Terms & Conditions

Please take a few minutes to read through the terms and conditions, as these form the basis of the contract between us. Further information can be provided to clarify any details upon request. These terms and conditions do not in any way affect your statutory rights as a consumer.

‘TMTC’ means The Mouse & The Cake.

‘You’ means the ‘clients’ – and can refer to either or both parties in the couple.

The term ‘clients’ applies to both of the clients jointly and individually.  Each client is solely and jointly responsible for all the obligations set out in this agreement.

These terms and conditions form part of your contract, alongside your Order Form for the following wedding: 

Payment of your booking fee constitutes acceptance of the following Terms & Conditions:

1. ORDER PROCESS
   1.1 All orders are subject to acceptance and availability.
   1.2 It is your responsibility to provide me with a valid email address and telephone number so that I can contact you if necessary.
   1.3 You shall be responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the details provided by you during the order process. An Order Form will be sent to you once design details have been confirmed, and this will be resent with your final invoice ten weeks prior to your wedding, for you to confirm that details remain the same.
   1.4 Once your booking fee has been paid, I will provide you a receipt to confirm this, as well as an Order Form once details have been confirmed.
2. PAYMENT POLICY
   2.1 Payments are currently taken in cash, or bank transfer.
   2.2 Upon placing an order, you agree to secure your order with a non-refundable and non-transferable booking fee of £100 – unless agreed otherwise. Orders are not deemed confirmed, and dates are not reserved until this payment is received.
   2.3 The booking fee is taken to cover for initial work undertaken on the design of your cake and administration. It also holds your date and will mean that TMTC restricts other orders for the same day. By turning down or not advertising for further work, a cancellation by you will mean a likely loss in profit from alternative orders for me.
   2.4 Payment of the final balance is due a minimum of eight (8) weeks prior to the wedding date to allow for preparatory work to take place and supplies to be ordered. I will produce your cakes to the specification as per the Order Form which I will resend with your final invoice, ten (10) weeks before your wedding date. Please double check that it is detailed as you require. By paying your final invoice, you are confirming that what is detailed on the Booking Form is correct.
   2.5 Failure to complete payment of the final balance by the due date on the invoice will result in the cancellation of your order and the booking fee will not be refunded or transferred.
3. DELIVERY OF YOUR CAKE
   3.1 Kindly provide details of your wedding planner or the wedding coordinator at your venue and TMTC will happily liaise directly with them regarding time to set up and other arrangements.
   3.2 Delivery will usually take place in the morning, between 9am-12noon, unless agreed in advance. An additional fee will be chargeable if later delivery is required.
   3.3 The Order Form will stipulate the address and time for delivery. Amendments to the delivery address or time may be permitted at the sole discretion of TMTC and may incur additional delivery charges to cover for time and fuel, but in the case that TMTC cannot deliver to the new venue, due to distance or other reason, section 4.4 and 5.3 below applies.
   3.4 You will become the owner of the goods you ordered and responsible for the risk of loss or damage to them once they have been delivered to the delivery address or collected from TMTC.
   3.5 When setting up the cake and attaching externally purchased flowers or other decorations, TMTC reserves to right to leave any of these items off, or arrange them in a different way, if there is any doubt about the safety or security of said items.
4. CHANGES TO YOUR ORDER
   4.1 TMTC understands that sometimes situations occur which can result in you wishing to change your order. Please contact me as early as possible before the order is due to ensure any changes can be implemented, at least 4 weeks’ notice is required for any changes – and please note agreement to any such changes are at the sole discretion of TMTC. Please be aware changes may incur additional costs, in line with additional work required for administration as well as additional materials and time required for the design change. A full quote will be given for proposed amendments before they are agreed upon.
   4.2 If you wish to reduce the value of your order, a fee may be applicable depending on how much notice is given, and how much work has already been carried out. Please refer to 4.3 below for further detail.
   4.3 A reduction in the value of the order of 25% or more, or below a total value of £300 will be considered a cancellation by you, unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing by TMTC. The workload is considered when other orders are taken and turned away and therefore large reductions in the order will have an effect on the income of TMTC. Please refer to section 5.
   4.4 This contract is based upon the agreed place of delivery (the “venue”) of your wedding cake as per the heading on the top of this document. If this changes, you must contact TMTC immediately to discuss whether we can accommodate the change. If not, this will be deemed a cancellation by you and section 5.3 applies.
   4.5 This contract is based upon the agreed date of delivery of your wedding cake as per the heading on the top of this document (“Wedding Date”). A change to the date will be treated as a cancellation by you as per section 5.3 below, unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing by TMTC. The booking fee is non-transferable.
5. CANCELLATION POLICY
   You are strongly advised to take out adequate wedding insurance to cover you in the event of cancellations.
   5.1 You have the right to cancel the contract at any time up to eight (8) weeks before the date your order is due for delivery.
   5.2 To exercise your right of cancellation you must give written notice to TMTC giving details of the goods ordered you may do this by email to: hello@themouseandthecake.com
   5.3 Cancellation by the customer: If the order is cancelled, your booking fee is non-refundable and non-transferable. There will be no refund or transfer of the booking fee, and any and all expenses already incurred on behalf of the finished product above this value will be invoiced. If the order is cancelled within eight (8) weeks of the date of the wedding, the remaining full balance will be due to be paid to TMTC. This is because at such short notice, due to the nature of weddings, it is unlikely that TMTC would be able to secure another order for the same day. This would result in a significant loss of income for TMTC through no fault of their own.
   5.3.1 If ingredients/supplies specific to this order have not yet been purchased, or they can be used for another order, the cost of these would be deducted from the final balance and refunded to the customer in the event of a cancellation which occurs once said final balance has been paid.
   5.3.2 If a delivery charge has been paid as part of the final balance, or in addition to your non-refundable booking fee, this will be refunded to you. However, if further funds are due this payment will be offset against what is owed to TMTC.
   5.4 Cancellation by TMTC: In the event of exceptional circumstances, such as serious illness, TMTC will give as much notice as possible if we are unable to fulfil your order. We will endeavour to find an alternative baker who can produce your order to an equal standard and will refund you all monies already paid, including the booking fee. However, this cannot be guaranteed. TMTC’s liability will be limited to the full cost of purchase, and we will not accept responsibility for any consequential loss.
   5.5 COVID-specific policy: if the wedding cannot be held as a result of government restrictions, we would work with you to move to a new date (see 6.2 below for details). If a new date is not required, TMTC will refund all monies received, less costs incurred by us in terms of purchases as well as time spent on preparation work, including, but not limited to; tasters, design, and planning administration.
6. POSTPONEMENT POLICY
   6.1  For the avoidance of all doubt, if your wedding is postponed voluntarily (i.e. it could legally go ahead on the date specified in this contract), this will be treated as a cancellation. TMTC will be happy to discuss the possibility of rebooking for a new date should this be possible, and if so, a new contract would be issued, along with a new booking fee invoice.
   6.2 COVID-specific policy: if the wedding cannot be held as a result of government restrictions, 6.1 above will be subject to a one-time revision. If the date change can be accommodated by TMTC and is within 12 months of the original date, we will transfer the booking fee/balance paid to the new date with no charge. This will only be an option once. If the new, postponed date subsequently falls under the same restrictions, TMTC will be under no obligation to transfer monies paid with no additional charge: instead, TMTC will refund all monies received, less costs incurred by us in terms of purchases as well as time spent on preparation work, including, but not limited to: tasters, design, and planning administration.
   Should you choose a new date beyond 12 months from the original date, or for which TMTC is not available, TMTC will refund all monies received, less costs incurred by us in terms of purchases as well as time spent on preparation work, including, but not limited to: tasters, design, and planning administration.

