Hello Everyone,

I want to first say that this website is very informative. I have learned alot from everything that I have read.

I am planning my wedding for June 3, 2005 & have found that bakeries charge ALOT for wedding cakes & as alot of people know..weddings are on a budget. Ours is on a site budget as we are paying for alot of it ourselves.

I am a very creative person & I am looking to make my wedding cake myself. I have never made a cake like this before. I am looking at the fondant frosting as it seems to be simple & it looks so nice & smooth. We are doing a Red Rose Theme for our wedding so the decorating would be easy as I can use silk red rose as I have made alot of the flowers for the wedding also.

I am just curious how difficult it is going to be to do the cake. Also, doesn't the frosting harden...I am wondering how that would be for the wedding cake. Will it be hard to cut through the cake. Yes, I want the cake to look nice but I also want people to be able to eat it also.

When is it recommended to make the cakes & do the frosting. The day before or a few days before???

Like stated before...this would be the very first cake like this for me so I have alot of questions & I don't want to make a mistake as I will have alot of people looking at this cake at my wedding reception or should I not try to do this with the first cake that I make.

Any advise to the questions that I listed or any other information would be great.

Theresa

I dont have any ideas to help you congrats on the wedding and good luck.

I think you should sign up for the Wilton decorating classes. There are 3. After finishing them you will have more of an idea what you think you can do.

Course 3 deals with fondant. If you are not looking at making any flowers you could skip course 2.

You can learn a lot from this site, everyone is very helpful. The good news is that you have some time before the big day. You can practice between now and then, coming up with a design that you love and that you can do.

I made my wedding cake too, but I had decided to make a fake one because I knew that I wouldn't have the time to make it the week of our wedding. Now that I know morw about making cakes I might have made a real one, but then it was just too overwhelming (I had fireworks on it and... wow!! alot of work. ) I digress, Im sorry. Depending on how many tiers you have it might not be too difficult.
I have used the rolled buttercream recipe from this site and I thought it was awesome. I have yet to try the marshmallow fondant, though. I had made a couple of cake with the rolled buttercream about 2-3 days in advance and kept them in the fridge and it didn't harden up at all.
I really hope this helps.....

Teresa
I made my own wedding cake 5 years ago long before i made cakes for others. I used silk flowers too as I had no idea how to make flowers. Maybe consider buying an undecorated cake and decorating it yourself. I bought my cake from a wholesaler and decorated it, it was easier than having to bake. I bake all my cakes from scratch now, but i've had a lot more experience with wedding cakes since then : )
Fondant should be fine and will look very nice on your cake.
FondX is a really good fondant to work with. I have recently started using it, i don't make any fondants myself as im too lazy : ) and the fondants in Australia taste much better than the wilton fondant, that tastes like wax.
anyway all the best
Nati

Theresa
I think you should make a practise cake as you have the time till your wedding. Yes, fondant will be easy to handle and the cake will look nice and smooth just the way you want it. As for when you should bake and decorate the cake, i will leave it for the more experienced to answer this question. Congratulations and good luck.

First answer ... DON'T DO IT!!!! That'a LOT of extra stress right before your wedding that you don't need!

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Post a thread here and see if anyone lives in your area and find out their pricing ... many of us who work from our homes charge way too little for our cakes. Also, I'm sure most anyone here would work with you to help keep the costs down with different options.

Second answer ... if you feel you really must do it, PRACTICE!!! Rolled fondant is a wonderful product, but it takes practice to work with it well! Take a couple of courses, and buy some cake dummies so you can practice without having to eat all that cake! (Note ... if you want to get into this sweet obsession anyhow, that's fine, but if this is the only cake you plan to do, the costs of the courses and practice cakes and your wedding cake ingredients and time could probably have paid for a bakery cake...)

Post your practice cakes in your gallery here, and ask for advice & critiques ... tell us about the problems you're having - I'm sure someone will have an answer for you!

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Making a "fake" cake ahead of time is a great idea ... then you just need sheet cakes to be cut in the kitchen (which you could look into buying ... they'd be cheaper than a wedding cake...)

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Lots of women do this, but I know (even with the years of experiance I have now) the stress I go though EVERY time I make a cake (and I remember the stress before I go married) and trust me on this one ... that's quite a load of stress to take on for you special day! I made my wedding gown when I go married, and even though I was an experienced seamstress, and had started about a year before the wedding, on the Thursday night before my Saturday wedding, my MIL (bless her help) and I had ripped out both sleeves and the entire neckline because I wasn't happy with it! We got it back together just fine, but I was not a fun person to be around in those last few days, and I didn't enjoy our wedding day as much as I should have.


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All that aside, WELCOME to our obsession, and congratulations!

