LMAO..
Those are in my dream also.... And I swear.. where does the pink water in the fountain come from? I can just see it now....
It's the result of the marching plastic people as they try to kill themselves to get off of those stairs by drowning themselves in the water fountain ... and water-soluable paint on their little hand painted pink gowns begin to fade .... fade .... fade away!!!
You know, wedding cakes are stressful for me too, I have major anxiety before doing one. The payoff is great though.
I have only done 6 in ten years but I only do cakes for friends and family. But with the last one I did I honestly just tweeked my thinking a little.
It was 5 teirs and it was just five cakes...that is it. This was just 5 cakes I was making and decorating....and I did it. It was one big mama but it was a wonderful bride and experience...I was proud of myself afterwards....
I dont like to do wedding cakes either and yes, for me it is a confidence issue and stacking cakes just scares me. I have done them but they scare me.
I did a push in pillar cake (in gallery) about 2 weeks ago and it was so much fun. I decorated the entire cake at home on each plate, took it to the event and then put it together and added the flowers. so easy and stress free.
I also hate roses and agree yes, you can buy them but i have been practicing and here are a few sites that have some amazing videos to watch. Also,you could try making them out of fondant/gumpaste the duff way. they are very easy and look very pretty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1TRhax-okw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRDIBwiwugM&feature=related
You guys are breaking my heart.
I have this mini-fantasy that when I get married I'll have an 80s theme and just do everything over-the-top. I have to wear the UGLIEST dress for my friend's wedding later this month, and I think the appropriate payback would be something in Teal or Peach with a big butt bow and pouffy sleeves. There will be many tissue-paper bells as well.
And then I will have my MONSTROUS cake with forty-eight plastic people on stairs with fountains and buttercream swags.
It will be AWESOME.
*cue evil laugh*
Christi, you really do great work! Take an order if you want to.
for me, the first wedding cake I did at cost. I was so friggin scared I was going to RUIN this ladies wedding. I kept saying no, she kept saying she had confidence in me. I took the cake in the 3 tiers seperate and took it to the site. I stacked them up and proceeded to put 100 buttercream roses around the layers (learned how to make them for this cake). As I'm doing it, from a room empties out a meeting of HOA people, well over 100 people, they kind of circle around me and are watching me put on all of these buttercream roses and asking me questions. I started sweating and shaking. I finally finished everything and got out FAST.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=73765
My second wedding cake I charged more for, still was totally freaked out. Had to deliver it in a thunder storm. It had bubbles under the fondant. I went home and threw up multiple times after the delivery. And I was determined that I would never again make another wedding cake because my nerves couldn't take it. Then I ran into the brides parents in WM the next week and they said that she loved the cake, it was better than she ever imagined, it tasted amazing, people were talking about the flavor and that they've never had such a good wedding cake. So I decided I would do more...
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=746103
That was 1 year ago on June 30th! I have 4 this week and I'm sitting here typing... not stressed. You can do it!! The first couple... few... are going to be hard, but just keep on!
Christi,
You do *great* cakes and have enormous amounts of skills.
Maybe instead of seeing your hesitations as drawbacks, see them as strengths? And, I'm just thinking aloud here, but maybe even use this as a marketing tool? I.e., You do elegant, sophisticated, tasteful cakes, and refuse to do anything that's 'dated,' gaudy, or 'cheap.'
Of course, taste in cake decoration is in the eye of the beholder, but you might use your sensitivity to style as a sort of trademark. Brides who are looking for that style will be drawn to you, and those who aren't, won't.
Think of it this way: Say you were an exceptional seamstress, who just couldn't make herself sew lacy, puffy-sleeved, massively-skirted, unflattering wedding gowns. You had the luxury, at least at this point, of turning down those you didn't want to do, and sewing only dresses which were simple, flattering, and elegant. You'd acquire a reputation, and it may even increase your value in the marketplace (i.e., if you actually turn down some brides, then maybe you have amazing talent).
I don't know. Just a few thoughts and there probably are things I'm not considering.
I am afraid though... that in my area the 70ish to 80ish style cakes are still in the norm... Not that there is anything wrong wiith people who do them... that is great!!! Because let me tell you.. I think it is HELLUVA lot harder to do the swags of the 70's then the little duff style roses that I wanna do LOL... but just not me..
