HELP PLEASE!

This is my first wedding cake and it is such a disaster! I used the garland marker and you can see all the imprints, my string work is atrocious and my roses suck! Please help I have a 10 inch and a 8 inch left to do yet and it's 9:30!!!!!

Oh yeah forgot to mention it's starting to bulge!! AAAGGGGHHHH!!!

Here's another pic

OK, first of all your roses do not suck. I think they look good. I did see the marks in the string work. Can you go over it and make them just a little thicker?

Second of all....I have never made a wedding cake, nor can I make a rose to save my life! I just wanted to let you know that it's not as bad as you think it is. Walk away from it for a while, then come back. Nobody is going to notice the little "holes" in the cake unless you point them out.

Calm down! Your roses look just fine to me. As for the garland marker holes, can you fit the small end of a tapered spatula in there to mudge it together a little? Or what about some extra icing on a toothpick to poke some in to plug it up?

And something I noticed, people who don't normally decorate cakes won't notice the buldge. Your trained eye is used to looking for things like that, I'm sure no one else will notice it, it's not that bad.

Good luck, I hope it turns out okay!

Diana

I think your roses look fantastic! They are all very uniform and I can not do that at all. No one will notice the marks. They will look at the big picture which will be a beautiful wedding cake!
Don't be so hard on yourself. You will feel much better when it is all put together.
Good luck! Be sure to post a picture of your final cake.

I'm not that experienced myself, but your roses look wonderful!! You can smooth out the little holes. And I guarantee you....no one will notice the things that you notice. We are usually our worst critics. When I first glanced at the picture, your caked looked wonderful!! The other cakes will look even better!

I think it looks beautiful!! Those things are not life or death...you can always repair.

My BC cakes always bulge....haven't figured out the solution to that one yet.

Keep baking, and post final pics!! It's going to look incredible, I promise!!

Ellen

I agree about the roses, they look fine. The holes from marking the stringwork was not noticable to me until I looked for it, and luckily it looks as though you will only be dealing with a slight "bulge" also not as noticable as you think, unless you are specifically looking for these flaws.

If you have used a crusting buttercream icing the holes from the marking should be easily fixable once the icing is crusted, by lightly toughing them with a clean finger tip. If not...don't mention them and they will not be noticed on the finished cake.

I don't think anyone is going to notice the little things unless they do cakes too.
Your roses are beautiful.

I think your roses look great!!! I agree with smoothing out a tad and going over the stringwork with a little larger tip.
I did a wedding cake last week that I totally hated! Couldn't get it smooth to save my life, started to buldge. To make things worse i was a guest at the wedding. No one but me noticed it wasn't perfectly smooth etc. The groom called me monday and asked if he could give my # out. A few people had asked him where he got the the cake from!
We ALWAYS think the worst of our work!!!!!!! I think it looks great!!!!!!

I think it looks beautiful. I'm sure no one will notice the any imperfections especially once you get all the layers together. I'm looking forward to seeing the final product.

That's the problem! It's a tiered cake, not stacked. All I can do is pray the lights are turned down. They aren't having a reception just a dinner at a restaraunt.

I guess my problem is I'm trying to impress them.....but also you guys I'm trying to impress and failing miserably I might add!!! I would love to be in the same league. I know I have to keep practicing and we all have to start somewhere but I look at these beautiful, stunning cakes and dream that I will be as good one day. I definately have the passion, just need the practice!

Thanks for all of the advise!

I will post a pic when it's all set up (hopefully in the dark LOL!)

I would just press down lighty on the holes with a Q-tip. But to me me the cake looks just fine.

Sometimes if I've made a cake I think looks dodgy I put a few tea lights around the bottom of it, in pretty glass containers, then light them and suddenly your cake looks a whole lot better. For the record - I don't think your cake or roses look bad at all. I think we all freak out when making our cakes that they look awful. I had a bride cry once when she saw my cake - my stomach sank, it turns out she was crying because she was so happy. What it looks like in your own critical eyes is the very worst - everyone else thinks it looks good.

What brand pans did you use?

Your roses are perfect!

I agree with everyone else! It looks great!

F YI- I had been having lots of trouble with bulging, and thanks to the people on cc I got it figured out. I was icing it too quickly. When you are filling the layers, put your icing "ring" (or "dam" as some people refer to it) about 1/4" from the edge. If you are doing a filling, like pudding, let it sit for about 15 minutes so the icing ring settles and then put in your pudding. If I am doing buttercream filling, I do the ring, fill the middle, and then let the whole layer sit for 15 minutes. Then you can go ahead and put the top layer on and do your crumb coat. Let it sit for AT LEAST a few hours to let the top layer settle in. I know some people will start cakes two days before the cake is needed; the first day is a baking and assembling day, the second is the decorating day. HTH!

