First Wedding Cake Jitters

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Permalink Reply by Laney Cowan on June 11, 2012 at 9:37pm

That is alot of cake Sue!   A 6", 8", 10" square combo serves 88.  The 6", 9", 12" square serves 115.

June reminded me of some advice I forgot to mention.  When you arrive on location, be sure to walk the path to the cake table.  Let everyone you see know that you will be bringing the cake.  Remove any obstacles & warn everyone.  You'd be amazed the obstacle courses I have seen!

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Permalink Reply by June Kowalczyk on June 11, 2012 at 9:43pm

Thanks Shirley
I was trying to be as informative as possible. I remember how nerve wracking it was setting up my first cake! I've learned a few tricks along the way. Plus I am rather a organize freak.

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Permalink Reply by Sue Duda on June 12, 2012 at 10:58am

I know, when forst asked if I could make a cake for the reception it was for 300 people (yikes) so, we decided to go smaller 100-150 servings...I was going to go with 12, 10 and 8 until I read above post on leaving 3-4 in. between layer sizes....I dont have a lot of pans...so...that is what I will go with.....

Laney Cowan said:

That is alot of cake Sue!   A 6", 8", 10" square combo serves 88.  The 6", 9", 12" square serves 115.

June reminded me of some advice I forgot to mention.  When you arrive on location, be sure to walk the path to the cake table.  Let everyone you see know that you will be bringing the cake.  Remove any obstacles & warn everyone.  You'd be amazed the obstacle courses I have seen!

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Permalink Reply by Sue Duda on June 12, 2012 at 11:01am

I was also wondering about putting flowers on the cake...real ones could be toxic, I don't do or have time to make flowers, does anyone know of a website that sells edible flowers at a reasonable cost...would like something tropical ..or is using silk flowers tacky???????  the cake is for the 23rd so I don't have much time

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Permalink Reply by June Kowalczyk on June 12, 2012 at 3:01pm

Firstly Sue

I have put real flowers on cakes, and they look great. Ck out my page. I did red roses on a simple fondant cake with silk leaves. Bride wanted silk leaves, not gumpaste. The only thing you have to do is wrap the flower stem in floral tape before you push it into the cake. I also put real gerber daisies on my daughters wedding cake. But you know what Sue, there is nothing wrong with silk flowers. A good hobby shop like Michaels sells amazing life like flowers.  I made my daughters bridal shower cake, and had zero time, so I actually bought daisies in a pkg from the dollar store. Painted on white glue, which IS food safe, and sprinkled them with pearl dust. Everyone thought they were real.  Daughter was happy, I was happy, cake looked great. If silk flowers are arranged artfully, add some sparkle, maybe some ribbon...looks pretty, you achieve what your looking for. Whatever works. 

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Permalink Reply by June Kowalczyk on June 12, 2012 at 3:13pm

Oh by the way Sue

My daughter had 250 people at her wedding. No way was I making a gigantic cake. Daughter wanted small & simple. AH, but the cake WAS the dessert!!  So I made 3 large slab cakes. They tasted ever bit as good as the 3 tier wedding cake I made.  Top tier of wedding cake was a dummy, so basically a 2 tier cake. So if you want easy, that's easy.  There is a funny story to this. This was only my 2nd wedding cake, and the cake board I used for the 2nd tier was just a litte too big & stuck out. I thought I had hidden it well with piped icing. Well my daughter freaked & said I had to "fix" it! SOoooo I lifted up the cake, removed the board, plopped it back on the bottom tier, piped my shell border.  Well because it had no support, when the reception staff began to cut it up for the head table, the whole cake imploded into itself.  They almost had a heart attack, dragged me into the kitchen. I said throw it out and give them pieces of cake from the slabs I made.  SO, other than the small morsel they cut & shared for pictures, the whole head table, including the B & G ate the slab cake NOT the actually wedding cake.  I didn't tell my daughter for MONTHS.  When I finally did, she saw the humor in it.

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Permalink Reply by Laney Cowan on June 12, 2012 at 5:02pm

Ahhh I didn't realize there would be that many people.  Now it makes sense!

I always have at least 2" between tiers which leaves about 1" on each side.  The only time I worry about having more is if there will be something placed on the edges.  8", 10", 12" is a great size.  

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Permalink Reply by Sue Duda on June 12, 2012 at 5:58pm

Thanks again you guys...I am feeling more confident now...I am going to have stuff around the edges, and I am going to turn each layer too, not just stacked straight....I will assemble at the venue so transporting will be easier for me...I just hope my vision turns out as I hope.....I will post pictures and let you know how it went.....

Thanks Again

Sue

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Permalink Reply by Sue Duda on June 12, 2012 at 6:01pm

Oh, I have 1 more question...is it advisable to split each layer so that there are 4 instead of 2?

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Permalink Reply by Rima on June 14, 2012 at 10:25pm

I agree 100% The Coast system is best and easiest to get perfect. I drive a Toyota Matrix and the back end is perfectly flat. I use that rubberized sort of shelf liner as my non skid surface, both between the cake board and the box and between the box and the car. Stack on-site aboslutley, and backup cake, should you choose to make them, should be the same shape as the show cake. Love Satin Ice fondant.

Best of luck!

Laney Cowan said:

I don't do "sheet cakes."  It looks cheap.  Everyone knows they are sheet cakes.  I do "back up cakes."  If the big cake is square, I make extra squares  so they look the same when cut.  If the big cake is round, I make extra 9" rounds.

Be sure to use a "crusting buttercream."  This makes stacking on site so much easier.  Non crusting buttercream sticks to everything and you won't be able to make any adjustments.

Size:  If she is serving ETOH, not everyone will eat cake so I recommend a 6", 8", 10" that serves about 65.  If you want a bit more cake, the 6", 9", 12" serves 89.

My husband made me a really cool shelf for the back seat to adjust for the slant.  In a pinch, you can use a sheet of plywood and some rolled up towels.  Non skid shelf paper is a MUST!

I don't use dowels.  It's so easy to put them in crooked.  I use a plate and column system.  I really like the "coast" system but there are a few companies including wilton that make some.

You CAN do this.  The first one is always the hardest.  Just remember that you will survive any mistakes. 

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