Anyone Else Have Their First Wedding Cake This Weekend?!?!?!

Decorating By sheronc Updated 28 Aug 2006 , 1:21pm by LeckieAnne

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sheronc Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 12:37am
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I have been on CC for weeks now asking dozens of questions and checking out everyones photos and stories. Now it's my turn to shine and I am very nervous. I feel so much better now than I did a month ago though. I have all of my BC made and in the fridge. I have 4 out of 6 of my cake layers baked and frozen. I have all of my dowels, boards, piping bag, tips, edible pearls...you name it and I am pretty sure I have it. I was just curious if anyone else has their first wedding cake this weekend too. Maybe we can commiserate together! I would love to know that I am not alone on this quick journey I am about to take. Thanks everyone for sharing all of your knowledge with people like me. Without this site, I would be plopping layers on top of each other with no clue that you should dust the layers with powdered sugar or not to stick fresh flowers right into the cake without covering the stems. It's little pearls of wisdom like these that I know will make all the difference between an okay cake and a WOW cake. You all should pat yourselves on the back for knowing as much as you do...really! Oh an P.S. here is my first ever fancy cake and I found the idea right here on CC. This cake is what got me the wedding cake job. I just hope I don't disappoint.
LL

37 replies
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Laura102777 Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 12:45am
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I haven't gotten to do a wedding cake yet, but congratulations and good luck on yours! It sounds like you're gonna do great!

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ps3884 Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 12:46am
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No wedding cake for me, maybe someday. Just wanted to say Congratulations and good luck! icon_biggrin.gif Sounds like you are well prepared. thumbs_up.gif

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christeena Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:02am
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I have my first paid wedding cake this weekend. Just finished covering my boards, doing a mock set-up so I won't have any surprises at the reception site and Wednesday I'll do my icing, get my flowers ready and I also have tomatoes from my garden begging to made into salsa - don't they know I don't have time for them!!
I will be sending you warm fuzzies this week as I struggle to pull it all together! Good-Luck!

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LeckieAnne Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:05am
post #5 of 38

Not my first wedding cake, but the most difficult... I can't even begin to tell you how many changes have been made and how it's a Roaring 20's wedding, so the theme has been a real challenge. I have 200 mini wedding cakes to do, and NOTHING is going right. The wedding is Friday night - and I'm sitting here on the verge of tears!

Anyway - just wanted to wish you all the luck in the world!! You sound very prepared -- so I'm sure everything will go very well!! I love the cooler cake btw.

Best of luck to you!!

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ME2 Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:06am
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no wedding cake this weekend, but attempting my first tiered cake for a baby shower. Haven't started baking yet!! Have 2 other cakes to do first. I'm attempting the cake in the Wilton Tiered Cakes book (purple cover with pink & white cake). I'm doing "Teddy's Ready to Play" on p44, but I'm making the bear look like Winnie the Poo (couldn't get the poo pan in time - going too wing it).

I'm going to ice the top layer light pink and use yellow icing along the top to look like honey dripping down the sides, then put bees around the sides and drop flowers as a border.

The bottom layer will be light green with flowers along the sides, clouds along the top edge (top of cake iced light blue) and probably a grass border along the bottom.

Not ambitious at all, huh? (this will only be about my 5th or 6th big cake and my first tiered one!

Wish me luck!

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nenufares Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:16am
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First of all good luck and best wishes!
I have my first wedding cake in 4 weeks, this coming weekend I just have 2 small party cakes......

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sheronc Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:23am
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Leckie,
I am so sorry to hear your troubles. I wish there were something I could say to ease your mind. I haven't been brought to tears yet, but the stress of this cake has me bickering with my hubby alot. I feel your pain. Please let us all know how you make out. I will be thinking of you.
Me2, wow...yep that's ambitious all right. You are going to have to post your pictures as soon as it is ready. Good luck with it.
Christeena, thanks for your kind words. It helps to know that people will be rooting for me. I will keep everyone posted with my progress over the next few days...yikes!

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imartsy Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:26am
post #9 of 38

ooh I do!!! It's a very small wedding - basically just immediate family - but anyway, it's still a wedding! I'm having trouble w/ the stupid fondant bow I wanted to attempt on top........ I've made some edible pearls and right now I'm makign a practice cake for flavor in the oven........ my other practice cake came out okay - haven't baked the layers yet or made buttercream but I'm getting things ready! Good luck with yours too!

