Since I'm brand new to cake decorating and have not learned the ways of gum paste, I was wondering what the general consensus on silk flowers on a cake is. Is it tacky? Are fresh flowers a better bet?


Thanks,
Andrea

Whatever the customer wants. That said, good silk is better than bad gumpaste or dead real. Whatever works for all involved.

I would say on dummies only for photo purposes only. On a real wedding cake-yes it's tacky. It reminds me of old people who plant fake flowers in their gardens.

And I don't think you want to be remembered as the lady with the fake flowers, either.

I think it depends on the quality of the silk flower. Some silk flowers look like the real thing and look great on cakes plus you don't have to worry about toxic flowers, allergies or pesticides that are used on flowers either. Personally I like gp flowers the best but it all comes down to what the customer wants and what your able to do. If you do use real flowers just make sure you now which ones are non-toxic, find out if they are organically grown to avoid any pesticide issues.
Here's a list of non-toxic flowers:
http://www.cakecentral.com/article18-List-of-Non-Toxic-Flowers-for-Garnishing-your-Cake.html

Silk flowers are fine on a cake. There are different levels of quality in silk flowers and some of the expensive ones are truly lovely. You can find coupons for Hobby Lobby and Michaels that will make the fancier silk flowers much cheaper...sign up for Michaels email list and they'll send you coupons every week (great way to get cake supplies too )

It's more important to master the basics...leveling, smoothing, etc...than to worry about learning gumpaste flowers when you're just starting out.

this same subject came up couple months ago.. someone on here... puts them on most of her cakes.. i wish she would see this again.. and show her pictures. they are simply gorgeous.. so no, it is not tacky.. and old lady looking.. that sounds really tacky... if you want my opinion.. and like someone else said.. better to have the beautiful silk ones . than poor quality g/p made ones. we need to watch how we word our post.. it can be offensive to others that do what people are bad mouthing about.. every body does things different.. and what the customer is paying us for.. so if the customer wants silk flowers then silk flowers it is... maybe the one that does such beautiful cakes will show you her pictures..

kylie lambert has a picture on flickr of a cake with a silkflower and it was so elegant and just gorgeous. ITA it's better to have a beautiful silk flower than a poorly made gumpaste one or a dead real flower.

I have several problems concerning silk flowers. IF I use them I try really hard to not let them touch the cake by either placeing a seperator plate or clear acetate (can get it at michaels or joann's) cut to fit the top of the cake. Here's why. Most flowers are made in a third world country. You don't know the cleanliness standards of where they where made. You don't know the dyes involved, are the chemicals hazardous? Is there lead in the dye? What about rodents crawling across the flowers and peeing and pooing. How about the state fo the hands of the people coming in contact with the flowers while making them and packaging them? What about the machines? How about bugs? When I worked in the clothing industry we would receive direct ship packages and sometmes there would be bugs in them. It may not seem like much to stick some flowers on the top of the cake but sometimes it doesn't take much to make people sick. That said. I do think you can have really lovely arrangements on cakes without it looking tacky. You just need some nice flowers. I also advise brides of why I dislike fake flowers on cakes and in the end if they still want them then I will use them. I just had a huge cake disaster and the bride wanted silk flowers, in the end silk flowers made it look pretty good and saved the cake.

First and foremost, it's what the customer wants. If you do use silk, use the best quality available and charge them for that. Persoanlly, I don't like premade gp flowers, but I would rather see those than silk

Just my opinion.

Jen

agree that the quality of silks today is greatly enhanced from the silks of "old lady" days (and which of you young whippersnappers is determining what is "old lady looking"? Hmmmmmmmmm??????? )

Look up the many many MANY threads on here that discuss the perils and dangers of real/fresh flowers on a cake.

I have no idea why "tacky" is a word used to describe this decoration on a wedding cake. Lots of brides have silk flowers in their bouquets and I've never heard THAT described as "tacky". Who gets to determine what "tacky" is?

Well perhaps tacky isn't quite the word, but I didn't know if it was a "cake decorating no no", or if it was an acceptable practice. I'm not in the cake business. I'm making a birthday cake for my grandma's 75th birthday. I'm fairly new to cake decorating in general. I know the basics using buttercream, but have never tried fondant. I've chosen a fairly easy design and if it fails, well my grandma is forgiving. If it turns out ok, I'll post a pic on here.

I think I may just opt for fresh flowers.

Thanks for the advice! Sorry if I offended anyone.

Andrea

I don't think so. I actually got these at the Dollar Tree and I think they look pretty darn good on my daughters cake.

I think silk flowers are absolutely fine on cakes, and can look very elegant. They're a much better bet than real flowers such as calla lilies which are poisonous. I think the "they're so tacky' sentiment is a bit snobbish. That said, I much prefer gumpaste, but if you're not at the skill level you want yet, go for it with the silk.

I used silk flowers on a cake, brides choice. I thought it looked nice and went along with the country theme of the wedding. I think either would look nice on a cake.

Look at my photos and see the wedding cake with blue flowers...silk flowers.

I really agree with you 100% I have seen silk flower cake that are absolutely beautiful besides I like it better than real flowers not tacky to me.

AUnless they are extremely fine quality, I think it's tacky. I also think it's tacky in a bouquet.

As you can see from the many answers, opinions will vary.

I've never seen one that looked good in person. Photos yes, but standing in front of it no.

A