Can anyone give me advise on making my own wedding cake? How early can I make the cakes? I don't want to freeze them but also do not want to wait until the last minute. How long can the cake sit inside during the ceremony unrefridgerated? (The place is airconditioned) I know I can do this but I am starting to panic!!

Most of what you ask really depends on the recipes you are using. If you are using a mix for the cake and a basic buttercream frosting, with no cream fillings your cake should be fine out during the reception and longer (meaning you could set it up early that morning or even the night before) If its something that need refridgeration, then check with the vendu and see if they have a walk-in fridge that you can borrow some space. If you do a stacked cake you could place it in there the night before (but do remember accidents happen and a cake will pick up oders in the fridge)

I know I am deffinitly using a cake mix out of a box, and buttercream frosting, I'm not sure if I'm going to finish it off with Fondant or not. Thanks for the advise on the fridge, I wouldn't have thought of that.

think very seriously about this

I did my sons wedding cake but I had no major position in the wedding just had to be seated when they said so. LOL

I finished the cake Thursday night as the rehersal dinner was at our house Friday Sat morning I rushed in and delivered it and came home to dress. so everything worked great

But you will also be getting beautiful and having pictures done

If you go ahead and do it you will need help.

The cake if it does not have a filling that needs to be refridgerated can sit out no problem I would make sure it is completed Thursday

Then you really need someone who can deliver and set it up for you hopfully they can also repair any small problems

well that sounds great I wish I had made my own.

i thought about making my own wedding cake for my wedding in August.. But then i realized that i am driving 900 miles to the wedding and it would really suck if i had to take it all the way and then finish it once i got there. YOu wedding day is all about yuo. Don't put any more stress on yourself than what you already will have.. (thats advice a chef fromculinary school told me>)

Chrystal

we're making our own... i've done 2 small test cakes and already baked all the layers for one big test cake... i'm going to do the mmf this weekend while my fiance is gone and we're going to see how the stand works out for us... but it's all planning... i would say, definetely do a practice cake exactly how you want the final one to be and i'm timing everything so i can have it all made and ready to go by thursday night... friday i need for rehearsal and saturday will be nothing but wedding for me... i'm sending the groomsmen and my fiance out to set it up before the wedding because my fiance can't come to the ceremony early anyways so i'm putting all my trust in them... it's about a 20 minute drive to the reception so i thought each guy can hold 2 cakes (each 6") and then i'm going to need one guy to hold the big 12" and one to hold the 10" but besides that... we need 7 or 8 total to go and do this and hold all the cakes (i'm not buying 10 cake boxes just for this day)... i hope they can get them there in one piece. i'm using just plain cake mixes from duncan hines (about 6 different flavors) and then bc on top and mmf on top of that... i love mmf and it's going to be really simple... pearl border, ribbon around each cake and a few roses on each cake... nothing too extravagant... but i need it to be finished by that thursday so i'm going to time myself to see if i can get it done after work each day... i'll only have about 5 hours per night to do it... the pearls are going to be done WAY ahead of time and the roses i will probably do the weekend before the wedding so they're halfway fresh hope that kinda helps... glad to see someone else trying this with me, when's your wedding? mine's july 23rd... we're having the ceremony at my parent's house and then the reception at a restaurant... scary... alright, well, later i guess!

i too am making my own cake, mine's pretty simple but i'm running into the "setting up" problem. our wedding's at 11:30 and i can't get into my room to set up until 11 that morning ... i'm starting to stress alittle about that one! all i have to do is set the cake, the restaurant is taking care of all the food and other preperations, but if something goes wrong with the cake i'm in BIG trouble and no time to repair it! wish me luck! the big day is may 7th so keep me in your thoughts!!!

You can do it! I am too! I live in Ohio and we are flying to Florida to get married on the beach and I am doing my own cake! I just couldn't see paying someone else to do what I can do!

Our wedding is going to be very beach casual so I'm not freaking out about my dress or hair time.

I'm packing my own pans and decorating items. I will bake on wed and thurs, decorate on friday morning. I get married at 7:15 Friday night! I'm not at all worried about it...I"m actually looking forward to it a lot! I'll be so proud to show off my work to eveyone I know!

So have faith...it will keep your mind off of things! Have everything timed and planned out and it will be a great day and you also can be very proud of your work to show off.

Ok, well, I'm also doing my own wedding cake! Are we all nuts?

You can bake them all about 2 months ahead of time and freeze them, but don't pre-frost them. You can fill them first if you want, though, but do NOT freeze fondant.

