Not A Pro...is It Hard To Make Wedding Cakes?
Decorating By Ashleymamaof4 Updated 8 Aug 2014 , 12:32pm by kkmcmahan
I have to laugh because I save to my hard drive all the time. Not only is it a quick reference, but it keeps me from spending TOO MUCH TIME on OTHER FUN parts of this Site! Before you know it, I've got an hour or two in here when I just neede to look at something for 5 minutes! 
AshleyMamaof4, Congrats! I am getting married on 6/6/09 and I have decided that I'm doing my own cake, also. I'm practicing alot on birthday cakes, etc., and hopefully I'll be much better by then. My cake will be chocolate. That's about the only thing my future hubby has requested in the whole wedding arena -- a chocolate wedding cake. I planned on using chocolate buttercream. Lately I've been toying with the idea of using ganache. I don't know. I'm in SC and it'll definitely be hot, humid. The buttercream will probably win out because I have one recipe I love, but it just needs to be a little stiffer. It's in Toba Garrett's book. 
I have a cake topper that is a fireman in yellow/gold turnout gear and a lovely bride. So, I'm thinking of making a chocolate cake with yellow/gold accents. How about daisies? Yellow roses would work, too. I do love swags! I'll have to incorporate that somehow. 
Best of luck with your cake. I'm having fun dreaming up mine!
One question, though, for all the experienced bakers....I want my cakes to be a little more moist. I've tried several recipes and I do them by the book. They are dense and good-tasting, but I want it a little more moist. A friend said that maybe I am beating the batter too much. Have you ever heard of that?
Lisa
OMG!!! I had to post something so I won't lose this thread. JanH, thank you so much for going through the trouble of compiling all the links and organizing them the way you did. Talk about TONS of priceless information, all together in one site. And thanks to all the contributors with their recipes and techniques.
jan h is such a valuable member here....i look for her posts when i'm looking up stuff in the archives...it has saved me so much time...so many times...THANK YOU JAN H!
Ahhh, just hire it out, and go to get your nails done the day before. I was up til midnight the night before my wedding, just dealing with the last minute details, and I didn't do my cake, flowers, or catering. As one CCer mentioned "everyone" will just need "a minute" of your time the day before AND the day of your wedding. Do you really want all the extra stress of making your own cake???
If I were you I'd use that time to make up a basket of goodies for you and your new hubby's wedding night. Put in all his favorite junk food, oh and don't forget some champagne, cheese & crackers, bubble bath, candles, massage oil, slippers. You get the idea. Have someone drop it off at the hotel and surprise him. Enjoy your day together, you only get one.
Ahhh, just hire it out, and go to get your nails done the day before. I was up til midnight the night before my wedding, just dealing with the last minute details, and I didn't do my cake, flowers, or catering. As one CCer mentioned "everyone" will just need "a minute" of your time the day before AND the day of your wedding. Do you really want all the extra stress of making your own cake???
If I were you I'd use that time to make up a basket of goodies for you and your new hubby's wedding night. Put in all his favorite junk food, oh and don't forget some champagne, cheese & crackers, bubble bath, candles, massage oil, slippers. You get the idea. Have someone drop it off at the hotel and surprise him. Enjoy your day together, you only get one.
I totally agree!! Go out and spoil yourself before your big day!
I make my kids birthday cakes and I can't believe the amount of stress I am under just trying to get the balloons up and the cake done in time! I just can't imagine trying to do that for my wedding!
Hi... just wanted to say if you feel you can do it... then do it! My first ever wedding cake (was also my first tiered cake and just my 4th ever cake!) was for my own wedding and everytime I look through the pictures I feel really proud of myself and saved myself a lot of money in the process! My advice would be to be hyper organised with all the other wedding bits and have everything planned down to a tee of what you are doing...! I did a 12" fruit cake on the bottom.. which meant it could be made in advance (handy!), a 10" vanilla sponge in the middle and a 8" chocolate on the top! I used silk flowers as I thought doing my own flowers would be a bit too much! I loved doing it and everyone couldn't believe i had the time to fit it all in! ( I even worked up to 2 days before the wedding!) Thinking back I must have been a bit crazy but I am sooo glad I did it! I will try to post a pic for you to see (gosh I'm like a proud mummy! Lol!) Good luck if you decide to do it and if you want any advice from someone who has done it before then feel free to get in touch!
