A supermarket cake decorator shares 3 things she wants customers to know before ordering

• Heather Krumm is a cake designer at Hy-Vee supermarket in Iowa.
• She shared the three things she wants customers to know before ordering their own custom cakes.

Heather Krumm has been dazzling followers with her cake decorating videos on TikTok and Instagram for nearly two years.

The 29-year-old Iowa native works as a cake designer at a local Hy-Vee, a Midwestern supermarket chain with nearly 300 locations across eight states, according to a company representative.

Supermarket sheet cakes are affordable, accessible, and consistent, Krumm told Insider in an interview, which is why she thinks they've become such an important part of celebrations.

Krumm has been a professional cake decorator for 11 years, and she's dealt with everything from super-specific custom orders to ready-to-buy sheet cakes while on the job. Here are three things she says would be helpful for customers all over the country to know before going to pick up a sheet cake from their local supermarket bakery.

Place your order as soon as possible

When customers come in asking how far in advance they should place cake orders, Krumm always tells them the same thing: the sooner, the better.

"A lot of the times, we're able to squeeze in last-minute orders, and we're always happy to do that," she told Insider. "But sometimes, just for us mentally, it's nice to know how many orders we're going into for the day so we can give them all the best product."

Bring inspiration photos if you can

Krumm said that having a clear idea for your cake is great, but it's even better to show up with visuals depicting that vision. "That way, we're all on the same page," she said.

So if you've been gathering inspiration photos on social media, be sure to take them with you to the bakery and share them with your cake decorator.

Familiarize yourself with the work of your cake artist

When a customer has high hopes for life-like images and characters on their cake, Krumm has to tell them she may not be best for the job — and that may set people back who are ordering last-minute.

Krumm said that sometimes customers come to her with ideas that aren't her usual cake style and that she says she's not great at executing — her style is more "cartoonish" with bright colors. When that happens, she says, "Oh, I can give it a shot, but maybe there's somebody else that could do this better for you."

If you're looking to do the research, you can start by talking to the artist themselves and asking what they're comfortable with.