I am putting together a wedding cake next weekend and I was just wondering if anyone knew what the best way is to deal with flowers on a cake?

I have a 3 tier cake stacked with pillars and plastic plates..I want to place the flowers in between each tier... (to cover the pillars and also to make it look like the cake tiers are floating on the cake tiers) should I be worried about the flowers dying? or the posibility of the flowers having pesticides on them?

Anyone have any suggestions?

The 2 plate system works very well for what you're describing.

I generally prefer to arrange the flowers using traditional florists' methods (soaked oasis, small plactic plates, and flower conditioning ahead of time). I like it that I can arrange the flowers 1/4" "high" off the bottom of the plate, and when set up, there's no worry of touching, or wilting onto the cake. No one notices the slight gap ( http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1204932). The arrangements last up to a week.

Some flowers are more toxic than others, but you are right...with pesticides commonly used, it is best to have a separate space for flower arranging, and then just have them ready to go when setting up the cake.

Here are a few links on flower arranging, conditioning flowers, and ideas for arrangements.

http://www.floralife.com/consumers/flower_care.htm

http://www.thegardener.btinternet.co.uk/conditioning.html

http://www.thegardener.btinternet.co.uk/tips.html

And...CC's article... http://www.cakecentral.com/article18-List-of-Non-Toxic-Flowers-for-Garnishing-your-Cake.html

Hope this helps...