I need help!

I have been working on a small practice wedding cake all week (8", 6", 4"). I made MMF fondant, colored it ivory, and covered the tiers. I thought it was going to be beautiful, but it looked like a complete mess when I assembled it!

So, here are my questions...

What is the best way to have a clean edge at the bottom of a fondant covered tier (I ended up with jagged edges and pockets of BC oozing out)?

How can I get really crisp top edges (mine always seem so rounded)?

I leveled the cakes, but I still ended up with a bottom tier that looked domed and ended up making the cake look unlevel. How can I fix this?

What is the best way to make sure the tiers are centered on top of each other? When I'm stacking them, they look centered, but when I finish decorating it with borders, etc, they look completely off. What to do?

If someone out there could provide any help, I would be so appreciative! Any other tips for us that are new to wedding caking?

Sugarshack has 3 videos that would be very beneficial to you. They are: perfecting the art of butter cream, flawless fondant, and successful stacking. These videos will address all of your questions and give you a beautifully finished cake. They are inexpensive and some of the best videos I've seen. Here's her web site http://www.sugaredproductions.com/buttercreamdvd.html

I am by NO means a wedding expert but I can tell you what I do.

When I icing a cake I always make sure I have smoothed the icing like you would a cake without fondant. Are you using dowels to support the weight? I have also learned from trial and error and advice on here that getting you fondant as thin as possible helps TREMENDOUSLY. I had problems with my fondant tearing and cracking on my cake before I learned that little trick. To keep from having jagged edges I use a pizza cutter - just keep turning your cake in a smooth motion while cutting and you should be fine.

As far the the bc oozing out the only thing I can think of is either there is too much weight on the cake or you may be using too much bc.

HTH.

When is your wedding cake due? If you have time I would order Sharon SugarShack DVDs, it teaches you to work with Buttercream, Fondant, and Stacking your cakes. A must have.

In the meanwhile are you doweling your cakes? use a very thin layer of crusting buttercream before covering with fondant, and use a fondant smoother to crisp-up the edges

ditto on the DVDs
a couple things that I would recommend...
chill your cakes for several hours then let them set out for about 15 minutes (to let the condensation dry a bit) then cover with fondant.
this should stiffen the BC allowing it to hold up against the weight of the fondant.

make sure you smooth your fondant all the way down the bottom to a good smooth/tight corner. then cut with a pizza cutter.

also for the corners, I use the fondant smoothers to pinch the fondant back into shape a bit.

For covering cakes in fondant make sure you have rolled our your fondant large enough to cover your cake with a couple of inches extra for smoothing and stretching over the cake. I have found that if I rolled the fondant to the exact size I needed, I sometimes had edges that were rough. If you have extra to work with then you can trim all that off after the cake is covered. Also don't roll fondant too thin, this can cause tearing.

To get the sharp edges, make sure your cakes are level before covering in fondant and then you can use fondant smoothers after covering them(you can buy these online or anywhere they sell cake decorating supplies). I start of using my hands to smooth it and get it evenly on the cake, then I use the fondant smoother to clean up the edges. It just takes practice and some patience to get the hang of it. As for the centering, you can use a cake circle the same size as the cake that is being placed and make a small indention to mark where the edge of the next tier will go. I hope this was helpful. Good luck...

Ive put a link here that will take you to the Ateco homepage and a short video of how to cover a cake with fondant. It is showing their Satin Ice brand but is a very good little video.

There are 3 videos but the first one is the best. The other two are for crimping and marbeling. The first is how to cover the cake.

HTH!

http://atecousa.net/learn/satin-ice-tutorial-i-icing-your-cake.html

What kind of fondant are you using? The Wilton brand is really easy to work with if you are just looking to practice. Just be sure to peel it off before you eat it (yuck!) Also, if your turntable is raised and slightly smaller than your cake that seems to help a lot. I am by no means an expert but I have been practicing a lot and the more you do it the easier it gets. Good Luck!