Ok- so my sister-in-law is helping throw a party for her in-laws and I'm doing the cake. She forwarded me one of the pics from their wedding and of course I can't really tell what on earth was done! I can make out a little bit of the decorations, but that's about it. So off to plan #2. She trusts me (which is good!) but wants something elegant, NO tacky gold, and their wedding colors of pastel yellow and pastel blue. All this is to be done in buttercream (fondant hasn't really taken a hold yet, here!) and I have to start working on it in couple of days (it's for Saturday). I'm doing 3 tiers - 8, 10, 12. I'm going to work on RI roses, but my concern is how I make this NOT look like a baby shower cake?!
Any links or ideas would be great!
Thanks!!!

Here is one I think is beautiful. Could be done in buttercream as well.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_31460.html

It is by Sugarshack.

I just went to Google and typed 'popular wedding cakes in 1958' and looked at the images results. There are a few - Joanne Woodward's, Lana Turner's and even Rock Hudson's, which looked like it was small and leaning over (a sign of things to come?)

Don't know if you want to go modern or do something like the couple might have had at their wedding, but that's an idea.

have you searched the gallery on the site?? There are wonderful cakes under that section... a variety. I also go under birthday cakes to get ideas even though that isn't the event.

Just search the gallery on "50th" and you'll get lots of ideas. I'll list a few different directions that I might consider when doing this cake.

To avoid it looking like a baby shower cake, I'd either use one main color (like the Shugarshack example above), OR maybe even do the cake in ivory or white with just small ACCENTS of the pastels.

And of course, make it look more adult/formal that a baby cake. Maybe a "plaque" with the number 50, or their monogram.

If you have the ability to do edible photos, it might be fun to do a few showing scenes from their wedding and different stages in their life.

There was one 50th cake I saw that had a nice quote on it... some thing like, "One man, one wife; one love, for life." It would be neat to incorporate something like that.

Just a few ideas.

Thanks for all the inputs! My SIL is going to look tonight for a Precious Moments figurine to possibly put on top. So I'm thinking of leaning towards a PM theme??
Not sure who did their original cake, but with the exception of the middle layer, it doesn't look nice! I'm sure it did THEN, but it doesn't NOW.
Thanks again!

I just did one last weekend, don't have the pic on the computer yet, but I made two fondant wedding rings and made them gold with luster dust. Then I did yellow as close to gold roses and dusted the edges with gold luster as well. Put the roses on the edges of the cake, wrote Congratulations Paul and Joan and the wedding rings in the middle. Wish I could show you a pic.....it was very simple but played on the "golden anniversary".

I don't think your terrible! I'm thinking she may pick up the 50th Ann. figure, if she can find it. I'm going to wait until she gets the figure to see as to what to do...there's a couple of cakes on here that I may opt a decoration or two from them.

If she'd just let me use the "tacky gold"....hahahahaha