Came across this article on how-to-make-your-own-wedding cake, for brides who don't want to pay $$$ to a decorator:
http://weddings.about.com/od/weddingcakesfoodmenus/a/weddingcakedeco.htm
However, after reading the article, and the recipe and SEEING the finished creation - I would gladly pay whatever the going rate in my area was for a once-in-a-lifetime wedding cake 
Thought you might want to show those bargain brides what goes into making a simple wedding cake...
Yes, Jan, I agree, and if they're still not satisfied, then whip out the picture of the Twinkie cake and show them what they will get for 50 bucks!
Theresa 
YIKES
Plus, it is not cheap to invest in those pans (which a non-decorator may never use again), tips, bags, cardboard circles, parchment....ingredients for the cake. You could lay out $80-$100 bucks for that stuff and still wind up with...that cake. Yikes again.
Wow, that is one, uh, interesting wedding cake! (The final product pic) Although, I know this maybe might aggravate some people, since most of us are PAID to decorate, but it might be kind of cool to make your wedding cake together, you know. Maybe for a small reception, if you weren't too picky about the end result. Or maybe that would be best saved for the rehearsal dinner cake...!
OMG!! I so totally agree!!! Not to disparage anyone, but that would make any bride see the light! Who would want to tell anyone that they did that to save a few bucks? I'm sorry. I am sounding so nit picky.
Oh. My. GAWD Is that article SERIOUS?!?
And did you see the "timeline"for how much time it takes.
5 minutes to tort each layer. 5 minutes to crumb coat. I missed the rest because my mouth was hanging open.
ahHAHAHAHAHA
That is hysterical. I still can't believe that is serious...
it's not a joke? really?
mmmmfffphhh!
Ok, tongue firmly in cheek, but I can't resist.
This is what they say is "all it takes to make a wedding cake"
Check it out...priceless... (I cut and pasted, hope it's alright, but I couldn't resist...)
(Since you listed the step by step just as it is on the site mentioned, I am posting the link as well, for reference) I know it is already on the first post here but it should go along with this list you provided) Notes by: MariaLovesCakes.
http://weddings.about.com/od/weddingcakesfoodmenus/a/weddingcakedeco.htm
OUCH. Is all I can say. This is almost insulting...
Seriously, this cake is horrifying, as are the directions.
She instructs you to buy a 12", 9", and 6", but never addresses how many servings it is.
Yeah, torting a cake with a serrated knife is EASY the first time you do it, you never tort it unevenly. Great idea! Oh wait, it's hard? Yes, a non-baker would have a lot of use for a cake leveler. (Add some more $$ to the grand total.)
Her instructions for "filling" the cake are going to lead inexperienced people to create the bulgiest cakes that ever bulged.
She never tells you to wrap your cardboard circles with anything to protect them from the grease.
Her "crumb coated" cake looked better than her finished "rustic" cake.
Straws for supporting a 12, 9, 6???
Yes, ask your florist for "unsprayed" flowers, and let him laugh at you because most regular florists do not carry organic flowers, and they will act like you are the crazy one for asking. I went through hell with this issue back in December.
Smooth the cake after all the tiers are assembled? Well...yeah, if we want a cake that looks like that.
Can any yoohoo just submit an article to About.com? Ye gods. I thought I had seen the worst when Sandra Lee did her "wedding" episode, but I know now I was wrong.
I can't imagine anyone thinking it is that easy to make a cake that large. I was laughing so much my sister came over to see, she thought I was going crazy. Then she started to laugh with me when she read all of the directions. From watching me she has learned how long it takes to make a cake. Jan, thanks for that I needed a good laugh
Hey, I need to show this one to an "almost" customer of mine who I knocked back because she wanted my Tiffany box cake with a day's notice.
She was appalled that I couldn't do it in that time and told me that it surely couldn't take any more than a couple of hours?!?! Yeah right, maybe for the bow!
I say if there are brides out there who want to save money that desperately, then let them make their own cakes, 'cos I sure don't wanna deal with them
When I finally got to the final cake....... OH MY!!! Is this gal serious? Can you imagine a poor bride attempting this project and ending up with this mess for her forever bridal pictures? How do people like this manage to get on these sites? This site is supposed to be one of the top 10 for doing things affordably, sad as it is....
I like that website and use it often, but let's get real!
K'ly
OMG!!!! Does this lady think she is being serious, or that anyone is going to take her serious. Please. I couldn't live with myself if I made a cake like that for a bride, or if I was the bride doing it myself. This lady needs some serious "Psycho Help". I wanted to contact her and ask how long she had been doing cakes. And if it wasn't long tell her to keep it that way.
Umm, I really think this is meant as a joke, because I am a super duper newbie to this stuff and I can smooth buttercream ten times better than that! I seriously read it as someone who probably wrote that for a bride who complained about her prices.
