cake and cupcakes made were beautiful!
Response from the Vendor on 10/24/2021
Thanks so much for the kind words! I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Thanks again. ❤️
Tabitha was absolutely amazing! Very kind and easy to work with. Our cake was amazing! It stayed moist and delicious even after sitting out all day. Our guests loved it!
Response from the Vendor on 10/20/2021
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave an awesome review! I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Congratulations!
Tabitha made ordering our cakes quick and easy. She was easy to work with and her cakes are absolutely delicious!
Response from the Vendor on 10/20/2021
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave a glowing review! I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Congratulations! Tabitha
We were very satisfied with the wedding cake and groom cake provided for my daughter's wedding. The tasting was absolutely delicious, and it was difficult choosing the flavors as all were so tasty.
My daughter had a very small wedding during the pandemic and Tabitha provided an absolutely delicious cake then.
Last week was the reception, and many people went back for seconds! The cake was so moist and flavorful.
Thank you Tabitha, we couldn't be happier!
Response from the Vendor on 10/20/2021
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave an awesome review! I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. It was an honor to be a part of her special day! Thanks again!
This is hands down the most amazing cake we have ever had. So much so, in fact, that we ordered another 6in cake from her in each of our three flavors shortly after getting back from our honeymoon. We could not have asked for a better cake experience for our taste buds. Tabitha was easy to coordinate with, priced well, and incredibly gracious to let us place a second order so quickly after we got back. I will never recommend another cake vendor, regardless of location or event. Pardon the pun, but she really is a slice above the rest.
Response from the Vendor on 10/20/2021
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave an awesome review! I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Congratulations!
We just had our wedding and Tabitha made us a four-tiered cake with all kinds of delicious flavor combos (one per tier). It was seriously so beautiful and our guests loved eating it. The price was the best around and she used an inspiration picture we shared with her and executed the design wonderfully. We don’t have all our photos yet but in including a couple that show what a great job Cakes by Design did.
Tabitha is AMAZING! We had a wedding cake, gluten free cake, and a bunch of other goodies and thanks to her, the dessert table was empty by the end of the night! Our cake was so beautiful and delicious. She took my vision and somehow made it even more wonderful.
Response from the Vendor on 03/21/2021
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave an awesome review! I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Congratulations!
After our initial appointment, in which we specifically stated our wedding theme (art deco) I sent over some pictures to make sure Tabitha knew what I was expecting. She also proceeded to charge me a fee because she said my cake would need to be a fondant cake with edible glitter and rhinestones. After paying her +$500 for this cake, what I got was a buttercream cake with sugar sprinkles on it. Not at all what she said I was to receive on the wedding date. Obviously I was upset and annoyed, because that wasn’t the cake I paid for. The money wasn’t an issue, the issue was the over charging and the under delivery of her services. I did get a refund after I reached out for the up charge of $150 for the fondant that she decided not to add to my cake. If you’re looking for a simple cake this might be the vendor for you. BUT if you want a professional fondant cake, look else where or you might be left disappointed.
Tabitha's work was flawless and PERFECT! I had the most amazing surprise when I saw the cake in my reception. It was everything I wanted and more. The taste was delicious. I would recommend her services to anyone. Thank you for your hard work! I loved the en result! her prices are fair and affordable as well. You won't be sorry if you book her.
Response from the Vendor on 01/02/2021
Thank you so much for the sweet review. I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day! Congratulations! Tabitha
Tabitha has one of the largest flavor selections and allowed us to truly customize our cakes to fit us perfectly. When we decided to go a little smaller because of the pandemic, she worked with us to make the perfect recommendation of how much cake we needed. Her delivery and set up was perfect. And the cake was SO delicious.
Response from the Vendor on 11/23/2020
Thanks so much for the glowing review! It was an honor to be a part of your special day! Thanks again and congratulations. Tabitha ❤️
Tabitha made the bride’s and groom’s cakes for my wedding. Not only were they delicious (or at least the two bites I actually got to taste in the whirl of the reception), but they were absolutely beautiful and turned out exactly like we had imagined. The groom’s cake was especially impressive, she was able to make a spitting image of the Aggie Barn (whoop!). We got so many compliments from friends and family about how well they turned out. Tabitha offers really great quality, gorgeous cakes for a very reasonable price and I would 100% recommend her for all your cake-related needs!