7. COLOURS AND DESIGN
   7.1 Should you have any swatches of ribbon or material this can be helpful to TMTC in creating the colour theme of your choice. However, please note that due to the fact we are working with many different materials, an exact match cannot be guaranteed. This also applies to food colourings and icings.
   7.2 TMTC can only create your finished order from what we interpret from the wording of your order form; therefore it is vital that you check everything is correct. It may not be possible to create exact specifications when modelling food; however, we will work with you, often using sketches to ensure you are happy with the design.
   7.3 The design copyright is the property of TMTC, and the customer does not have a claim on the design. The Mouse and The Cake reserves the right to use images of the design for promotional purposes following the event.
8. NON-EDIBLES
   8.1 A list of non-edibles (such as supporting dowels, floral wire etc) will be provided to the venue. It is your responsibility to ask the venue to provide this to you and ensure these are not served to your guests.

9 FRESH FLOWER POLICY
9.1 Should fresh flowers be provided by your florist, to decorate the cake, the responsibility of the flowers’ safety, quality, freshness, and colour will rest with the florist and not with TMTC. It is your responsibility to communicate with your florist to ensure they are not providing toxic flowers to TMTC. If the florist or any other supplier adds anything to the cake after I have left it set up, responsibility for any resulting damage or harm will not rest with TMTC.

10 FOOD ALLERGY DISCLAIMER
10.1 The Mouse & The Cake is NOT an allergy-free kitchen. It cannot be guaranteed that products are free from ingredients that may affect those with food allergies, however, all efforts are made to minimise this risk where requested. At TMTC we recognise the seriousness of food allergies and recommend that you inform us of any food allergies that you or your party may have before you place an order. TMTC will not assume any liability for adverse reactions to our products.
The following ingredients are used in our kitchen:
• Milk and other dairy products
• Eggs
• Nuts: peanuts, pistachios, pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews, coconut
• Wheat & gluten
• Sulphites (from dried fruit)
Please note that some food colourings may have an effect on behaviour in children.
10.2 TMTC will discuss any dietary requirements, allergies, and intolerances with you at the time you place your order or during your consultation. It is your obligation to inform TMTC of any such special requirements.

11. HIRING OF EQUIPMENT
    11.1 TMTC requires a refundable deposit (“the hire deposit”) for the hire of cakes stands and equipment. The hire deposit will normally be [£75.00] but if TMTC requires a different amount this will be discussed with you at the time you place your order. This is in addition to the agreed hire fee.
    11.2 The hire deposit will be held for a period of time discussed with you when placing your order.
    11.3 All information regarding the hire deposit will be stated on the order form including the return date.
    11.4 The hire deposit will be refunded in full when the item(s) / equipment is returned in the condition it was hired out, and within the stipulated time period.
    11.5 If the item(s) / equipment hired out is lost, returned damaged, or returned late by you TMTC will retain the full deposit for the item/items.
    11.6 For the avoidance of doubt you will become responsible for any hired equipment once that equipment has been delivered to the required address.
12. IMAGES
    12.1 Photographs of your cake will be taken by TMTC and used for social media/marketing purposes. These images remain the property of TMTC.
    12.2 Should you kindly share any photos of your day with us, we will of course ask your permission before sharing these further, and that of the photographer who took the images.
13. COMPLAINTS
    13.1 If for any reason you are unhappy with your cake, TMTC request that you return the tier(s) for inspection within 48 hours of your event.
    13.2 If a refund is deemed appropriate this will be to the value of the affected tier(s). In any event, TMTC’s liability will be limited to the full cost of purchase, and we will not accept responsibility for any consequential loss.