I agree that SugarShack's Buttercream dvd is great! She also has a fondant one now. I am waiting to get it. Her BC looks like fondant, so you and future hubby will get best of both worlds. I have done the ribbon thing and with BC it will be easier. Just don't pull it too tight or the corners will wrinkle (Fondant). Take a bridal pin and pin the ribbon in the back or maybe hot glue. HTH! Good luck.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

From someone who's been there... I made my own wedding cake (it's in my photos) -- and ended up not having time to do my hair -- and I was 1/2 hour late to the ceremony. I did it because I really, really wanted the exact cake I made, and definitely couldn't afford to have it done by someone else.

So in retrospect, which would I want more? That cake, or time to enjoy getting ready and having a nice wedding day? I probably would choose not to make my own cake.

But, if you do --- good luck to you! And do everything you can to be sure there's nothing to do on the cake the night before or the day of. Part of my problem was I was married in the morning -- I had no slack time to spare. Maybe consider making your own -- but hiring someone else to deliver/stack/put finishing touches on?

For square corners - go to the forums and search for square corners, you should find some helpful posts. I don't know about the ribbon.

Also, I cover boards with either matching wrapping paper or fabric, then cover that with clear contact paper.

Good luck!! And congratulations again!

Yes! That was the link I had seen before...about squaring the cake...That should work well...what do you guys think on the fondant vs. buttercream?

LeckieAnn,

My wedding is in the evening and my fiance had this wonderful idea of me staying with my parents the whole week before the wedding because he wants it to be like he hasn't seen me in a long time when he sees me walk down the isle...even though I have lived with him for over three years now! But while I am staying with my parents I would rather not pull all of my hair out and keep busy by doing the cake. Since I am doing a cake that is really simple I won't have any decorating to do at the site except for touch ups. I plan on having the whole thing done ahead of time, say Thursday...if I do buttercream I can refrigerate it and have it completely done ahead of time. That way Saturday I can just set it up in a few minutes since all I have to do is stack. Thanks for the tip on the cake board idea! Will do!

I think indydebi's method for icing a square cake and getting those sharp corners is the simplest and best way I've ever found! I always dreaded doing the corners until I read her post, and now mine come out perfect every time. She posted some pics of it along with a description of how she does square cakes.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-5396443-.html#5396443

I did a square cake a month ago with ribbon on the bottom and I found the ribbon stayed against the cake when I ironed the corners. It was a little of a hassel to mark the ribbon then take off and iron a crease on the corner then put back on and do the next corner. But it did look nice and crisp. You may want to try that.

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If you want a nice cake stand, but don't want to buy one, check with a party rental store. They usually have them.

Susan

Shelly4481: great tip with the ironing. For my practice cake I just used extra ribbon I had on hand and it had wire edges which were even worse to work with. I think it is easier to put the ribbon on fondant than buttercream and the ribbon I am going to use for the wedding is satin...so I will have to back that with wax paper if I use buttercream! AARRRRgGG what to do...so many decisions!