Hey Everyone!

Well I delivered the wedding/groom's cakes!!!!! I was a nervous wreck!!! You should see my face!! I broke out in hives! Really I did!

I should have never been worried about the "glitter" ribbon. It didn't give me the first problem! It was actually easy to put on the cake. I think the ribbon was very pretty after all. I didn't really like the flowers the bride had for the top but then again it wasn't my wedding. That's what she picked & she liked them.

The bad part... the icing didn't crust, heck it never even dried a little! I iced it on Fri. afternoon. Waited till Fri. night to smooth it. It was still wet. Sat. morning it was still wet, when I got to the church it was still wet. I was very upset over it!! I tried my best to fix it but everytime I touched it I would have to work harder to fix it! Finally I had to walk away!

I didn't stay for the wedding because I was sick, still am. I didn't want to be coughing through the wedding. I don't know how the bride liked it. I hope she was happy. The groom's cake turned out very nice! The mom-of-groom was adding tuxedo strawberries to it & I never got to see the final project. She is going to send me some pics so I can share them.

I'm exhausted!!! After the wedding I had to go to a family reunion. Just got home tonight around 7pm. I will probably be sleeping very late tomorrow!!!! I will post again if I can think of any advice to share. The only thing I can think of now is.... DON'T DO THIS ALONE!!!! GET A FRIEND TO HELP YOU BAKE THE CAKES, DECORATE, DELIVER.. the works!!! It is not a good idea to venture out alone to do this. So far that's my only advice...

Your cake looks lovely and you survived the whole thing! Maybe humidity had something to do with the icing not crusting......I'm in East Texas and Friday I was having a devil of a time getting a cake smooth that I was working on. I hope you get a good nights rest and wake feeling refreshed and renewed!

Your cake looks great! I'm know you are glad that its finally over. Even though it may have been a little stressful it still turned out great!

Excellent Job!

Thank you! I just got a very nice email from the mom-of-groom. She has put my mind to ease! She said everyone said the cakes were pretty & tasted great! She heard nothing but good comments about the cakes! The bride didn't even notice it wasn't as smooth as she wanted it! Soooooo...... now I can sleep good tonight!

That's wonderful Tina! The cake was lovely...you did a beautiful job! Sleep good...you've earned it.

TC, did you notice that I moved to into Texas? I think Louisiana is close enough that we can blame your icing problem on the Texas weather! ROFLMAO Janice

Didn't I give you the yellow cake recipe? So many people have asked for it I can't remember who I gave it to. PM me & let me know~ Thanks for the kind words about my cake, your sweet!

Janice your a hoot!! You continue to make me laugh! Blame it on Texas... don't blame it on me, LOL!!! (country song) OK, I'll blame it on Texas!! LOL!!!!!

I thought you were going to go get some rest? I think maybe it is time for me to shut this down here, I'm getting too goofy. I'm glad the MOG sent you a message that they were happy, maybe you can relax now! Janice

Me too Janice!

I'm heading to be too~ Talk to you later~
Good night everyone~

Your cake looks really nice.
Seems like you have been through a lot, being sick and all. But you did great.
And you are lucky if you find a friend to help you out.

Tina, I think you did a wonderful job! I am glad that you heard something from the family. Now you need to rest!! Don't make us have to tell you twice!! You deserve a break. This has been a stressful week for you. Besides, I will need you to be in top form when I have my stress week next week!! Take care of yourself, hon!
Tanya

tc, the cake looks fantastic! I did like the glitter ribbon on there, wasn't sure when you first posted about it a while back. You deserve a break today, tomorrow, the next day, and the next....!!! Looking forward to the picture of the grooms cake too. Really glad you received a message from someone concerning your cakes, it's always nice to hear positive feed back! Get some rest now.

It looks really really great..... I can only hope that I could do one....

i haven't seen it yet, but will do that now.

beautiful!!!!!

Tina, your cakes look nice, I agree with you on the flowers not looking right.
I've done flowers for weddings before...what some people percieve as beautiful does not always look right to you, but their wedding, their day, their right to make the choices.
You should try to learn the hot knife technique for smoothing, I have found that that works the best for me because the icings that I have made lately have not been crusting. Wow, once I figured out how to hot knife, my cakes are starting to look a lot smoother.
If you want to compare, look at my WES going away cake- that was smoothed with paper towel and crusting buttercream...and then look at the 6" cakes that I made for donation purposes. Way big difference I think in the smoothness of them.
Glad to hear things turned out, can't wait to see the grooms pics.
m0use

Thank you Mouse~

I use the hot knife tech on every cake I do. My cakes are usually very smooth. My icing would never dry. It stayed wet. So I couldn't do the hot knife trick. Never dried at all. That's was the only problem.

I was very happy that I could make their day just how they wanted it. Her flowers yep. Oh, well. She was happy & that's all the counted. Next time I'm putting double meringue powder in the icing!!!! It will crust then!!!!! LOL!!!

That's the most important thing, is that the customer is happy because if they are happy- you will get more business this way through word of mouth



Edit note- forgot to add, that I use the hot knife before the icing crusts over.

That brings up a question I've been wanting to ask. What do you when the Bride has bad taste? I agree TC, with diffrent flowers it would have been awsome! So when the Bride wants something you think is hideous what do you do. Try to show her other options she might not have seen yet, give creative suggestions, or just suck it up and do it. Then put your name on a cake you don't like??? Just want some opinions. I have a bride who just loves a cake from the publix website... it's so tacky!

I think the most important thing is making the Bride happy. We all have different tastes and style but as long as the Bride is happy...you've done your job well. It would pain me though to put my name on a cake I didn't like. I think I'd probably refuse to do it--LOL!

Hey Peacock~

I just wanted to please the bride. She knew what she wanted & that was that. Not everyone has the same taste that's why we're all different. This was my first paying customer, the other cakes were for class & practice. It was my learning cake! LOL! I did learn a whole lot!! If I have another wedding cake to do I will know how to help the bride & MOB/ groom & MOG pick out their cake. OH>.. I will also have pics of cakes that I am willing to do. Only those cakes can be ordered. That will give it my special touch. Like I've said I've learned a lot!
It all comes down to making the bride happy though.

TC, Live and learn I guess. I like your idea, that way you don't get stuck making something you don't like.

Knowing me I will get stuck w/ something I don't want to do. I am too easy sometimes. I do know that I will NEVER deliver a cake over 60 miles from my front door ever again. That was too stressful in itself. Looks like me & Agentcakebaker learned a lot this weekend! Thank goodness it's things we can take with us!!

I can't imagine having to take a cake that far. That must have been sooo much work!

I delivered it 150 miles... I will never ever go over 60 miles, That's too much miles too~

Maybe that's a rule I'll make right now... to say myself some headache!

LOL Peacock~

TC...Thecake you made looks really good. Congrats on getting past that first paid cake...it is always stressful, wondering if the bride, the MOB, or anyone else will like it! A tip I could pass onto you...I always request that my brides bring several pictures of different cakes they like, and to write beside the picture what they like about that cake. It may be the color of flowers, ribbons, side decor, whatever. Sometimes I end up using ideas from 3-4 different pics to get a cake design. Then, if I think something they want may not look good, such as color of ribbon, flower size, border type, etc, I gently tell them if they want a "uniform" look that won't contrast, they may consider " whatever the change you want to suggest". I have had lots of luck with this because the brides usually think I am the "expert" (HAHAHAHAHAHA) and will know what will look good, so they are open to change. Good Luck with your next wedding cake...you're on your way now!