I think I will just tell them... here is what I do.. here is what I don't do... you can take me up on what I am experiences are or you are more then welcome to find a decorater that meets your needs 
How's that?
Of course it won't sound as nasty as that little comment looks LOL (I really didn't mean it to be nasty)
You know, for years I couldn't make a buttercream rose. I tried and they just came out like cabbages. There were actually years that I didn't make any cakes because if I couldn't make roses then I wasn't a real cake decorator 
And one day a friend wanted to show me how they made them in the bakery she worked at...and hers were worse than mine...but I learned one valuable tip from her...that the basic rose technique needs to be adapted for warm or humid climates.
Make the center cones on squares of waxed paper. Freeze those little puppies until they're nice and stiff (and laugh every time you put a bunch of pink ones in the freezer, you'll see why). Then put a little smear of frosting on your flower nail, attach one waxed paper square with a frozen center cone on it, and pipe your petals on. Then put the flower on the nail into the fridge until it gets firm, and then it can be put on the cake. You need a few flower nails to do it this way...but it works for me when nothing else ever did.
So once I could make roses, I made roses on everyone's cakes for a year...and now that I'm into fondant, I like it much better and wonder why I spent so many years trying to perfect the buttercream rose.
dawncr has an excellent point.
Look at Vera Wang, who single-handedly reinvented the wedding gown industry. Her gowns have nary a candy-box bow on the butt, a basque waistline, or a skirt big enough to hide a small army of feral children.
Do you really think her business is taking a hit for it??
Go, Christi, go!!!
LMAO..
Those are in my dream also.... And I swear.. where does the pink water in the fountain come from? I can just see it now....
not a dream. a nightmare. right? 
Christi, I know exactly how you fill. I want do another wedding cake ever. I just can't do elegance. But I have looked at your work, and you do a fantastic job. If I had the imagination and the skill to do the kind of work you do, I would probable think twice at maybe doing a wedding cake. But as I read someone else here say that if you don't like to do pillars and such, maybe you could suggest to the client to go with staked cakes. They can be just as elegant and romantic as any other. But you have to do what you feel is right for you. I try and have the name of someone else that I think does great wedding cakes on hand to refer the client to. I too am not able to do BC roses or flowers well. I don't know if anything that you have read here has helped or not. I hope so. The people on this site are so great. They are always here for anyone in need of help or just to vent to. Good luck.
I have found that making the roses out of royal icing is much easier. Let the centers harden some (just like in the post by Texas Rose but just with royal icing and no freezer)
RI roses harden so that they are easier to touch and place on the cakes. Then when you get more practice you can work with the BC roses with ease.
All that being said, in my area, there are lots of people/bakeries who ONLY do the 80s style BC only cakes. Hardly any one will do the fondant/gumpaste work. If they can refuse to do fondant why can't you refuse the other style.
I think what others have said is right find a good baker that you can send referrals to and then they can send referrals to you on the ones they wont do.
I can totally relate...sort of....I don't do wedding cakes...Period. Oh I know I can do them but I choose not to.I don't want the stress of making,driving and setting up. I have had numerous inquiries and I always refer them to someone who does do weddings.It is no shame and if you don't want to do them...then don't!!! I do just fine with the novelty side of cakes and just this past few months have increased my prices so that I can take on less and still make a good profit!!
I don't think it's bad business in the least. Everyone has to find their niche/style and if those types of cakes just aren't you, they just aren't you. I don't like them either and won't do them. I can't even imagine buying some of that stuff. My space is limited, I'd rather house the stuff I will use.
There's a market for so many different things, don't feel you have to cater to every single one of them.
If making 80's style cakes is not your thing then just position yourself as a contemporary cake designer. be sure you present a portfolio that shows the work you like to do.
you definately have a cake style and I guarantee you there are brides out there who want what you've got.
figure out how to target that contemporary bride and advertise right to them.
I too dread being watched while I set up a cake. I would rather walk naked down the street than have the bride in the room while I am setting up. My first wedding cake the bride just stood there watching me. She was very friendly and probably just interested in how it was done but I was so nervous.
I'm not sure if I'll ever like having an audience during set up.
And keep in mind that if you have a website that's full of photos of non-pillared and staircased cakes, you'll probably get the message across that you don't do that style. If I do a cake that I don't care for I just don't put it on my website. In all of the bride focus groups that my bridal association has run in the last few years, every single bride said that they started their vendor research on the internet. If they don't care for a vendor's style they'll just move on to the next person.