"platter to serve the wedding cake on perhaps a plank of wood wrapped in aluminum foil"
- yeah that sounds pretty for a wedding! aluminum foil - very fancy
"This is also the point that I suggest you stop, and leave the remainder of the decorations for assembling the morning of the wedding, at the wedding site if possible. Be sure to bring all of your supplies, including all the rest of the cream cheese icing with you."
- AUGH! Can you imagine trying to do that the MORNING of the wedding???? If you were the bride I KNOW you would be in tears! Trying to get ready and get the cake done? And you're supposed to do all of this ON SITE? I love how she puts " a few bridesmaids and groomsmen should be able to put this together". Can you just imagine??? At the wedding site trying to put together this disaster? And what kind of super straws are those?????
And yeah she never tells you how many it serves..... how embarrassing to have that disaster of a cake and then not even have enough to feed your guests....... although that might be okay - they may not want to eat it! I think I'd rather have a twinkie cake if I was on that much of a budget..... although still this is not cheap at all....... buying all the pans and ingredients and trying to figure out what kind of board to use.... and I can't remember - did she even talk about putting the cakes on cakeboards???? Other than the bottom one??? Oh my gosh! Trying to stack cakes w/out boards???? heck if I didn't know anything about cakes at all I would at least suggest they definitely use that 3 tier cake stand..... just so they didn't have to worry about stacking the layers....
Can we write about.com and tell them how harmful this article is?? I would feel soo soo sorry for a bride that read this and thought "oh well it's not that hard....." and thought she could do it herself.... definitely a useful article to show cheapo brides though...... or at least show them that final picture..... I feel all stressed and flustered just thinking about it all!![/quote]
Oh. My. GAWD Is that article SERIOUS?!?
And did you see the "timeline"for how much time it takes.
5 minutes to tort each layer. 5 minutes to crumb coat. I missed the rest because my mouth was hanging open.
ahHAHAHAHAHA
That is hysterical. I still can't believe that is serious...
it's not a joke? really?
mmmmfffphhh!
clearly the timeline here is a MAJOR reason that cake looks so ...ummm.... (i cant think of a tactful word...lol). at any rate, it looks like a "fixer-upper" to me! i cant believe that is a TRUE tutorial, though. man.....
Anyone remember the gal that was going to make her own wedding cake because it was so simple? We never heard the outcome on it. I saved the PM I sent so I would be able to inquire later. The post was by "Everemton". Anyway, she needed this site to give that gal. I kept inquiring as to how it turned out but never got an answer.
This story is a hoot. I could just see the bride and groom on the morning of the wedding assembling this cake. Maybe the guys could do it while the gals got dressed. 
Diane
This is the kind of article that spurs calls of panic to the cake decorator that you should have hired but didn't because you just thought it would be so easy to take good ol' Nina's advice and save yourself a few buck and make your own cake! And when are you supposed to do all this - like you dont have anything better to do the day before your wedding than bake this "fancy" cake! OMG!!
But thanks for the giggles this morning I needed it!!
HA HA sweetiesuz!! 
That was funny right there I don't care who you are...
You'd have to be crazy to start off with "Making a wedding cake isn't that hard" and then to actually show a picture of a final product that looked like that. I hope she was laughing at herself when she was done with that article.
I can't get over this article. "Making a wedding cake is really not that hard"????? Come on! And especially covering it with fondant. Give me a break. I have only covered a couple cakes in fondant, and there are so many things you need to be careful with it. Some people I tell ya, just to save!
"You can decide how "rustic" or "perfect" you want your cake to be. I was making this cake for a casual affair, so I appreciated the hominess of a cake made with hand-made love. If you're going for the smooth look, be aware that you'll never get it as smooth as cakes covered with fondant, but that fondant is not a good idea for beginners. If you want this cake without fondant to be very smooth, be prepared to spend an hour or so on this step." ----Quote from "step 6" by Nina Calloway.
Ummmm.......yeahhh.....
I'm sorry but the whole article is just about the equivalent of saying to the (last) fine decorator you've "shopped around" with, "Well, I'm just gonna head down the cake mix aisle and try this myself..."
Just proves one thing: The cake looks like just what it's supposed to. Amateurish and CHEAP! I like to imagine that my first skeezer bride's cake (that she didn't buy from me because $250 for the stand & cake was too much--some of you may remember the thread that dissappeared--) turned out about like that one!
If you want a Geo, you pay the Geo price. If you want the Corvette---you pay the Corvette price. Simple.
IS there a way to contact this "expert" Ms. Calloway? Judging from her photo, she gets her hair done at the same place she gets her cake knowledge...
--Knox--
Is that serious? I have so much more pride in what I do! Everyone here is a billion + times better than that!!!Quote by @%username% on %date%
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