I wanted to add a pic of what the flowers look like around the fountain....
ge978, tastycakes? what do ya'll think?
After one of my friends came over & helped me with the flowers. I have a lot to learn when it comes to flowers. The next class I take will be a florist class! I think it looks very good! The same flowers will cascade down the cake or I'll decorate w/ bouquets.
Hi TC-I am not a fan of WM flowers (love WM but not plastic flowers like that)-I do like what you did around the bottom though-mixing some of the brighter with some of the softer and the greenery and babysbreath does give it a good mix and not to "plasticlooking". The bride did right coming to you!
Well thank you Ladies!! I'm not a fan of these flowers either! I really wanted to do fondant or BC flowers. IMO, if your not going to use "real" flowers then fondant or BC (even gum text, I just haven't made them yet) flowers are the next best thing! I'm sure you guys agree~
The MOG (mom of groom) called today. She still hasn't brought me more baby breathe & greenery. She had the nerve to ask me if she could come over, give me the money so I could go out & get what I needed. I was a little angry! The wedding is Sunday! I will be busy from today till the wedding with the cakes! I've been asking for flowers for about a month now. If I don't get them then the cake won't have anything else added to it. Go figure!
This might be my last cake for a few months. I'm really burnt out on trying to please people who can't be pleased! OH, then she asked me did I think I was baking the cakes too early!! Ladies,,, that's where I had enough!! 
I told her that I was not an expert on flowers but that I did know a little about cakes AND for her to let me handle that part. 
The nerve of some people!! We decorators always say that everyone thinks it's so easy to do a wedding cake. That we can just snap our fingers & poof there it is!! My dear hubby said if she calls to bother me again that I need to give the money back & let them find someone else to snap their fingers to do the cake. LOL~ If the couple weren't friends of our's I'd do just that. I never met the MOG till the a few months ago. She is a mom monster for sure!! Just 3 more days, just 3 more days!!! LOL!!! I've gotta keep telling myself that! 
tcturtleshell: I can totally understand where you are coming from. I've decided to step back a little on the decorated cakes because I too am getting a little burnt out. I've decided to only make cakes for friends and family & only take orders that I really want to do.
I really can't wait to see how this cake turns out, all problems aside, because its really starting to look pretty!
Funny, I wrote about the MOG & then she calls. LOL!! She was at where other then Walmart buying the extra greenery & babies breathe I needed. I told her that I had enough stuff. It looks good like it is. She was happy with that.
About the wedding cakes. I have never charged what I should charge because I am always wanting to help couples out. DH said I can't help out anyone else! So unless I start charging at least $150 more per cake he said I'm not doing it. He's right for once! I agreed. If someone wants me & doesn't want to pay a good price for me then they can go to Walmart 
(gosh, that sounded like I'm Collette Peters or something! Sorry! 
No way as good as her!!)
ge978, if your burnt out then you should take a break. I'm with you. I am burnt out! I want to catch up on new techniques, recipes I haven't tried etc. I have 3 couples wanting me to do their cakes. I'm not sure if I will. Onlyl time will tell.
Nanni, I'm rocking on girl!! I'm rocking on!! 
TC... I'll be glad for you, when this cake is finished. But... some people just test our patience! 
It's the sign of a professional, when you can still do you job 'in spite' of situations. I was trying to match some bridesmaids' dresses with the ribbon going around a MS style cake once. It's the 6 tiered cake with 2 small gumpaste butterflies and fresh tulips around the base which the stems came 1/2 way up the tall cake. Well, I hunted and hunted for the matching ribbon. (Satin, orange/pink combination. Georgous material, but no 'matching' ribbon. So, I used a 'Sonia' deep peach, with a pink organzia on top. Worked great! I lost so much time in hunting for that ribbon, though. Now... I tell my bride (or mother) to find the ribbon of their choice and I will be glad to use it on the cake. (It's rude, when they leave you dangling.)
People have no idea, like you said, TC.... how much time and what kind of deadlines we're fighting trying to get the ''Bride's" cake + "Groom's" cake done. I do gumpaste work and cake sculpting, also... so I understand the meaning 'Crunch Time'. (We earn our money, for sure.)
