Wedding cake tastings are $50-$150 per bakery with no industry-standard portion guide

Bakeries charge $50-$150 for wedding cake tastings that provide 4-6 bite-sized samples, then quote final cakes using wildly inconsistent per-serving calculations — one bakery defines a "serving" as a 1"x2" sliver while another uses a 2"x2" piece, making price comparison across bakeries mathematically impossible. A couple visiting 3-4 bakeries spends $300-$600 on tastings alone before even ordering. This is frustrating because no other food service charges customers to sample before purchasing, and the lack of standardized serving sizes means couples routinely order 30% too much cake that gets thrown away. The practice persists because custom cake bakeries face real labor costs in tastings, but the inconsistent sizing is deliberate — it obscures the true per-slice price and makes the cheapest quote often the most expensive cake.