I'm sorry but I'm with MelC----I would think LONG and HARD about this decision! Trust me, it sounds much easier than it really is.
First, do you have any interest in making cakes after this wedding cake? If not, then I wouldn't waste your time and money on taking classes.
I think the biggest reason I would stray you away from this is that the cake needs to be made the day before if not the day of the wedding so that it will be at it's best. No one wants to eat a 2-3 day old cake at a wedding.
And covering a cake with fondant is not as easy as it looks. I hate doing it and almost refuse to unless I have to!
Like MelC said too making a cake is stressful for almost all of us! We want everything to be perfect on it and that brings it's own stress! And making a wedding cake is a whole additional type of stress!!
This is a special day for you and it will be stressful enough without having to worry about this. I understand money constraints so maybe you can look at your budget and find other ways around this. You are going to want the day to be perfect and trust me, doing things yourself does not usually equate to that!
I'm sure that there are a lot of people on this board that have made their own wedding cakes (I've joked with my husband that I will make my 2nd wedding cake when I found Daddy Warbucks ). But as a whole, I would not recommend it when you have no experience in this arena.
Good luck! Congrats! And just remember to be reasonable!!!

I have to agree with the not doing it. Check out how much its going to cost you for the ingredients, pans, boards and supports, stands if you want those. Then add in the aggravation factor and you may save yourself dollars by paying someone else to do just a plain cake, and you place your own flowers on it.

Another option maybe to buy rounds from the bakery and place them on a stand and decorate yourself.

I totally totally agree with not doing it but I'd be interested to hear if like mamafrogcakes all y'all are baking your clients cakes on the day of the event.

Birdie,
Congratulations. I have a similar situation. I have been making/decorating now for about 6 months. My sister just got engaged and asked me to do her cake. I am also serving as her matron of honor and have 3 little boys (4 and under), who will be ring bearers. She was absolutely CRUSHED when I told her no. She thought I was kidding at first. I've only done 3 stacked (tiered) cakes. Each one took me NO LESS than 8 hours from start to finish. Not to mention how stressful it is transporting the cake(s). There is no way I can make the cake, transport it and dress up the cake and table, and get myself and my boys ready for the wedding. It just won't work. I'd suggest buying a much smaller decorated cake for your reception, and ordering the less expensive sheet cake to slice up in the kitchen (as suggested above). I'm talking my sister into this idea. Hope I didn't burst your bubble. Relax and enjoy yourself on your special day!

I have to agree with everyone...making your own cake sounds easy but is a BAD idea. I worked as a pastry cook for 5 years in hotels before opening my own business and even I'm nervous making my first tiered cake by myself! There is a lot of architecture involved, and the transport is very delicate. In the hotels, I saw a lot of do-it-yourself cakes collapse and leave the bride in tears! Don't add that stress! Then the money saved will hardly seem worth it! I like the idea about making a fake cake and serving inexpensive sheet cakes. Ask local cake shops about that. If it's fake and just has the fondant (you add the flowers), I bet it would be inexpensive. Most of the price is decoration and food cost. I hope you have a great wedding!

I made my own wedding cake for my wedding which was last New Year's Day. I'm glad that I did and it turned out beautiful if I do say so myself.

However, I would have to say don't do it.

I had been making cakes for 5 years already and my sister also makes cakes and was able to help me. I also made the cake a week and a half in advance, torted, filled and frosted, then froze in my sisters giant freezer, very carefully wrapped.

I took it out the night before the wedding and let it defrost, the next morning I assembled the cake and stand and did the actual decorations. My cake was 4 layers, 16, 12, 10 & 8 but very simple. Very minimal decoration, no ropes or stringwork. Fresh edible flowers that I arranged myself.

The ceremony was supposed to start at 2pm, I was walking down the aisle at 2:45pm. Not bad I think.

However, I had a decent bit of experience and went for something very very minimal and had my sisters help and support. For me the cake was the least stressfull thing, but I planned for months and I still wouldn't do it again.

If you are just starting out, I'd recommend getting the cake, do as someone earlier suggested and try and find someone off the board near you. You will get an amazing cake, I'm sure.

However, if you really want to do a cake, why don't you make a grooms cake? You know your fiance best and I'm sure could come up with a wonderful and truly personal cake that would mean alot to him.

Just my 47 cents!

Good luck on the upcoming wedding, it's exciting and nerve racking but well worth it. (This is coming from someone who hasn't celebrated her first anniversary!)

Let Them Eat Cake

Congratulations on your wedding!

I won't tell you not to make your own wedding cake, but I will advise you not to underestimate what is involved in making a wedding cake, even if you should decide to do a dummy cake.

I decorated cakes for nearly two years before I did my first wedding cake, and even then I was overwhelmed. So much has to be considered: Constructing the cake with adequate support so your layers don't collapse, getting the icing smooth enough to add fondant to the top, transporting and setting up the cake, etc. This is no small task.

Not to mention the fact that there is more expense involved than one might guess. Premade fondant isn't cheap and the cost of making the cake and icing will add up. While some bakeries may overprice their cakes, generally cakes are priced to consider everything involved -- most importantly, TIME. Making your own wedding cake with take lots and lot of time. Days, if you do not have a good deal of experience.

