The honest answer is: earlier than you think, and much earlier than most people do.
We take this call constantly. Someone needs a cake for Saturday, it is Thursday, and the design they have saved on their phone would take two people most of a day. Sometimes we can help. Often we cannot, and nobody enjoys that conversation.
So here is how our timings actually work, so you can plan around them.
Custom cakes: at least 5 working days
For a custom cake we ask for at least 5 working days notice. That is not us being precious. A custom cake is not baked and decorated in one go — the baking, the filling, the crumb coat, the setting and the finishing all happen at different stages, and several of them have to happen on different days.
That lead time also gives us room to come back to you if something in the design will not work structurally, which is far better than discovering it the day before.
You can start a custom order on our custom cakes page.
Wedding cakes: at least two weeks, and realistically more
For weddings we ask for a minimum of two weeks. In practice, most couples come to us a good deal earlier than that, and we would encourage it.
Two weeks is the floor, not the target. A wedding cake usually involves tiers, structure, colour matching and a delivery-day plan, and it is the one cake where there is no second chance. Booking early also means you are not competing for our time with everyone else who wants the same Saturday in October.
See our wedding cakes page for what we make.
Busy periods need more notice than that
Some weeks are simply fuller than others. Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are the obvious ones, and the fortnight before Christmas is the busiest stretch of our year by a distance.
If your occasion falls near any of those, add time. If it falls on a school-holiday Saturday, add time. The rule of thumb: the more predictable the date is to everyone else, the earlier you should book.
What if you need something tomorrow?
This is where having an actual shopfront helps. We keep ready-made cakes and cheesecakes on the shelf every day we are open, decorated and ready to walk out with.
You will not get a custom design at short notice, but you can absolutely get a good cake. A Happy Birthday cake, a chocolate cake, or any of our baked or chilled cheesecakes with candles in it will do the job.
If you want it to feel personal, add a custom chocolate plaque with your own message. It takes a plain cake and makes it specific, and it is the single most useful thing we sell for last-minute occasions.
How ordering and payment work
For custom orders we take a deposit to secure your date, with the balance paid in full before the cake goes into production. That is standard for made-to-order work and it protects both of us — your slot is held, and we are not producing a bespoke cake on spec.
Ready-made cakes from the shop and the online store are simply paid for at the time.
Collection, not delivery
Worth being clear about this because it affects your planning: we are collection only. Everything is picked up from our Springwood store on the Pacific Highway. We do not deliver.
When you order online you choose your pickup date and time at the checkout, so you are not guessing and neither are we.
For a wedding, factor the collection into your day properly. Someone reliable, a flat car boot or footwell rather than a seat, air conditioning on, and no last-minute detours.
A short checklist before you call
You will get a more useful answer from us if you already know:
- The date it is needed, and roughly what time you would collect
- How many people you are feeding
- Any dietary requirements — see our gluten free and vegan range
- A photo or two if you have a design in mind
- Whether the date is fixed or has any flexibility
Talk to us
If you are unsure whether there is enough time, ring rather than assume. We would much rather tell you yes than have you not ask.
Roberto’s Cheesecakes, 3414/3416 Pacific Hwy, Springwood QLD 4127. Phone (07) 3209 2771, or use the contact page.