After reading the reviews on this site and the Ghiselani (Gigi) Designer Wedding Cakes site, I was excited to go with this baker. I spoke to her two times on the phone previous to the wedding and she was full of statements of how wonderful eve...rything would be with the cake.
However, this is a cautionary tale of why I should have insisted on a contract for a wedding cake (which unfortunately I didn't know I should get). I have much of this documented in emails to her company, photos and phone records. So here’s what happened:
--Cake was supposed to arrive at 9:00 am per the many emails sent. I called at 8:50 am that morning and she told me an employee had a car accident. Really? Then why wouldn’t you call your brides and warn them? I’m having a hard time believing it was true. I think it was more likely she wasn’t done with my cake. She tried to wheel and deal with me as to how late should could bring my cake. Understandably, I was upset and became more so as she was trying to get the biggest delay possible. Finally, I said, “Are you telling me I’m going to get my cake in the afternoon?!” She replied, “Don’t put words into my mouth…” I then insisted the cake come as soon as possible as she was going to make us late getting to our own wedding. She mentioned an hour, then an hour and a half, and finally I agreed to wait until 11:00 am for the cake. No cake at 11:00 am, 11: 30 am, 12:00 pm. I tried to call her after 11:00 am and she wasn't picking up. Then I had a girlfriend call from another cell phone to get a hold of her which she was able to do. And the cake did arrive in the afternoon…almost 12:30.
--Talking to her on the phone a few months earlier, she tried to upsell me to a 3rd tier (I told her this was a destination wedding with 30 people, so I asked for a bottom tier of 10”x10” and a top teir of 8”x8”). We had so much cake left over we had to throw half of it away after a week.
--She asked for details and example photos of the cake and but didn’t honor my repeated email requests for a cake completely covered in scrollwork (like some on her own site). And she didn’t pay attention to the photos or to the memo where she wrote “full of piping scrolls work all over”. The cake decoration was okay, but not the coverage that I asked for, and not a following the website’s slogan “We’ll make your dream cake a reality.”
--The bottom tier frosting was supposed to be Amaretto-flavor, it tasted orangey
--The candy pearls were literally as hard as rocks. My young niece pointed out guests were removing them from the frosting.
--I sent my condo room # in an email 2 days before the wedding and you have to send her a full address, not to mention that in many emails to her my full hotel name was listed. On the day of, it seems she didn’t take note of where we were located because she couldn’t find our hotel, and had to call for directions. She also didn’t deliver to our door, my husband had to get it from her in the lobby.
--Cake was $385, I would have paid double for good service.
--I'm not a bridezilla; all my other vendors (hair, photos, musicians, officiant, reception) were amazing!
So that’s my experience with Ghiselani Designer Wedding Cakes--my hairdresser, friends, husband, emails and phone calls as my witness. If you still want to work with her, have legal recourse and get a contract!