I usually buy the silver foiled cake drums, but a bride wants a cake board covered in fondant with ribbon around the edges. So my question is... do I still pay for the silver foild cake drum and then cover it, or do I buy a plan cardboard cake round?...would that be thick enough? WHat do you use when you decorate a cake board?
Thank You!

I would think you still need the drum. At least that's what I do. I buy the drum, cover in fondant, and wrap a 1/2 inch ribbon around the drum.

Yeah, you need to buy the cake drum as well. If you are making a round or a square cake, first place the cake on the board and then cover it with fondant or bc and then cover around the cake with fondant.

You dont "have" to buy the precovered cake drums. You can make your own out of Foam Core board*. Exacto knife it into what ever size you need. Or hot knife it (found in the wood carving section at Michaels) (a new tool for me that I just read about this past week on this site).

Has she chosen the ribbon? Or do you choose? Either way, you can adjust the foam core accordingly (ex gluing a 3/4 in plus a 1/4in to allow for a 1 in ribbon - this is an approx since the fondant will take up some measurement in the total).

I buy my foam core when its on sale at Hobby Lobby. They mark it 50% off at least every 2 months. They have the best quality and selection than out of all 3 major craft stores locally.

*just in case you have never heard of foam core it is the same thing they use for those drums...its very small tight-celled styrofoam sandwiched b/w two posterboards. Nice big size...Quite sturdy!

I'm choosing the ribbon so that should work perfectly. Great tips! thanks!

Michaels has a great deal this week on the thinner 3/16" Foam core (reminder: its poster size) at 10 for $10 (no coupon necessary). They may let you buy less for just $1 a piece. Stock up - thats a good price. That size is good for multiple tiers (2nd going up) and for singe level cakes that are not too big (reminder: carve it to fit your cake). Even at this thin they are much better than the Wilton cardboard that could get soggy and start to warp slightly wreaking havoc on fondant covered cakes.

Do you still put a thin cake board between your cake and the foamcore board?

I started to buy a drum once and the woman working in the cake supply store told me not to waste my money ... they were basically just 3 cardboards wrapped together and it was cheaper for me to buy the boards. So I just buy 3-4 cardboards and wrap them myself. Works great.

Michelle M77 - card board needed on top of foam core...for me no I dont..but I have heard of that before...if you feel safe in doing it that way until you can trust the foamcore alone...use carpet tape (not rug tape) b/w the two. Make sure you have a center dowel on your tiers regardless that "skewers" all the tiers into the foam core. Hint (for those that dont know this tip): Use a pencil sharpener on the tip of the center dowel.
Indydebi has a good idea too with the rounds- but my cakes are different sizes (from one clients cake to the next) so thats why I like the foam core...plus I lOVE the way the larger bases look thats where the 3/4" foam core come in with additional ones glued to it if necessary. I started using Gorilla Glue when I saw it used on ACE of Cakes.