Gibson..I know what you mean about feeling intimidated sometimes with the talent on here..but come on, you are the one who did the 4.5' foot cake!! You have impressed many with that accomplishement! And those spring cupcakes you did..out of this world!
I think your cake looks really nice and once you've got the other 2 tiers done, it'll all come together well, I'm sure.
Please post a pic once you've finished!Can't wait to see it..
Cindy

I so feel your stress about wedding cakes! Why is it that we can make the exact same cake for someone's birthday and there is absolutely no stress. But make it for a wedding . . . !!!!!

Your roses are great. If you are really concerned about the bulge, and if you have time, take the roses off with some flower scissors and set them aside. Scrape off the icing down to the crumb coat with a bench scraper and then press down really good on the top layer to make sure it won't settle any more. Then reapply your icing - That shouldn't take too long, especially if you thin your icing just a bit. Did the bride specifically request stringwork? If not maybe you could do the same thing but instead of strings make small beads with a #2 or #3 tip, but make sure you hold your bag at an angle so that you are making your beads from the side of the previous one - you don't get those little chocolate chips that way. You could even use a # 4 tip for the lowest one, a #3 for the middle and a #2 for the top one. That will take a little time, but it would definately cover the impression holes. If you don't have time for any of that, you can dip your angled spatula into hot water (and dry it off) and touch it to those holes and they will melt back into place - you would never know they were there to begin with!

Your cake really does look pretty. Even if you don't have time to do a single other thing to it, it will make a world of difference when it is set up as a whole, and with all of the other decorations. Then you are not looking at any one part and seeing your imperfections (which only YOU will see anyway).

When I go married, I thought my wedding cake was the most beautiful thing in the world. Now that I'm doing cakes, 11 years later, I looked back and can see a few things that were not perfect on my cake. The moral to the story is, YOU are doing the cake and YOU are your own worst critic. The cake looks great. Take a breath, walk away. Stretch a little bit to calm yourself down. The errors that you see noone else will notice.

I think your cake looks fine! Your roses are great!! It's always hard making cakes for others because we're all so critical of our own work. I've only done one wedding cake, but when I set it up I immediately noticed a ton of things that were "wrong"....but no one else noticed! I'm sure it will be the same for you too, but don't worry...have fun with it! And try to relax...(I know - easier said than done).

I think it looks very good! I can't wait to see it finished and all put together.

BTW, I LOVE all of your cakes. The 5 foot cake wowed me, I was talking to my DH about it for DAYS, and the spring cupcakes are awesome! You are right up there with all the talented people here!

OK, everyone is in agreement: your roses are beautiful and the cake is not a disaster. You could proceed as kerririchards suggested to perfect it; but if you do not have the time, think about sprinkling the sides with some edible glitter. The random sparkle will hide any tiny holes.
Remember, we are all our own worse critics.
Also remember, most of the guests at the wedding will only look at the cake for a distance & will be impressed. No one will notice tiny imperfections.
All your cakes in the gallery look amazing and once you have this one all assembled it will look amazing too.
can't wait to see the final result.
ciao

Well, the bride just stopped by the house to bring back my stand and material and said the cake was excellent! They were very, very happy with the looks and the taste. They told everyone where they got it from (yikes! LOL!) and also told me that from now until next July they will have 3 - 5 cakes for me to do for family and friends especially the puppy dog cake for their sons birthday. So I'm happy that it turned out well. A lot learned and I wish I would have seen kerririchards post before, I don't know why I didn't think of the beads !!! Oh well, I'll just have to keep practicing.
Even though she had nothing but good to say about this cake, I still don't feel very good about it.

I appreciate all of the kind words and advice from you all! You're always there when I need encouragement! Thanks so much!!!!

against my better judgement here is the cakes!

Just noticed how easy it is to add two attachments!

Absolutely Gorgeous! See, all of that worrying for nothing! The bride obviously LOVED it! You did a GREAT job!

Tremendous job and what a great set-up. It looked absolutely fabulous. I think you will be one busy cakerator.

Beautiful. Unless I really look at the picture I can't see the bulges and stuff so I'm sure no one noticed, I was only looking because I knew they were there.

Great cake! Love the set up.
So happy that it all turned out fine.
Trust me, you will gain confidence with every cake!

looks beautiful