Hi! I've always wanted to make my own wedding cake, and i'm highly addicted to the show (aCe of cakes). I see that they use fondant, and it looks really easy to use, is it? and where do you buy it?

I want to make a 3 tiered cake, i heard you can buy the tiers at walmart. Has anyone made a 3 tiered cake for there own wedding and used fondant? how did it turn out? did you refrigerate it? and for how long?

I'm pretty good at baking and cooking, the only thing i'm realy worried about is using fondant and where to purchase it

Well I guess this means your getting married so congratulations. And although they do make it look very easy there are more than a few complications that can come up with fondant. My best suggestion would be to make a few small practice cakes and get plenty of practice before attempting your own wedding cake. I don't want to sway you from making your own cake just letting you know to prepare so there aren't any huge problems last minute. I made my own invitations, centerpeices, bouquets, flower girls dresses, favors and did my own alterations. Wasn't into the cake decorating yet or I'm sure I would have loved to do that as well. I make my own fondant but I hear that Satin Ice is very good and you can buy that on line. If your want to make your own this is a great recipe and fondants keeps well so you can make it in advance.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-3183-Rhondas-Ultimate-MMF.html
Then depending on the icing and fillings you may or maynot have to refrigerate. Baking911.com has a great article on these guidelines.

How much time do you have before the wedding and how much decorating experience do you have? Those are the first two things you should think about. It sounds like you haven't done much decorating if any.
Fondant is not as easy to use as it looks, the people who work for Duff have LOTS of practice. The icing that goes under has to be smooth or the fondant will be lumpy.
What do you mean about buying the tiers at Walmart? If you mean buying the pans they don't always have the sizes you will need, those can be purchased at a Michaels, Hobby Lobby or cake store. Before they are purchased you need to figure out how many people to expect and do the math to determine what sizes you need.
You will also need to rent or borrow a van or SUV if you don't have one, the cake will need to be perfectly level and the seat of a car won't work and the trunk will be too warm.
Fondant sweats so refridgeration isn't really an option.

I'll be honest, I wouldn't recommend doing it since you'll be too busy with other things that day. I did my sister's cake and was thankful that I wasn't in the wedding with the cake to worry about setting up. It is possible and there are people who've done it and been glad they have.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. To make a three tiered wedding cake covered in fondant with some simple decorations would take me approximately 12+ hours spread out over 2-3 nights not including shopping for supplies, ingredients, etc or time allowed for delivery and setup. Do you think you would have this much time the last 2-3 days before your wedding? Fondant can be tricky to work with and the key is practice, practice, practice. Will you have time to devote to practicing cake decorating in the time leading up to your wedding. I also remember Duff saying once (and its true) that the hardest cake to do is a perfectly smooth, plain fondant covered cake because there aren't any decorations that will hide the imperfections. Sometimes a cake that looks really simple is actually more work!

First of all, congratulations on your engagement! I hope your wedding plans are coming along nicely.

As the posts before, I also wouldn't reccomend doing your own cake, especially if you don't have a lot of experience. I'm not sure what you mean about buying your layers at wal-mart, and what would be on them as far as smooth icing or decorations or such, but you would need to also use support in your cake if you're going to stack it or the whole thing will probably collapse. As has been mentioned before, fondant can be tricky to work with- and it's not something that I've found that cooperates if you are in a hurry or distracted, it can be very frustrating when that happens.

I think you should just relax and enjoy your wedding day (and the days before it). I was a professional, award winning floral deisnger for over 4 1/2 years and had done weddings for friends after giving it up, and I didn't even think of doing my own flowers- and I'm so glad I made that decision. It's amazing how fast the time goes right before your wedding (and on your wedding day) and it's best to just try to enjoy it and spend time with family and friends. Flowers and cakes are both things that have to be done the day before the event- and they always take more time that you planned when it's for someone you know. I did my brother's wedding flowers and ended up missing the rehersal and rehersal dinner because I was still working. I almost missed the rehersal and dinner for my best friend's wedding for the same reason- but ended up finishing it up really late the night before instead. It would not be good for that to happen for your own wedding!