I saw a couple of you saying you're just using a box mix and I wanted to suggest that you try using milk instead of the water for what you add to the box stuff, and use butter instead of oil. This makes it soooo much richer! Also, if it's a chocolate cake, use sourcream or buttermilk instead of the water and also use butter, not oil. You can use milk instead of water in almost any cake mix for better results. I've been experimenting with recipes and just got the "Cake Mix Doctor" book that tells a ton of recipes you can make starting with a box cake. I love the Bride's White Cake - which was just a white cake with milk instead of water and butter instead of oil and a little extra vanilla extract. Amazing! The "Better Than Sex Chocolate" cake came out a bit dry after two days out and iced, so I don't think I'll use that one. I have yet to try the buttermilk in the chocolate mix, though.

Note to GreenCarGirl - Make sure you give the groomsmen a diagram on how to do it, and give at least one a lesson on how to assemble it with the dowels and plates, if you're doing a stacked or tiered cake. It's not really something you can figure out on the fly too easily..

Best of luck, everyone!

~AngelWendy

Thank you everyone! It feels a lot better knowing I am not the only one trying this. I plan to make a cherry chip cake (it's a childhood favorite of ours). I'm going to use vannila pudding in the mix. I haven't had much luck with MMF, but I am going to try again today. I was told not to use fondant because most people will just pick it off. Have any of you had this experience? Fondant just looks sooo much better, in the design I want. Also it is going to be a three tiered cake do you think I need a different flavor cake for each one?
I am so glad I found this site. I've had a lot of fun studying up on cake decorating since I took this project on. I have completed Wilton 1 and 2 and I ended up changing majors, I start culinary art school in the fall! Thank you for all the help!

I just now cut into and ate part of my first MMF cake that I made earlier this week. The MMF has stayed flexible (this is the cake I was keeping in an inverted plastic ice cream container) and tastes very good! I must admit to taking off part of the MMF, but then I am one of few people who don't like a whole lot of any kind icing on cake I am eating. Most people will be surprised at how good it is, and will eat this MMF!

Doesn't seem to me that you'd have to have different flavors in your cake, you should make it one flavor if that is what you want! Janice

sunlover, thanks for the encouragement! a friend said she'd help me set up so i'm not going to worry about it. i'm feeling the same way about paying someone else to do what i do, just doesn't make any sense to me. besides, everyone is expecting to see my handy work and i love doing it!
sounds like you're having a beautiful wedding! we though about doing something like that but to many people are excited about it and wanted to be there for it ... oh well, it will be pretty anyway (if mother nature cooperates) we live in north indiana in amish country and are going to an amish restaurant with a little red covered bridge to get married in front of. we've gotten everything taken care of as far as planning goes, now all we have to do is make the cake and show up ... i think i can handle that .
don't know when your wedding is, but much love and happiness when it comes!!

Asuming you all know we expect to see pics of all your wonderful wedding cakes girls! Greencargirl you are putting a lot of trust in these groomsmen!! Are most of them your brothers so you can easily kill them if something happens? Just kidding. I was thinking that maybe instead of all these guys holding your cakes in the cars that could you get a large flat bottomed plastic storage container (you could use it later) and line it with non skid mesh shelf liner (also use it later) an place some of your cakes on that for transport? I use that stuff whenever I transport cakes and they stay put. You'd want to make sure there was some space between the boards so that you can reach in to get them out safely. Just a suggestion. I admire you all for your nerve to make you own cakes at such a potentially stressful time.

The first and only wedding cake I did was for my step-daughter. I live in Las Vegas and had to make the cake here and travel 300 miles to the wedding. It was a 3 tiered 2 layer cake with raspberry filling, a light buttercream and fondant icing.

I baked the cakes on Wednesday and wrapped them in plastic wrap. On Thursday I began decorating the cakes and placed them in cake boxes and not in the refrigerator. It took me all day to decorate them. On Friday morning we started out on our journey. The trunk of the car contained 3 cake boxes plus my decorator box. (The luggage ended up in the back seat).

We got to the hotel Friday night and left the cakes in the boxes till Sunday morning when the cake was transported to the reception site and assembled. I was so afraid the cake would be dry and ruined from being out so long.

When the cake was cut and served it was just as fresh as if I had made it that morning. Those that knew I had made the cake came over to congratulate me on such a great tasting cake. My step-daughter was also astonished that the cake held up so well in the transportation. This June I will need to transport another cake for our first grandbaby's birthday.