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sweetviolent Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:30am
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Hi there I just did my first wedding cake this past weekend. And it went pretty well I did have to rebake one of my big tiers because one cracked but otherwise i did it!!! Thank goodness for CC because like you I have been studying it for two months aren't you so glad its here!!! Best wishes to you I hope it all goes well and then you can post your pics and take a great big well deserved breath!!!

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ME2 Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:36am
post #11 of 38

Imartsy

You said you made your own editable pearls? How? Would love to learn!

ME2

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fourangelsmommie Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:46am
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I'm almost sitting here crying....my first wedding cake is due Friday night at 5:30 and will be a 'small' reception at my work for a co-worker. It went from 40 people to almost 90 now, and she told me today that instead of just serving cake and punch, she now wants food too. So, my co-workers are scrambling to make little sandwiches and stuff, but I somehow got put in charge of all of it.

My 'gift' to her is making the cake, which is my first. My fillings are starting to ooze out of the sides even though I put a 'wall' of icing 1/4" around from the inside.

Then I thought I would try sugarshack's icing recipe in a post I found a few days ago cause I can never get my icing smooth. It isn't crusting for some reason. It's like the crumb coat isn't drying, so when I tried to put on the final coat, it just smears the crumb coat all around and lifts off from the cake. Then, when I think I get the sides smoothed a little, it pushes the icing back on the top so there is a high ring of icing around the top. HELP.

I'm out of viva papertowels too, so I'm trying to make due with some computer paper......still not smooth icing.

Plus, I'm scared that with me working 8-5:30 M-F, and having Wilton class 3 on Thursday from 6-8, I won't have enough time to finish.

Not only that, but I'm gonna have to set up the cake at work EARLY Friday morning before work, and it will have to sit in the conference room all day until the reception. I can keep the room very cold, but I just feel so unprepared for this.


It really makes me doubt whether I want to do anymore cakes or not. I've enjoyed it so far, but all the stress and self doubt really don't help.

Plus I feel like everyone is judging me on this cake. I had hoped to get a few more orders from this, but at the rate I'm going, I think I had better just order a cake from Wal-mart and try to pass it off as my own. It wouldn't taste better but it would really look better than mine right now.

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christeena Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 2:43am
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Fourangelsmommy-

I had the same problem with the filling oozing and my engineer husband said, "well, just take a small spoon or knife and scrape it away at least 1/2 inch into the cavity and then smear icing over it, CHILL in fridge until cold and then quickly put on your final coat of icing." IT WORKED! The filling didn't ooze out anymore and the crumb coat was firmed up cold so that I could get it iced well enough to finish decorating! I feel your pain! I refuse to do cakes for anyone that isn't close friends or family - I don't need that added STRESS in my life over something that is supposed to be FUN!! Good - luck! icon_smile.gif

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CakeRN Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 5:01am
post #14 of 38

I have my first wedding cake this weekend too. It is not a paid one since I am doing it for my son and dil. I made my cakes this past weekend and froze them and plan to thaw them today (Wed) , ice them thursday and do the final stuff on friday. The wedding is Saturday evening. I am so stressed that I came down with my husbands cold, feel like sh*t and very uncertain too.
I am putting royal icing drop flowers on the cake in swags but it will be iced in buttercream. I wondered if the royal flowers will be ok if I put them on the buttercream on friday for the wedding on Sat. Will they end up too soggy and fall off? I need to connect the flowers with a green vine. Should I use royal for that or just do buttercream ?
After buying pans and all my husband said it would have been cheaper to just buy the dang cake but it is not the same. My first 16 inch round did not come out right. The whole center stuck to the pan so the next one I did I used the parchement circles and they came out ok. I did white cake and instead of doing pudding I added 1/4 c flour to the mix and 1 tsp vanilla. I hope it tastes ok ....Any suggestions?

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CakeRN Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 5:17am
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If you go to this website and click on products the cake my DIL to be wants is the one that has the C4050 cake jewelry on it. Vey simple but for a novice it is stressing me out. She doesn't want a topper on it...which is like not wearing earrings to a formal affair.
http://www.cake-jewelry.com/

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CakeRN Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 7:40am
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bumpity bump bump

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Laura102777 Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 12:08pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sundine2

If you go to this website and click on products the cake my DIL to be wants is the one that has the C4050 cake jewelry on it. Vey simple but for a novice it is stressing me out. She doesn't want a topper on it...which is like not wearing earrings to a formal affair.
http://www.cake-jewelry.com/




That's a beautiful cake! I'm sure you'll do a great job, and I think that cake will look perfectly beautiful even without a topper. It's just a matter of personal taste, I guess. I see alot of cakes that I think look just as good without toppers. And hey, at least she hasn't picked out some tacky monstrosity that you have to put on top of your beautiful cake, ya know?