If you decide to go ahead and to it yourself, I truly wish you the best of luck! A lot of planning is involved, so you've come to the right place for advice!

Maybe I'm just in a disagreeable mood, being Monday morning and all, but I say go for it. I did mine and it really wasn't that stressful, less so than doing one for a customer! I was very happy with it and I got a lot of compliments (including from the professional photographer who asked if I had any business cards she could hand out to other clients looking for cake decorators...). Granted, I had been making cakes for several years before I got married, but if you want to do it, you should. You have plenty of time to practice and you might just find yourself a new favorite hobby!

Fondant can be tricky, but it gives a nice look without having to worry about cake crumbs showing through. I'd just suggest either buying a package of Wilton or making your own homade fondant (which I hear tastes much better than the store bought stuff) and practicing with it, seeing what you can do. I've never taken any classes so I can't speak from personal experience on how it would help you, but I'd say if you have time, it's more you can learn.

The picture of my wedding cake is in my gallery. Just click on the 'photos' button at the bottom of this post. If you ever have any questions, feel free to PM me and I can give you my e-mail address. Good luck!

To answer you question/comment BalloonWhisk, I don't bake on the day of the event but I do decorate on the day of the event or the night before. I think that's what a majority of people do here. Maybe I'm wrong?!
rvallee you cake is beautiful and hats off to you b/c I would not be able to do it! I think it has a lot to do with your personality and your baking skills at that point.

Ok, I guess I'm the minority (I usually am ) I say make it! But I would practice a LOT before then...I'd say up until a month in advance. That way if you're not comfortable with your abilities, you can book a bakery. I also say it depends on the size of your wedding. My husband and I only had 50 people at our wedding, and my grandmother made my cake (2 tier stacked) in 3 hours.

You can bake your cakes a week in advance and freeze them. I take mine out the night before I'm going to decorate. On plenty of occasions, I've decorated 2 days in advance! The cake is still fresh and moist.

I'm with whoever suggested the Wilton classes. At least take 1 and 3. But the fondant is something that even some of us on here can't get the hang of. If you are going to do fondant, I'd do marshmallow fondant. It's the easiest I've worked with and I'm a newbie to decorating.

I think its a wonderful thing you wanna do your own cake, and I hope I helped answer the questions you were asking. I mean, people take dance lessons before their wedding, why not CAKE LESSONS

Congratulations!!

If you're going to do it ... DON'T BUY WILTON FONDANT!!! Really ... it's just nasty tasting.

There are plenty of other fondants out there that don't taste like a combination of wax and soap!! You can certainly make your own, but it can be harder to work with (though definately cheaper than commercially made)

Many decorators here use Satin Ice and are very happy with it, Fondx has been getting some attention lately because you can put it in the fridge, and my personal favourite is Mill Lane from www.creativecutters.com

Wilton fondant is nasty tasting. I've never made MMF (marshmallow fondant) but I hear it's very easy to make and very easy to work with and tastes much better than Wilton. I only suggested buying it because it's quick and it would (might...?) be good to practice with. I still have to make a batch of MMF. I've been procrastinating though. You'll see a post from time to time about someone who made it for the first time and raves about it. I don't think I've ever heard [read] anything bad about MMF... or Satin ice for that matter. Good luck!

you could however, buy Wilton ready to use fondant to see what the texture and pliability should look like. This is what I did, and it really helped me with knowing when my fondant was good to go.
Wilton fondant is soooo gross..and we're all in awe in how they still sell it.
SatinIce has gotten rave reviews as well! I love it, though I've never personally used it, only eaten it at a party some 6 months ago.

Good luck!

Welcome to Cake Central!! You will find a wealth of information here and many people willing to share their experiences with you! And congratulations on your wedding! Now to your questions...as a bride who had a bit of a melt down before her wedding, i wouldn't dream of trying to make my own cake. We did all the planning and paid for most of the wedding ourselves too so I understand where you are coming from. I like the idea of a small cake for pictures and to feed each other and a sheet cake in the kitchen for serving the guests. Ask friends, co-workers, etc if they know someone who makes cakes besides a large bakery. Ask here, there may be someone in your area. Like someone else said, if you don't really plan to make cakes after this, you will be putting out alot of money on supplies (pans, bags, tips, cake leveler, etc), classes and practice cakes that add up in addition to the cost of making the final cake and icing so in the end you may spend more than what it would have cost you just to order from someone else.

But, with that said, if you really have your heart set to do this, take the classes,learn as much as you can about decorating, baking the cakes, wedding cake construction, transporting, etc. There are many, many old posts on here about these subjects with lots of information about how far in advance you can decorate, different kinds of icing, fillings, construction, etc.

Take your time with this very important decision. Your wedding should be a wonderful day that centers on you and your new husband!!