Hey there! I have to say that I made my own wedding cake and if I had to do it over again, I think I would have someone else do it! There is just way too much stuff to do that day before and the day of. I made all of my decorations, favors, centerpieces, etc. and we were at the venue the night before till later than expected setting up stuff so I didn't get home til late, then I still had to decorate! I ended up being up until 3 or 4 in the morning, which everyone will tell you, it's a good idea to get a good night sleep before, cause you WILL be exhausted the next day! I was so tired when I was decorating that I originally put the topper on the bottom tier! lol...as far as my decorating experience, I signed up for my local Wilton class at Michaels and finished only course one the week of my wedding. I had done several practice cakes, one with fondant. It turned out really really bad so I ended up just using buttercream and smoothing it out really well. I think if I hadn't taken any classes at all, I would have been in real trouble. My suggestion would be, if you really are serious about making your own cake, take as many classes as possible and if classes aren't available, make as many practice cakes and read as many books as possible! Michaels or Hobby Lobby or AC Moore have the Wilton classes that really give you such a good base, then look on this site, and you will learn so much more! Also, make as many pieces of the cake as possible before the day you put it all together. I made over 300 rose petals for my cake a week or so before because they have to dry and it takes away from what you have to do the days before. Sorry this is so long, but figured you might want the perspective of someone who has been in your shoes!!

When is your wedding? Maybe you could sign up to take classes at a local craft store, like JoAnns or Michaels. This will give you an idea of how to start. Your cakes need to be level, you will have to learn how to stack a cake with dowels, and none of it is as easy as it seems. If you do decide to make your own, stick to this site. Everyone here is very helpful!!

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! I don't know if you've done any decorating, but I've been dabbling in cake decorating for about 5+ years and doing it seriously for the last year or so. I'm by no means an expert, but you can look in my photos and see that I've done a few cakes and even used SOME fondant on them. All that being said, I'm terrified of fondant and have not attempted to cover a cake in it. You CAN get a smooth look with buttercream, but this too takes some work and some practice. I personally, would not do my own wedding cake. Especially if it was my first one. And you are going to have so many other things to do and worry about, this to me, would just be an added stress. Let someone else stress over it and enjoy your day! JMHO

Hello and congrats. I echo the sentiments of everyone to stay away from fondant if you're not very experienced in it. Do a little research and you'll find techniques that will make buttercream look just like fondant - so you can have the look you want and save yourself tons of disappointment and headache.

I think making your own cake is very doable - if:
1) You stay far far away from fondant
2) Make the design /decoration simple (check out the galleries)
3) Have some help and have some fun with it!

It will still be harder than you think and take longer than your realize.
Best of luck and post a pic showing us how well you did!

First of all, congrats! I made my own wedding cake (seashell cake in the galleries), but I had a unique situation.....I was married in Jamaica 3 months before the reception, so the cake I did was for the reception, and I didn't have the nerves of a bride anymore (it was also our second wedding). However, I do agree with things said above........if you haven't worked with fondant before, you may not want to try it on your own cake. I agree with Zahrah in that you can smooth BC to look alot like fondant........I have had those compliments from people on my cakes that they are that smooth. If you have plenty of time to try and dabble with some cakes, and fee comfortable by the time the wedding arrives, then have at it! But just stay very well organized in planning ahead and make sure you have help the weeks before the wedding and on the day of- you will likely have to have some one else set it up.........good luck, and welcome to CC!

I did our wedding cakes (both the first wedding and the big extravaganza dh insisted on having the following year). The first was a relatively simple cake, 2 layers with fondant and floral decorations contributed by dh who likes to do flowers -- the second one was a large stacked packages 5-tier with gumpaste flowers and decorations and so forth. But then dh did the flowers for both events, I also did personalized cookies for favors the second time around as well as invitations, etc. etc. And we didn't care if everything was absolutely perfect. We wanted it done by us, that was the main thing. (Also we were broke. Virtue from necessity.)

I also did obsessive amounts of practice cakes starting several months beforehand. My family had no idea there were so many holidays that required cakes!

It really depends on what sort of personality you are, and you know that best. If you're one of these people who can laugh when there turns out to be no air conditioning in the hall and your second batch of supposedly heat-resistant buttercream just melted off, and they're calling you to go to the rehearsal, then go for it. If you're not, you're not. There's a reason why doctors don't operate on family members! Anyway I didn't care, I just figured "At least the bride can't yell at me for how the cake looks," and everyone at the wedding thought the cake was just the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen despite the literally hundreds of problems with it that we would see in two seconds. (Turning the right side of it toward the wall is also not a bad idea...)

If you have the fun experience of working in a real commercial kitchen in the hall where your reception will be held, though, as I did, it could pretty much take your mind off the problems you'll have. Just seeing my several pounds of butter and shortening literally disappearing after being swallowed up by that enormous mixer kept me amused for several hours. Just make sure you plan carefully, make extra lists and check them fourteen times, and have a large trifle bowl ready "just in case". (Heck, wedding guests are grateful for any dessert they get, most times!)

Bottom line: make sure you don't care if it is absolutely perfect. No one else will -- but you might. Nothing wrong with that. But if you do, get someone else to worry about it.