Although I have never done this, I believe I have read on this site that you can put double stick tape on the back of the ribbon and then have something like wax or parchment paper cut to the size of the ribbon on the side facing the cake, to keep the frosting from bleeding into the ribbon and making it darker. I know that if you put the ribbon directly on the cake it can sometimes get stained by the buttercream frosting. I may not be remembering this exactly right so I would do a search on this site to find out what others recommend. I just saw your post and wanted to give you the information that I have read before.
Good luck! A cake with ribbon wrapped around is something that I think looks so elegant, and I look forward to making one like that someday.
Hey. Just thought I'd give you the link to a forum topic similar to yours, hope it helps.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-34556-ribbon.html
When I put ribbon on my cake, it was just regular stuff from the craft store. (In fact it was the same ribbon they used for the flowers.) The cake is covered with fondant, so I didn't worry about the ribbon getting greasy. I just put it up against the cake and then used icing dots to hold it there. Good luck!!
BeckySue, what a beautiful cake! I love the bold colors against the white icing.
I use craft store ribbon and just use buttercream to attach it in spots. I haven't had any bleed-thru or even what looks like grease spots come thru on the ribbon knock on wood and cross all your fingers!
I recently attached white ribbon to a buttercream cake with no problem....I was told to use DOUBLE SATIN RIBBON. The ribbon did soak up the grease, but it did it evenly (if that makes any sense) so you didn't see any grease spots. I don't know how this would work for colored ribbon though. I just wrapped the ribbon around the bottom while the buttercream was still "fresh".
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%