i am making my sister's wedding cake at the end of this moth. she wants several cakes instead of one big one. there are two that she requested and i don't really know how to go about making them. any tips would be appreciated!! i need to start practicing!

http://pinterest.com/pin/176766354095268206/
(its the one in the front)

http://pinterest.com/pin/176766354094603565/

Lacey, it would be much more helpful if you could provide photos or a detailed description on your cake decorating abilities. Asking for "help" could mean a HUGE range of things from how to get a level cake to how to make gum paste flowers.

Specific questions about each of the cakes in your "pinterest" photos will be needed. What is your decorating skill level?

well to be more specific, i do not mean to make it seem like i don't know how to make a cake. i was referring more to the decorations on the cakes shown.

i understand that the first cake is decorated with gumpaste leaves or petals (not sure which one). i'm not quite sure how to attach the leaves to get that effect.

as far as the second cake, are the ruffles made out of gumpaste or fondant? do i attach them with royal icing, and if so, does that make it difficult to cut? i would assume that i need to roll thin strips of fondant and roll them with a ball tool. however, what i am wondering is if i make the ruffles the circumference of the cake, or do i just do strips that are a few inches long?

thanks for the advice.....

I did a tutorial on the ruffle cake.
http://www.keeponcaking.com/2011/11/pink-ruffle-cake/

Those ruffles look thinner than mine so I would probably do a 50/50 fondant and gumpaste. I personally wouldn't use 100% gumpaste because of the cutting..they would shatter and not look as pretty.

The rose cake someone just described really well on here. I haven't done one myself but I would just attach the petals with buttercream to a buttercream cake or water or piping gel if it's a fondant covered cake. The nice thing about the rose cake is you can make the center rose and all the petals in advance

You can use fondant and modelling chocolate for the ruffly one, too. Here are my articles about both styles of cake. Good lord, those two are popular right now aren't they? All over the place...

http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2011/11/ruffle-wedding-cake-tutorial.html

http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2012/07/exploded-flowers-wedding-cake-with.html

For petal cake:

ChrisJack1 offers this tutorial on creating ruffled petals:
http://cakecentral.com/tutorial/petal-cake

If you read it, you will notice that he cuts the tips off the petals. I don't cut mine off if I want petals. I just use my ball tool and ruffled all of the petals. If you are working with buttercream, use a little royal icing to attach and if using fondant use water.

I wouldn't use all gumpaste either because it does dry very hard and will crack easily.You can use fondant or a little gumpaste in your fondant.

Thank you everyone!! Your tutorials were so helpful. My sister is going to be thrilled!

Hope you don't mind if I reply, since I'm new here, but I just made a big ruffle cake.

I made the ruffles out of fondant and modeling chocolate. They were so delicious that people wrapped pieces in napkins and took them! In winter, I wouldn't be scared to cover in regular Buttercream, but summer is *different*, even if you are in AC, so I put some ganache in my buttercream. I thought adding some firmness would help slippage.

All I can say is, make everything WAY ahead that you can. Have all your little packages of "stuff" ready.