Go to the links section on this website and there are a lot of links to decorators' sites. You can also go to www.ices.org and there are a lot of member links.
That latest cake you made, you know, the one with the wilted snowman, would be a great wedding cake. And that's the trend today, moving away from pillars.
I think you could build a completely profitable business with never a pillar.
I don't think I've ever seen Duff or Colette do pillars at all.
I do lots of wedding cakes, I have a bakery and have 2 or 3 wedding cakes per weekend. let me tell you the number of tiered cakes I've done this year...0. they aren't popular right now, yeah!
neither are the stairs, or the fountains.
once in a great moon I'll get a bride who mentions that style and with out being rude I laugh and say, I haven't seen that design in a long time...then they look around at the mags and internet and change their minds. lol
you do what you love, but wedding cakes make a lot more of a profit than a little $40.00 birthday cake.
melody
You know, right now I work in a bakery that has been around since 1929, and when I first came here the only wedding book they had was a photo montage of creepily floral cakes on pillars with fountains and plastic wafer crap all over them...it took a lot of work to get customers to order anything differerent, but i've since realized that at first, the only customers who would come for us for wedding cakes were the ones who's gramda and great grandma and great great grandma had had their wedding cakes here...after some advertising and skillful suggestion-ing on our parts, we've started receiving business for some cooler wedding cakes, and I've realize that the majority of people ordering cakes right now DON'T actually want the frilly fountainey stuff...and if they do, it's simply because something else hasn't been suggested.
But as far as whether or not it's bad business, there's no way it can be bad business. You don't have to take every cake that comes. Establish your own identity, and people will seek you out for what you are and for what you can do, and you won' thave to worry about the rest. Fountains and stairs and all of that were created as shortcuts...it's a lot harder and more time-consuming to make stuff out of fondant and buttercream and put it on the cake. So don't feel bad.
But do learn to make roses. There are some tutorial videos on youtube. If you lived in Illinois, I'd show you myself! It's so easy once you get the idea of it!
So in closing, offer what you offer, your business is unique just like you and that's what people will come to you for! You make the rules now! You're the boss!
when i first started, I didnt want to do wedding cakes either I only did 6 my first year and was a nervous wreck with all of them. But then I discovered that I can make more money doing 5 weddings a week then 25 birthday cakes. Wedding cakes are more FUN to do, more interesting, and I actually find them easier! This year I will do over 100 weddings and I don't want to do birthday cakes anymore!! Wanna trade? haha!
OMG!!! I have been LMAO about the pillars and stairways, totally in agreement 
and wouldn't you know....I have a friend at work who asked me to make her daughter's wedding cake. The daughter and fiance are coming in next week for the wedding and mom is planning the whole thing. Guess what type of cake she is insisting on?????? PILLARS, SWAGS, RUFFLES ETC ETC 
I AM GETTING SICK I swear on my cake batter I will never laugh/make fun of pillars again. I can't believe this. My coworker said I just LOVE all the gaudy swags and ruffles and pillars the more the better. I am having nightmares and I can't back out now the wedding is next Friday. She wants me to draw up a sketch of the design??? oh help me PLEASE. I wish I could describe the cake topper she bought. It is too BIG for the 6" top tier but she wants to use it anyways, because she doesn't want a lot of cake left over. I will ask more questions next time before I say yes 
Oh well live and learn. I will post a picture of this frilly mess next week if I am not too embarassed by it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still think you need a challenge...
*ahem*
Sorry about that post....... I keep trying to delete it, but it won't let me... ??
Anyway, I was going to say that a lot of us were around decorating cakes long before fondant and gumpaste came to America... Buttercream was fashionable and just as much an artform.. Old decorating books will confirm that.. Fondant is stylish, and in vogue today, but lets give the pioneers of this industry their due reward.. Those styles may be old fashioned by today's standards, but none the less just as artistic.. IMHO
I'm laughing at Indydebi yet again, boy do we think a like. I'd much rather do a pillar cake than a tiered cake. For me they seem sturdier. I am though being forced to like the tiers. Wgoat just keep up the GREAT work and don't fear. You can conquer those fears and I'd love someone to pay me 850.00 for a cake All my Brides stay around 300-400 Boy would I like to double that!!!!
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