Tabitha did an amazing job with our wedding cake! We got so many compliments on how tasty it was, and it was absolutely gorgeous. She was very professional and responsive, so easy to work with. I would definitely recommend!
Our wedding cake was beautiful. She combined a couple different aspects of cakes I liked and made exactly what I had envisioned. It was delicious! I highly recommend the champagne flavor! Her prices can't be beat. She was on time and accommodating. Highly recommend!
Loved our wedding cakes! They were not only gorgeous but delicious! Thank you Tabitha!
Tabitha’s cakes are delicious and at a price point that other bakeries can’t beat! We adored how our wedding cake turned out and we couldn’t get enough of it. Thank you!
Response from the Vendor on 11/10/2019
Aww thank you so much for the sweet review and for taking the time out of your day to write one! I’m so glad that I got to make your cake! Thanks so much and congratulations! ❤️
We loved our Wedding Cake and my Husband loved his grooms cake. We both had designs in mind and Tabitha exceeded our exceptions. Also, the cake was absolutely amazing! You should definitely go with Cakes By Design for your big day!
Response from the Vendor on 10/24/2019
Thank you so much for taking the time to write a great review! I’m honored that I got to be a part of your special day! Thanks so much and congratulations! ❤️
Tabitha is amazing, her cakes are delicious and her prices are unbeatable. I’m already looking forward to booking her for our next big event!
Cakes by Design did an amazing job with our wedding cake! Cake tasted so good that we did not have any leftover! I told Tabitha I would have the cake topper and flowers at the table and to just surprise me on the decor. She did such a great job! I was super pleased and love it! Totally recommend her to everyone, plus her prices are great!!! :)
Tabitha was amazing to work with and sure knows how to bake! A lot of wedding cakes can get really dry, but our cake was delicious! We had multiple people compliment our cake and let us know how pretty and delicious it was. We had 4 tiers and Tabitha let us pick a different flavor and filling for each tier. We will be going back to Tabitha for other events because she is so talented! Bonus, she is also very reasonably priced!
Response from the Vendor on 04/04/2019
Thank you so much for the awesome review! I loved making your wedding cake. Congratulations and thanks for letting me be a part of your special day! Tabitha
Tabitha did my baby shower cake over a year ago, and it was absolutely amazing! Ever since I’ve been engaged I knew exactly how I wanted my wedding cake to look, I went online and found a picture of my dream cake. I knew I wanted Tabitha to do my wedding cake because of how impressed I was with her talent in the past, and she was able to copy that picture exactly, with the modifications my fiancé and I agreed upon. The presentation was gorgeous! It tasted so amazing we got multiple compliments from our wedding guests during our reception. She’s so easy to work with and she is so incredibly sweet and patient. I definitely recommend her and will continue to use her for various occasions.
Response from the Vendor on 03/22/2019
Thanks so much for the kind words and for letting me be a part of your special day. I loved making your wedding cake! Congratulations! Tabitha
Tabitha really did a great job! We wanted to have vegan cake for our wedding because we like to reduce the amount of dairy we use, and we also have friends with allergies to dairy and eggs. Tabitha makes a wonderful vegan cake, we had princess cake and Italian cream cake. they were just ever so slightly on the dry side, but certainly still very delicious! she was very timely and professional. Thanks Tabitha!
Response from the Vendor on 02/20/2019
Thanks so much for the kind words! And for letting me be apart of your special day! Congratulations, Tabitha
I hired this cake artist for my wedding and I asked for cupcakes, and the were DELICIOUS! People were complimenting us on how delicious they were all night. I couldn’t have been happier.
Response from the Vendor on 12/30/2018
Thanks so much for the kind words and for letting me be a part of your special day! I’m so glad you enjoyed everything. Thanks again and congratulations! Tabitha
Tabitha is amazing to work with. She's responsive, and genuinely loves baking cakes. She is not trying to rip you off like most wedding vendors, but is just trying to deliver a quality product that you will love. The cake was so delicious too, and she even made my top tier gluten-free (and it was so delicious!). I HIGHLY recommend Cakes by Design!!
