Yeah, I know I'm always the first one to say, "if you have to ask the question . . . . then yes."

But . . .

I just found a string of light up orchids. No, not those strings of patio lights. These are delicate and actually pretty. The first thing I thought of was that they'd look great as a cascade down a cake. I can hide the battery pack in the topper.

Then I thought, "brides love shiny/sparkly/blingy."

Am I in the ditch here?

I'm probably gonna buy a string no matter what you say, but talk me out of it if I'm having a brain lapse.

I don't think that it would be tacky if done in a floral arrangement or cascade with other flowers down the cake. I think it would actually look really neat and pretty especially for an evening wedding where the lights are dimmed.

Like you, my first impulse is to say yes to something like this, lol, but I'd have to see them to give a definitive answer.

But in this case, my instinct is that if YOU didn't immediately think it was cheesy/tacky (let's face it lady, you have an eye for gorgeous design), then they'll probably look nice.

thanks guys. Here's the website.

http://www.batteryoperatedcandles.net/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BOC&Product_Code=led-white-orchid

Adorable.

Leah, I think you're on to something! Please post a picture if/when you use them.

I agree, if you liked them, they can't be bad! I bet that would be beautiful at an evening wedding!

so funny leah.........I saw these in an ltd catalog and my DD wants them for a "night light" in her room and I thought......how could that go on a cake, they look so pretty!!

http://www.ltdcommodities.com/Lighted-Flower-Branches/cat_item_pg.asp?G=836&P=59&Rec=1&Ntt=orchid&N=37&Nao=0&R=473078-4FLWORC1

I thought you were gonna be talking about these at first............i like the garland idea!

Very cute.
Leah, if anybody could make them look beautiful on a cake it's you

I'm gonna buy a string.

let us know if they look realistic in person, sometimes it's too hard to tell in a picture!

I think it would work,

Sorry, they are kinda pretty, but anything that lights up is, by its very nature, going to be tacky. JMO, for which you asked.

With brides going for the bling look, I foresee these becoming very popular.

what color is the cord and how hard will it be to hide?

these would definitely look pretty encircling the base.

I'd give anything that lights up on a wedding cake a "no" vote. It does veer into redneck wedding territory regardless of what the lights look like.

i thought they were pretty. and done right they could be beautiful on a cake. I think you could really pull it off, on the elegant and bling factor.

Lighted cakes remind me of the lighted cake fountains, so I still vote no. It's the kind of thing people would look at and say "what the heck?" and not in a good way, while the bride stood there and thought it was beautiful because it was shiiiiiiny.

I will add that this week I'm doing a groom's cake that has a lighted panel inside it, but it's a computer. I'm not saying no lights on cakes under any circumstances, it depend on the context. On a robot cake yes, on the outside of a wedding cake it's too much like Christmas tree lights.

They look pretty in the picture and I can see where you are going,but is there a return policy? Sometimes once you see something like that in person it might not live up to your standards.

Meh . . .we'll see.

Sorry, but orchids don't light up and anything that unnatural is not stylish - it's nature made hideous.

Tacky? Most definitely.

Cris.

Tacky or not is a question of taste, but i'd have to say that it would be very unsafe if they are made like regular string up lights. There are warning labels on most string/christmas style lights (which are imported) to wash hand throughly because the PVC coating contains lead to aid in flexibility.

So i'm thinking that if children are warned against touching them, and hand washing is encouraged afterwards, i wouldn't be putting them on an edible item.

I for one really dislike the extreme elements that cakes are starting to sprout. I know all the TV shows are going wild with them but for me I think there's nothing like an elegant cake without wires, spinning boards and fireworks spewing out of them. Simple and elegant for me. Pam from Bama

I saw a take in a magazine (sorry, don't remember which one) where they put lights inside a bowl that was not solid see through, it had a design kind of like that wavy block glass kind of stuff. The bowl was a separator for the cake layers. It had a shimmer come out through the glass. It was very pretty. Depending on how you use them, it would look very nice.

I also agree with cakes going over the top. I read a review on a famous-on-tv cake place where the lady was disappointed that what she got was not all cake, but mostly RKT and modeling chocolate for the figurines on her cake top. She didn't know that only the base would be cake. I think that some people just are naive when it comes to what is actually under all the frosting and fondant sometimes. And I think it has to do with what they see on TV and what they don't show either.

I agree with two other posters before me.

If anything you can always use them to decorate the table. That would look very pretty.

I think it might work if you incorporate some other gumpaste flowers with the lighted ones ... but I would be careful not to over do them ... 60 inches of lighted orchids could be a bit much.