I'm getting married on Saturday Oct. 13th. I have a few family members that are Vegan and some that can only eat Gluten Free products. I will be making Vegan Cupcakes and Gluten Free Cupcakes for them in replace of the cake we ordered. I am by no means a great baker. So I have quite a few questions as the wedding day begins extremely early and I will need to bake ahead of time. I want to bake them on Thursday:

1. Should I refrigerate them or freeze them?
2. Do I refrigerate/freeze them with the icing?
3. How long after baking should I put them in the refrigerator/freezer?
4. If not already iced, is it safe to put icing on the cupcakes the night before?
5. After I put the icing on, can I put them back in the fridge/freezer?

I will be dropping off the cupcakes to the Reception hall the night before, should they leave them out in a container or put in the freezer or put in the fridge?

Thank you all so much! I hope this isn't too much of a disaster :/

You can freeze the cupcakes by wrapping each individually in plastic wrap, and then put them in a Tupperware container with a lid and then in the freezer. You don't freeze them with the icing on them though. I don't really like to freeze my cupcakes though, so usually put them in a cake box with a lid, cover them with plastic wrap, and keep them on the counter and they are fine. You have to wait until they are completely cool before freezing or storing.
If you freeze them, take them out on Friday morning and leave them on the counter for an hour or two, as they won't take long to defrost. You can ice them Friday no problem! As long as there aren't any unstable ingredients in the icing, such as whipped cream, they should be fine to leave on the counter after being iced ( in something with a lid), or you can put them in the fridge too.
Good luck! Hope this helps!

While gluten free products can tend to dry out rather quickly, if you're baking late in the day Thursday and keep them airtight you should be fine just letting them stay at room temp. Don't refrigerate them as they'll dry out faster. My family is gluten free and we take cupcakes to functions all the time. You really don't have that long between baking and serving so don't let it stress you out. If you want to make sure they aren't dry just fill them and/or brush the tops with a moistening syrup before you frost them. I often take cupcakes to church that are done at least one day, sometimes two days before because I'm not getting up at the crack of dawn to frost a cupcake! Good luck and congrats on your wedding. It's very sweet of you to make sure that those who have dietary restrictions aren't left out.

I don't know if the gluten free/vegan makes a difference, but I often ice (with a rose swirl) and freeze the whole thing. I just put them in a rubbermaid type container. If it was me, I would get those puppies baked and iced and put in any type of box and freeze them now and be done with it. Take them out of the freezer, put them in the car and deliver them frozen. They will be thawed way before the wedding.