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dodibug Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 12:55pm
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fourangels-for the filling you need to use really stiff bc for the dam,then put in your filling no higher than the dam,put the cakes together then let them sit like an hour or more so they can settle. If you have small leaks at that point you can patch it with icing then crumb coat. I caution against using christeena's method for this because your cakes are going to have to sit for a while and you don't want a problem when the cakes warm to room temp. What kinds of fillings are you using? If you are using perishable they can't sit from very early Frid to after work. But we can offer you some suggestions! Don't worry!

For smoothing, get your icing on the cake, smooth sides first then the top that way you can pull the ridge that you get at the top edge to the center of the cake top. Also try this-get your coat of icing on and semi-smoothed then stick the cake in the freezer for about 15-20 min take it out and smooth again. Should work for you! Also do you have one of those spackler type tools (under $1 at wal-mart). They really help with smoothing.

Don't what design you are doing but if you really feel like you need it you can do some swiss dots on the sidesof the cakes to kind of camoflauge mistakes but let us see the cake before you get crazy-we'll give you honest opinions! It will look much better to everyone else-trust me! We are our own worst critics!!

sundine2-I always add some kind of extract to my cake mix but I'm not sure how the flour will affect the flavor-never done that but it shoudl be just fine! You have a good plan for getting things ready so you will be fine!

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LeckieAnne Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:17pm
post #19 of 38

I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one freaking out. Although - I did make some changes to my design for the 200 mini cakes and frosted a couple of samples last night. I'm feeling much better about it today.

Don't give up - at least 10 times I said I'd never make another cake as long as I live. I learn something new every time, and I'm still making cakes.

And -- thank goodness for everyone here!!! And the Wilton Cake instructor who gives me advice too!

I use royal icing to make the dam between my layers. It dries very hard and the filling definitely does not ooze out. Wait for it to dry hard before you fill.

Everyone should post here next week so we can see what our cakes turned out like.

Best of luck to everyone!!!!

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Karenelli Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:19pm
post #20 of 38

Good Luck SheronC. I'm sure we all have felt the same stress and it isn't fun. I have awedding cake to do way in December and I am stressing NOW over it. What will it be like the week before!! I can only guess. You though are SOOOO ready you will have no problems. Your corono cake is great so will the wedding cake be. We are all rooting for you!!!!

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dolcesunshine20 Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 1:26pm
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I have a wedding to do this weekend too. Not my first, but I have to bake with the 18 in. half rounds....I hate that size!!! Actually, the wedding is Friday and I haven't started baking yet, so i need to get off of here and get busy. After you crumbcoat your cake, freeze it for about 20 min. or so, that always works wonderfully for me. =) Hope everyone's endeavors turns out wonderfully!

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Digit Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 5:28pm
post #22 of 38

I did one wedding cake for my brother, it was small and informal, so no big deal. My cousin just asked me to do her wedding cake for next fall. My first paid wedding cake--for 350 people! I was hoping my first wedding cake would be for a small wedding. The delivery and on site set up is what I'm really nervous about! I'll probably be a basket case that day. It definately helps to know that other people are in the same boat! I have a lot of time to prepare, but I've still been on CC learning as much as I can. Everyone is so wonderful about sharing their wealth of knowledge. Before CC I had no idea where to find the answers to my questions!

I wish you the best of luck this weekend! Would love to hear how it turns out!

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mbelgard Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 5:36pm
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My first wedding cake isn't this weekend it's next weekend and I've started having nightmares. icon_lol.gif It's for my sister so it's not a paid cake, which I'm very grateful for.
I have to decorate it and transport it 300 miles so I'm a little stressed, I have kids and a camper to get ready to go too.
Then I was crazy enough to take an order for Tuesday for cake to feed 100.

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Raindiddy Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 5:45pm
post #24 of 38

First congratulations sheronc on your first wedding cake!!! Just relax and you will be just fine. I notice when I stress out I ususally tense up and that affects me when decorating. As for me, I have a wedding cake this weekend too. It's not my first one but it's definitely the largest I've done. It's to feed 350 guest. It has so much going on that I'm just nervous that it might be too much. The bride has 75 real orange roses being delivered for me to arrange on the cake and then she has a fountain with the stairs and she wants candles on the statirs.... I'm driving myself crazy right about now. It's a total of 11 cakes all double layers (w/ filling)!!! So wish me luck as well and I'll keep you all who have cakes this weekend in mind when I'm setting up on Saturday afternoon!

