How we chose
We began with the bakery counters, cake shops and dessert parlours a Telford search surfaces. Hygiene entries were checked on the Food Standards Agency register, which lists every assessed firm with its rating and inspection date [1] [7]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Seven firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score, then the hygiene record, then trading history and cover, with pricing clarity and website detail counting next. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the baker to the job first. A celebration cake shop designs to order for birthdays and anniversaries, a wedding specialist adds tastings, consultations and venue delivery, a bakery counter sells daily bakes over the shop counter, and a dessert parlour serves puddings to eat in or have delivered. Say the occasion, the date, the servings you need, any dietary requirements and where the cake will be eaten when you first enquire, so that each reply quotes the same brief. A photo of a cake you like is worth a paragraph of description, so attach one where you can.
Check the hygiene record first. Every food business must register with its local council, and that covers home bakers and online-only sellers as well as high-street shops [2]. Type the business name and street into the Food Standards Agency search and read the rating and inspection date that comes back [1]. A sticker in the window is nice to see, but the register entry is the check that counts.
Get allergens in writing. Food businesses must give allergen information, and anything packed before it is sold, such as a boxed celebration cake, must carry a full ingredients label with allergens emphasised under the rules known as Natasha's Law [3] [4]. If anyone at the party has an egg, milk, gluten or nut allergy, say so in your first message and ask for the allergen detail alongside your order confirmation.
Ask what the quote covers. A proper cake quote names the size and servings, the flavours and fillings, the design with a sketch or reference photo, the price with deposit and balance dates, the collection slot or the delivery and set-up fee, and what happens if you cancel or move the date. For weddings, ask whether a tasting and a design consultation are included or charged separately, how many guests the tasting covers, and by what date the final design must be signed off, and keep the answers on the same written quote.
Compare two or three quotes on the same written brief, and treat an outlier as a question rather than a bargain: far above the rest may mean hand-made sugar work priced honestly, while far below may mean a smaller cake or a quieter design. Pay nothing until the design, price and date sit in one written order, and keep every message, photo and receipt together in one place. A deposit against that order is normal for bespoke work; the balance should fall due on collection or delivery, not weeks before.
At collection, check the cake against the order before you leave: the message spelling, the colours, the size and the box it travels in. For a delivered wedding cake, agree who sets it up and when, and keep the order confirmation and the itemised receipt with your event paperwork. If the cake arrives wrong or never arrives, Citizens Advice sets out your options for putting a purchase right [5].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford ranges run like this: a chain celebration cake from £23.99 at published shelf prices; a single-tier custom or party cake around £80–£200; a two-tier wedding cake around £150–£350; and a three-tier wedding cake, the most common choice, around £300–£600 [6]. Midlands three-tier averages sit around £300–£500, below London and the South East [6].
Tiers and servings move the price most, since each extra tier adds cake, filling, structure and boxes [6]. Decoration comes next: smooth buttercream costs least, fondant more, and hand-made sugar flowers most, adding tens of pounds per tier [6]. Specialist flavours, fresh-flower dressing, delivery miles and venue set-up all add their share.
Ask whether the figure includes VAT and delivery, since one quote bundles both and the next adds them on top. A headline price that looks like a bargain can stop looking that way once delivery, set-up and a tasting fee join in. Get the deposit, the balance date and the cancellation terms named before you pay anything.
Get the scope in writing before anyone preheats an oven: the exact design with a photo or sketch, the servings, the flavours, the collection or delivery time, and what changes the price if you alter the design late. Agree who carries the cake into the venue and who pays if it is damaged on the way. Keep the quote, the order confirmation and the receipt together.
Red flags
Takes a wedding order with no written confirmation of the design, servings, price and collection date.
Cannot be found on the food hygiene register when you search the business name and street [1].
Promises an egg-free, gluten-free or nut-free cake but puts nothing about allergens in writing [3].
Quotes a custom cake without asking the servings, the design or the date.
Asks for the full balance in cash long before the event, with no receipt and no cancellation terms.
Shows only stock photos and nothing it baked itself when you ask to see past cakes.
Goes quiet after the deposit, missing agreed replies on the design proof or delivery time.
The bottom line
For most people, start with Cake Box Telford: an egg-free celebration cake at a published price, ordered online and collected within the hour from a shop with the top hygiene mark. It removes the usual unknowns of ordering a custom cake in a single visit.
Match the occasion to the counter: Lynn's Bakery for a neighbourhood cake collected in Donnington, Eggless Cakeshop for an egg-free wedding cake, Masovia for Polish bakes in Wellington, and the Southwater dessert parlours for pudding nights. Then send every baker the same written brief and compare what comes back.
Give each reply the same tests: a named price, a collection or delivery time, and written allergen detail. The firm that answers all three cleanly is the one to book.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.