I think the hardest part is the pressure. First your nervous because you think "Oh God! What did I just do!!!" and then you get excited about doing it.
Then its back to being nervous when your baking and then decorating because you want it to be perfect. Then when your happy with your results you have to drive this thing which goes back to being nervous!!!
Haha, well, I'm a professional hairstylist and I couldn't even do my own hair that day. I had to get my mom to do it (she's a professional hairstylist too). But I had originally told her for her to do the up do and I would take care of my front pieces(curl them how I wanted). Well, needless to say I was so nervous I probably would have burned myself, so I got her to do it.
I can't imagine doing my own cake and where to find time to. Unless it doesn't matter to you if you take part in decorating the hall, etc.
If you do decide to go for it, here is a link on stacking:
To me stacking cakes is a simple task!!! No need to assemble when you bring it to the hall, because it's all done! Good luck!
Sorry me again.. I jus thought of something else I wanted to mention.... if you find stacking the cakes a bit daunting... then you could hire a stand where you can leave them separate, like the 'S' or 'C' or swan shaped stands (if that makes sense, then you don't have to worry about doweling them, or worry about problems with leaning / settling or the journey to the venue etc!
... I will try to post a pic for you to see (gosh I'm like a proud mummy! Lol!)....
As you should be! Your cake is beautiful! Hard to believe it was your first stacked, your first wedding, your fourth altogether, and YOUR OWN wedding at that! You are very talented.
Jan
I dont know how I missed this when you first posted all the info, but i'm so happy to have found it now! Thank you so much for taking the time to list all of that.
Hi, Congratulations!! I am a newbie and do not have much information to offer; however, if you are well organized you will be able to do it. Have a well thought out plan and stick to the plan. I wish you luck and besure to post a picture for us.
Also, thank you Jan and everyone else for your invaluable information. So cool to have so much priceless information all in once place.
JanH to the rescue,how can novices like me not save this thread,wow. congrats on your wedding.
I think if you have a big desire to do your own wedding cake out of love for baking and accompishment...then go for it.
But if you are doing it to save money, you'll need to get real about your costs. You'll need to buy quite a bit of equipment like pans, drums, boards, decorating bags, tips, spatulas etc. unless you know someone you can borrow them from. Then realistically you'll need to practice your recipes a and decorating your cake a few times before the big event. When you get down to it, ingredients are more costly than people think. Now you have to tack on your stress level. I don't think you'll be saving yourself a lot of money.
Thank you so much everyone for the advice, and as everyone else I cherish Jan for her post! It's been a while since I posted this, and I have practied quite a bit and I do feel like I'm ready! I also saved quite a bit on my supplies.
May I suggest this book by Dede Wilson, it's perfect for you.
"Wedding Cakes You Can Make -- Designing, baking and decorating the perfect wedding cake."
The back of the book says,
Make the cake? Yes, you can. If you love to bake and are willing to make a spectacular wedding cake and - and you don't have to be a pastry chef to do it! Let... Dede guide you through every layer of the process from choosing flavors, styles, to baking, assembling and decorating your way to a beautiful cake.
I definitely recommend it because she explains all of the equipment necessary.
I also think you can do it, but I also stress that it will take more time than you think. Ideally, there will be a walk in cooler or something at your venue so your cake will be at the site the day before. I did mine, but it was a fairly simple design, and I used a cake stand that I rented where each cake was on it's own stand and they were at three different levels. Think of three different pedestals, each a different height, but all attached to the same base. So I just put the stand out and someone else put the cakes on the stand for me. I did have to buy a set a round pans, but I have gotten my moneys worth out of them in other cakes I have made. Also, be prepared for it to not be perfect (mine wasn't, due to underestimating how many royal icing roses I was going to need). It will be less stress on you if you can handle some flaws, and also you are likely to just not have time to make everything perfect (I think this is good advice for every part of a wedding).
Good luck!
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