I am having such a dilemma with this wedding cake! I am doing a wedding cake for a friend for very little $. I just found out that half of the fresh flowers she wanted are toxic and I can't use them on the cake! ARRRGH! So my next two options are gumpaste and silk. But I have a hard time investing all that time to make gumpaste flowers for free! That is my LAST DITCH option. So another option is to use silk, and here's my question. Do you think silk flowers look tacky on a cake? I think I've seen some that look very realistic, but will people coming to the reception stick up their noses at it when they look closely and see that they are fake? I just need some opinions from you ladies/guys.
THANK YOU!
I have to say that when I see silk flowers, I'm disappointed to see such a beautiful cake with what I think are "tacky" silk flowers. I understand that people want to save some money with using silk flowers but I really don't like them.
If you can't use the fresh flowers she wants, I think it would look best to keep it simple with no flowers at all. Maybe you can get some color with ribbon, etc. Could the florist do a small side arrangement that could be on the cake table but not on the cake itself?
I guess beggars can't be choosers I would talk to your friend and explain about the toxic flowers and that for more money you can do fondant flowers or she can buy her own silk flowers that way you know for sure she will be happy my .02
I've used silk flowers on two wedding cakes so far, and everyone I spoke to thought they came out gorgeous. As JoanneB said, it depends on the type of flower, but Michaels usually has a nice selection of very real-looking silk flowers AND you can use the 40% coupon!
I think silk flowers are absolutely fine. I used them on my daughter's wedding cake (especially since it was the first "real" cake I ever decorated). It came out beautifully! Everyone was very impressed and I actually received a few orders after people seeing it. I do like gumpaste flowers better (and you can buy them already made) but there is nothing wrong with the silk although the silk are more expensive than I expected.
Nope, don't think so, as long as they are not the cheapest kind you can find. Personally I prefer Fondant or real flowers, BUT silk is not an evil thing for the cake as long as they are very nice and colors are not
horrid and very nicely placed or arranged on the cake. Some people insist on piped roses, but their Roses look like someone sat on them or it look like someone chewed and spit it out, so in some cases I think silk flowers are beautiful. 
IMO I don't see what the problem would be. There are a lot of decorators who do not use their own gumpaste flowers either - so what is the difference as to if the flowers are silk? It will be fine. Just make sure you get some nice ones like others have said.
Get some nice silk flowers and I think it will be very pretty and just fine.
IMO, silk flowers are WAY better than those chintzy plastic cake toppers, and she won't have the same cake topper as anyone else because you'll be able to put it together to compliment the cake.
Or maybe talk to her and present her with options of real flowers in similar colors and form to what she had picked out.
Thank you for all your replies, I really appreciate it!! I just went to Michaels and found some very nice silk flowers (not the cheap ones, these were $5 per stem! Funny how the silks are turning out to be more expensive than fresh!). I think I WILL use them because I just don't have time to make the gumpaste ones. The wedding is in a week and a half! I will post a picture when I'm done. THANK YOU all again! I'm glad to know that most of you approve of the nice silks, especially since you are experienced cake decorators and more likely to be "cake snobs!" 
I have seen some pretty and very realistic silks...I still however prefer the "real thing". Would toxic flowers only be a concern if they are stuck in the cake? Just wondering because I had a lot of real flowers on my wedding cake and never gave a thought to if they were toxic since they weren't actually stuck in the cake (does this make sense)? Just wondering.
Can't you get some of the flower picks so the flowers go in them and not directly into the cake? That way you can use the flowers she wants. I know Michaels sells those picks.
Personally I don't like the silk flowers much. I don't think they are tacky I just don't care for them.
You also could buy the flowers made in gum paste but that would cost a lot and for a free cake it's not worth it really.
I'm sure if you bought some nice silk flowers your friend will still love the cake.
Be sure to post the pictures when you are finish.
Joanne
If it's silk you want, then silk it shall be !!!
It's really your decision.. 
I personally don't like silk flowers.
Make the cake you want to make. I always consider a cake like that an opportunity to expand my portfolio.
For my sis's cake, she rattled off about 8 different types of flowers that were in her bouquet. I told her I would do gumpaste flowers of 1 or 2 varieties that were mentioned and other flowers in her color scheme.
Turned out to be hydrangeas and calla lillies. The cake actually needed fewer flowers than I had planned.
Your friend came to you for guidance on how to do a nicely designed cake for a budget price. I imagine you can give her the reasons to limit her flower choice whether real or silk or gumpaste. You could actually pose the same question/problem to her---you can even let her know the results of your CC Poll!
The flowers she wanted were calla lillies, ranuculus, and a few others that are probably fine (alstromeria and hypericum berries) since they weren't on the "bad list". But I know that calla lillies and ranuculus are considered toxic and shouldn't be near food. I've heard you shouldn't ever just stick stems into a cake, but I dont' think putting them in picks would help much, either.
Here are a few lists I found on toxic plants:
http://www.zetatalk.com/food/tfood32d.htm
http://www.akca.org/library/poison.htm
Those two flowers I mentioned aren't even recommended to put in hospital bouquets because they can make sensitive people sick just being near them. Sheesh! So that's why callas are almost always gumpaste, I guess.
So I think I could probably take the chance, but I'd rather not. Besides, I'm sure they're not organic so they probably have pesticides on them, which could easily transfer to the fondant.
Anyway, I just hate this fresh flower dilemma! 
I think I'll plan on using the silks since they really are pretty, and I might try a few gumpaste ones to see if I can get them done in time. At least I'll have a backup!
Thanks again for all your comments!!
No flowers should be poked into a cake. Fresh or silk. There should always be something between the flowers and the cake so that they do not touch the icing. Plastic wrap, doilies, etc. can be used to keep the flowers from touching the cake.
While I was doing cakes in California I made gumpaste flowers and used silk flowers. Here in Iowa, I have used some silk and mostly fresh flowers. You can purchase very nice looking silks. For the fresh flower arrangements, the florist places the flowers in a plastic tray with florist foam which can hold water. The tray is covered with fresh greenery and I place the arrangement on a small doilie on the cake so that it will catch any water that might drip from the tray.
If you really wanted to poke flowers into the cake you could wrap the ends of the stems with plastic wrap or foil to protect the cake.
What's wrong with piped roses?
She must have been confused because I've never seen a piped rose look like its been sat on or spit up and chewed out...how very odd 
Especially any of the roses on here...I envy anyone who can sit there and pipe one....lets just say they aren't pretty
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