I feel stupid

How far in advance did you have them done and how long before the event was it? That sucks. Do you have a contract you send that says part of their order is a non refundable deposit once it’s x days before pickup/delivery to cover cases like this?

Also totally try and post these on marketplace or in some mom groups at a discounted price and someone might take them. At least you aren’t out 100% then

They are super gorgeous - it sucks so much when clients do this 😭😭 — you should put them on a local marketplace im sure they’ll be bought up like that
🫰🏻 .. even without any discount

My old boss made me burst into tears with encouragement 😭

100% understand - my entire work history is small business/freelance — like you said, now at least you know it’s not a repeat scenario 🫂

They are beautiful. I would try to post them on different local fb groups.

As a freelance you should never start work without a deposit and everything should be covered before delivery.

I know someone who also started a baking business and cancellations happened very often by the delivery date. Now she doesn't start anything unless the order is payed in full. This is how a lot of businesses operate, don't feel bad about it.

These are beautiful, post them in your nearby Mom or Free groups and if they don’t allow sales, ask fir trades 🙂