No dumb ?'s except ones not asked right?! LOL. Anyway, a while back I had posted that I was going to be doing my sisters wedding cake. Well she has moved the dates up on me. I am also her maid of honor so I can't be busy doing it the night before.
I will be using the sps system, already got it ready. She wants a five tier cake, I have the pans and sizes as 14, 12, 10, 8 and 6. The 6" will not be cut that day. Flavors are simple, white, yellow, chocolate, and cinnamon. Due to the lack of time I have to really get things ready it is all buttercream with a few fondant accents possible. I will be using the diamond impression mat and one with hearts and swirls. Since she moved this from Sept of 2010 to June of 2009 I have some issues.
Originally I was going to take my vacation the week of the wedding so I could do all my baking and decorating, now I have no vacation (not until July) time left so I have to try and do this after working full time job during the day and babysitting in the evenings.
A few of my questions--How far in advance can I start making up my buttercream, don't want to be to overwhellemed trying to do it all that week? Since it is normally warm and humid here in June, what do you think is the best buttercream to use?
How far ahead of time can I bake the cakes and not have to freeze them?
Can I bake and freeze with the crumb coats already on?
Should I only have a few of the tiers stacked since it is 5 tiers and finish stacking onsite?
Do you have any ideas what I should use for the base, I am afraid since it is a large cake that the base will fold in or break or what ever. Should I get a cake drum?
I don't have the professional stands and don't have the money for it either.
Any ideas on what to do to put these colors together: Red (main color) with hints of Orange and Yellow. The red is Apple red and the orange and yellor are not pale but not neon either. So far she has no topper for this cake.
I will be doing choclate covered strawberries for the grooms cake and was curious how you make them look so nice and neat and even with a tux look and bride look, seen them on here but forget where.
I am a newbie. I have practice some stacked cakes but my camara is on the fritz so I haven't posted them yet. Any help is very appreciated. Thanks in adavance.
That's right!!! WOW sounds like you have your work cute out for you. I can lend some advice to most of your ?'s. I can bake a cake and wrap it in siran (sp) wrap for a week and it still taste fresh when cutting it. If I have a cake due on saturday I bake the Sunday before wrap them up, unwrap them-torte-fill and crumb coat them on Wednesday. Then on Thursday I apply the top layer of fondat or BC. The day off I apply all the accents or do the design.
I'm sure you could bake before a week-but I've never had to so I havent tried it yet. I'm sure another CCer could shed more light in that area.
Here is a link for the chocolate covered strawberries.
http://www.allinonebakeshop.com/documents/AIOBSChocStberries.pdf
You can also search UTUBE or the web for other tutorials. But the one I listed looks pretty easy.
As far as the stacking I have mix feelings transporting a 5-tier cake. The most I do is a two tiered cake. Although I have read when using the SPS system you can pretty much transport what ever. Since I have not tried this method yet I cant vouche for it. Sorry.....You could try PM'ing leahs and ask her what her take on it is.
Wanted to help, butterfly831915, but your wall of text is too hard to read for my old eyes. 
Here's an everything you need to know to bake, assemble and decorate tiered/stacked/layer cakes:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-605188-.html
Above thread has popular CC recipes for: doctored cake mix (WASC and flavor variations) crusting American b/c's using either Crisco or hi-ratio shortening and fondant. And so much more!
HTH
Thanks JanH, I sometimes get on a roll and forget to put some breaks in the text, edited to add some.
A few of my questions--How far in advance can I start making up my buttercream, don't want to be to overwhellemed trying to do it all that week?
You can make the buttercream now and freeze it. Let it thaw on the counter for about 24 hours and then rewhip it before using it.
Since it is normally warm and humid here in June, what do you think is the best buttercream to use?
I'm in GA and it gets warm and humid here, too, but I still use IMBC exclusively. I use 1 lb of butter and 1 cup of shortening in each batch, this helps it withstand the heat and humidity better. As long as the cake won't be sitting outside (or in the car) for a long time, it will be fine.
How far ahead of time can I bake the cakes and not have to freeze them?
You can bake them early in the week of the wedding. Just wrap them in plastic wrap and they'll be fine out on the counter.
Can I bake and freeze with the crumb coats already on?
Yes.
Should I only have a few of the tiers stacked since it is 5 tiers and finish stacking onsite?
I have not used the SPS system, so I will leave this one up to those who have.
Do you have any ideas what I should use for the base, I am afraid since it is a large cake that the base will fold in or break or what ever. Should I get a cake drum?
Absolutely get a cake drum! They're not that expensive.
I don't have the professional stands and don't have the money for it either.
No worries, 5 tiers of cake will be plenty tall enough. Cake drums come pre-covered in food-safe foil (usually gold or silver), that will be enough of a "stand" for the cake.
Any ideas on what to do to put these colors together: Red (main color) with hints of Orange and Yellow. The red is Apple red and the orange and yellor are not pale but not neon either. So far she has no topper for this cake.
Honestly, I don't like the traditional bride and groom cake toppers (just not my style). I prefer flowers (icing, gumpaste, silk or real) or a giant bow (fabric or gumpaste).
For the decorating, I would ice the entire cake in either white or ivory (to match the dress). I would then decorate with icing roses, mostly red, with a few orange and yellow. This would be the easiest thing to do.
My old eyes thank you, butterfly831915 
Scratch cakes don't have all the preservatives used in cake mix, so a scratch cake without a simple syrup wash will stale more quickly than a mix cake.
However, if you're making a scratch cream cheese pound cake or something similar - your cake should be fresh for 3-5 days.
A mix or doctored mix will stay fresh at least 5 days. (The WASC & variations are all very moist.)
Personally, I'd bake and freeze several weeks before the event. Just knowing that the cakes are all done and in the freezer will take a lot of pressure off... Normally, I just Saran wrap the heck out of the naked cake layers, take them out of the freezer and thaw in the 'fridge (but not completely) before frosting. (Other members either swear by frosting frozen cakes or never ever do it that way. Seems to be a personal preference kind of thing.)
The Brite White & Indydebi's b/c in the above "everything" thread will hold up in high humidity, 80+ degree weather. The b/c's can be made well ahead of time, and can be stored in an airtight container for weeks. And it's good to have more than you think you'll need ready & waiting.
Here's the sticky by leahs on using SPS:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-603925.html
If the top tier is to be saved for the anniversay, be sure to bring a box to pack it in.
Using covered plywood as sturdy cake bases:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-619915-.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-623207-.html
I'm sure you'll do fine. 
Look forward to seeing pics. 
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