She was so sweet when we met up with her! But after that was a total mess. Let me begin by saying, our cake tasted horrible. It was DRY, had no flavoring, the frosting was like concrete. When we had our tasting, the cake was amazing. Perfect filling, she put up with my busy schedule and was able to meet us. Afterwards, I purchased cupcakes of the flavors that we chose so that i could share with our familes, and those were indicative of what our cake was going to be. I talked to her about it, and she reassured me the cake would be fine. Blah blah blah. Im still disappointed. And you do get what you pay for.
Tabitha did an amazing job on my bridal and grooms cake! I couldn’t be happier. The cakes tasted and looked great. She was very responsive and flexible with any changes needed. I highly recommend her!
Our wedding cake was beautiful and perfect! The design was exactly the way we wanted, we picked 4 different flavors and received a ton of compliments on how delicious this cake was it was definitely a hit! We had guests come back for seconds! We have already recommended Tabitha to other friends getting married and will definitely use her again!
Tabitha is very easy to work with, and our cakes looked stunning and tasted great! I would highly recommend her to anyone!
Cakes by Design is the way to go!!! When I met with her for my cake tasting I knew I had to go with her. Affordable and beyond delicious. Tabitha was so great. She even baked my cupcakes for my bridal shower! Everyone loved my cake at the wedding this past weekend and best part was that it was vegan and when I told them they loved the cake even more
Tabitha was incredibly friendly, professional, super easy to work with, and very affordable. My wedding cake turned out amazing! My guests raved about how delicious it was. I highly recommend her - don't even bother looking for someone else!
Tabitha's cake was beautiful, very tasty. She did exactly what we order and the price is awesome our guest love each and every flavor of the layers. I will definitely order again from her and strongly recommend her. Thank you Tabitha!
Tabitha is amazing! Quick at responding and very accommodating! Our cake was more beautiful than we ever imagined and DELICIOUS! Thank you for helping make our day so special!
Tabitha did a great job with our wedding cake. Her prices were super affordable and she did a great job of making sure the cake was exactly what we wanted. Not to mention it tasted delicious! Perfect for a bride on a budget without sacrificing taste or style!
Best wedding cake I've ever tasted! Tabitha created exactly what I pictured (2 tier, square, with texture in the icing and wrapped with burlap and twine). We chose almond cake with raspberry fruit filling for the bottom tier and orange chiffon cake with orange liqueur filling for the top and I still can't decide which was my favorite. Communication was wonderful and delivery went off without a hitch. I will definitely use her for any future special occasion cakes.
Our guests are still raving about the delicious cakes at our wedding!! Thanks Tabitha!
I loved using Tabatha as she was so easy to deal with and everything went off almost perfectly. 2 things she messed up on was not putting glitter on the cake I requested and my fiance's cake was nothing like what we had talked about, which he was a little upset about. Still nothing that compared to how the champange cake tasted. OUT OF THIS WORLD. Can't wait till my first anniversary.
Tabitha Ballard, which I found on the knots dfw local board somehow, is a bad mamma jamma! That girl really has an eye for cake design! All I did was show her a picture of the type of cake I wanted (which was not on her website) and she was able to duplicate it with no hesitation. It was absolutely gorgeous…and delicious! She had the best pricing with more options for what we had. Highly recommend her!
Tabitha's cakes were lovely and delicious. We had a 3-tiered wedding cake with different flavors in each layer as well as a groom's cake. I got to taste all of the flavors except one, and they all tasted great. Several people mentioned to me that the cake tasted moist and homemade. She also worked with me to make sure a cake topper that I made for the groom's cake would fit and be sturdy on top of the cake. Overall, we were very happy with our cakes and they were a great value for the price we paid. My only criticism would be with the website....it needs an update!
She had awesome prices--the cheapest we found--and let us choose a different flavor for each layer. The cakes were delicious. Our only disappointment is that she couldn't do the fondant ribbon we asked for and used real ribbon instead. She is new to the business, but a very good value.
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Tabitha Ballard
Owner
Owner and cake artist Tabitha Ballard, trained at the Art Institute of Dallas and graduated with a culinary arts degree. Cakes by Design has over 13 years of experience in cake design. She has won multiple awards for taste and decoration including first place and best of show at That Takes a Cake Show 2016! Also, check out our awesome reviews on wedding wire, the knot and yelp!
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