AMy daughters birthday is coming up August 17 and I wanted to make her a cake. A lot of family are discouraging me but she is gonna be 2 and I'm really interested in doing this :) Any who.. its a 2 tier with a giant cupcake for her for the top of the 2nd tier.

It will be fondant. Underneath I see people using cream cheese or butter cream. Idk what to use? Help.

Should I make the cake the day of her party which isnt til 4pm or am I safe to start it the day before at night... to refrigerate or not?

Thank you ill post a pic of it when im done

Don't be discouraged by family! That alone should be your motivation! You can do it.  When I first started decorating I used American Buttercream.  It was Sharon Zambito's recipe and it is a crusting buttercream.  I watched a ton of Youtube videos and learned quite a bit from them. 

Whether you bake the day of, or the night before, all depends on the amount of detail you add to the cake.  I always bake my cakes the day before so they can set.  If it's a very detailed cake I bake a couple of days before and give myself time to decorate.  

If you are going to use a fruit filling you may have to refrigerate, depending on whether you purchase the filling or make it yourself.  Have you decided on what you'll fill your cakes with? I'm excited for you!! Good luck with it all!

AThank you. Its nice to hear that :)

Well I was just gonna do a chocolate cake she loves chocolate and cream cheese filling.

And everyone says use butter cream with fondant. Its not a real detailed cake pink brown And white are the main colors. Polka dots and edible pearls and a fondant bow on the cupcake.

It sounds very cute! You can also use ganache under fondant, too. I would refrigerate if using cream cheese frosting. You can leave it out for a couple of hours while you put your fondant and decorations on.  Trying to smooth fondant onto a cold cake is a pain! Then the condensation starts and it gets all wet and sticky!  I always refrigerate my cakes and once the condensation starts I just leave it alone for a few hours.  It will dry and be beautiful as long as you don't touch it when it's wet! There is a time of about 5-10 minutes that you will be able to work on the cake, if you use a cold cake, and try to put fondant on it before the condensation sets in.  During that time smooth it as quickly as possible! Pop air bubbles and then you can finish decorating when it's dry again.  It doesn't take that long to dry.  

ASo after im done with it whether its over night or before the party starts. After km done decorating it should I refrigerate it right away til the party starts

Yes! Refrigerate it until the party starts. You can even refrigerate it over night.   It'll come to room temp, have some condensation, but it will dry and be just fine! Don't touch it when it's wet or you're fingerprints will stay on the surface and dry there.  I know. It's happened to me quite a bit!