TC... the flowers look pretty around the fountain and you have the colors 'balanced' well. I could just see a couple of small matching butterflies on a pillar or placed on a 'tier' edge, or two. Makes an arrangement come to life. That Baby's Breath does help to make the flowers more delicate/lacy.... Be sure to let us see the finished cake. The challenges always teach us the most. This cake will be beautiful.... ahhhh... it reminds me of 'Spring'. 
~NightIcer~
Just read your last post, TC. Glad the M.O.G. offered to get more supplies for you.
I have learned the hard way (as most decorators do) that most of the time that we cut ourselves short, money wise, we will regret it. Many times a bride would give me the story, how they were on a very tight budget and just wanted to have a nice cake, so I would give discounts on my piping, delivery, or edible flowers.... just to find out, while setting up the cake at the reception site (Yacht Club, no less), that the smells coming from the kitchen were lobster and steak ! I would feel very used! My husband just said, "See... You're working your @##% off, just so they can impress people." The worst ones were the people who I knew were paying $7,000 to $8,000 just to 'rent' the reception room at a B&B... which didn't include drinks, food, photographer, or cake.. of course. One of these brides actually wanted to have the bridesmaids make cupcakes, instead of having to pay, for a 'wedding cake'. She had the gall to ask me if I would consider icing the cupcakes and make a 1st Ann. cake that would go on the top of the cupcake tree. AND.... oh, yes... she wanted me to make/ provide the stand. I stood there in disbelief and tried to gather my thoughts. Her mother was embarassed that her daughter even asked me, I think. I just told her very politely, "No... I'm very sorry. If my name is on this, I want to know that it's MY work they are eating and judging. I work very hard for a good reputation... I stand by my cakes. You are thinking that you will have all kinds of time for your bridesmaids to bake, and it will be fun. What happens is... at the last minute everyone tends to be so busy, with their own things and you are left, to try to get all the details finished... on your own. Very stressful... especially, for you (the bride), or your mom."
The mother agreed.
People don't have more respect for something because they get it cheaper. Don't get me wrong... I charge a very fair price for my work, but I got very tired of feeling used. My husband told me.... "If they want grocery store prices, let them go to a grocery store and try to get a 'custom' cake'. He was right! Never sell yourself short.... you'll burn out much faster that way. Just because we love what we do, doesn't mean we can't get paid for our time and creativity. (Loving ourselves is sometimes the hardest to do.) 
Have a nice week-end everyone! ........ NightIcer
Thanks NightIcer for your post! Great info!
Ya'll go look at my cake! I've posted it! I'm soooo proud of it too! It turned out pretty good!!
TCturtleshell, they look great! I wouldn't have believed they could look that good! Now that you mention it, I think a flower arranging class would be great idea for me as well!
Congratulations, and try not to kill the grooms mother!
Hey Tastycakes, I agree! I want to take flower arranging too! Cakes & arranging go hand & hand! How fun they both are!
Turtleshell: I left you a comment in the gallery, but I wanted to post also. You must be so proud of this cake..I would be. It came together beautifully! When I saw it I thought how did that beautiful cake come from those flowers? You are truly a talented decorator to be able to turn Walmart flowers into a work of art Okay, I'll stop gushing at you now, I just wanted to tell you I love it.
Thank you girl for your comments! That cake liked to have been the end of my decorating wedding cakes! I actually told jscakes & susanmm23 that I wouldn't be doing any more! Too much drama going on with brides, MOG's, MOB's etc. The groom's are the easiest to please! Once I got to sit back & really look at the cake (when it was all set up), I thought damn! I did that? WOW!
Thanks for saying I'm a talented decorator! Gosh, my head is so swollen from all the wonderful comments!!!
AMEN Turtley! I actually have found the grooms easiest to please...sometimes even the brides arent the stress factor..I have had lots of times that mom of bride..was trying to relive something or just plain living thru the daughter to the point that it was MOBridezilla..and have had the bride come to me in tears and say..I so wish this was over..what started out as fun for me ..my mom has turned into pure stress!
From scary brides ideas to one hell of a fabulous cake. Just think if you were able to make those flowers look that good, you can do anything!!!
Fantastic Turtle
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