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Laura102777 Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 6:18pm
post #25 of 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raindiddy

First congratulations sheronc on your first wedding cake!!! Just relax and you will be just fine. I notice when I stress out I ususally tense up and that affects me when decorating. As for me, I have a wedding cake this weekend too. It's not my first one but it's definitely the largest I've done. It's to feed 350 guest. It has so much going on that I'm just nervous that it might be too much. The bride has 75 real orange roses being delivered for me to arrange on the cake and then she has a fountain with the stairs and she wants candles on the statirs.... I'm driving myself crazy right about now. It's a total of 11 cakes all double layers (w/ filling)!!! So wish me luck as well and I'll keep you all who have cakes this weekend in mind when I'm setting up on Saturday afternoon!




Good luck with that cake! I think I would cry if I put that much work into a potentially beautiful cake and had the bride go so crazy with all the embellishments that it ended up gawdy! I hope that's not what happens here!

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CakeRN Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 6:58pm
post #26 of 38

I am putting royal icing drop flowers on the cake in swags but it will be iced in buttercream. I wondered if the royal flowers will be ok if I put them on the buttercream on friday for the wedding on Sat. Will they end up too soggy and fall off? I need to connect the flowers with a green vine. Should I use royal for that or just do buttercream ?

Anyone?

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Raindiddy Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 7:12pm
post #27 of 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laura102777

Good luck with that cake! I think I would cry if I put that much work into a potentially beautiful cake and had the bride go so crazy with all the embellishments that it ended up gawdy! I hope that's not what happens here!





I plan on doing what ever I have to in order to make this cake a beautiful work of art and not a gawdy hunk of cake!!!!! I will be sure to post a pic on Sunday...that's if I have enough energy left to make it to the computer! I have to cut the cake at the reception too.

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fourangelsmommie Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 7:21pm
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Well, I had to rebake all of them this morning because I had crumbed, filled, and tried to smooth and then put in the fridge. Got them out this morning to check on them and every single cake was oozing filling out the sides and bottom of the cakes. Almost like the filling just caused the cake to turn to mush.

So, I rebaked this morning, will crumb coat and fill tonight, and pray that tomorrow after class that I can smooth and decorate.

Everyone at work said the cakes were YUMMY, though a little mushy. I said I'm glad they taste good, cause they may not LOOK good by Friday.

Our wilton instructor taught us to dump the icing on top of the cake and then push it out and down the sides. Never to smooth the sides first and then pull it back into the middle. No wonder I can't get the 'ridge' of icing where the top meets the sides smooth. It's all bunched up there.

I was going to do some scroll work and some bc roses, which I made at lunch today. If I can keep co-workers from eating them, then I will be ok.

I'll take pictures.
Thanks guys! I appreciate the help.

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Digit Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 7:49pm
post #29 of 38

sundine2

I think you'd be fine to put the royal flowers on the day before. I attach my royal flowers with buttercream, I always do it the day before and I've never had a problem. They've never gotten soft. I would use buttercream for the vine as well.

Good luck.

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imartsy Posted 23 Aug 2006 , 8:00pm
post #30 of 38

Okay so question about transporting.... I'm doing this cake - my first wedding cake - first time w/ pearls (oh by the way - go to earlene's site - i think it's something like earlenescakes.com and they have instructions on making pearls) first time w/ a bow...... what was I thinking? icon_smile.gif

Anyway, I have two issues:

1) the cakes I'm planning on making I've made some practice 6 in. ones of and they seem to fall a litle in the middle and they are VERY moist... I'm wondering about structure... (Oh using the dark chocolate cake recipe from this site and then I just last night used vanilla powder in replace of cocoa powder to make a vanilla one - we'll see how that turns out flavor-wise)

2) How should I transport this? It's a very small wedding and I'm taking the cake to a restaurant - so I feel like I should already have it assembled..... can you stick a dowel rod through the cardboard cake board if it's covered in contact paper? I don't want the board to bend so I was going to do that.... actually I was going to use plates but I'm not so sure which idea is best....

Anyone willing to share advice is most greatly appreciated!!
LL

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