I was wondering if the following timeline would work for some 3D cakes:
1. Wednesday and Thursday - bake cakes; make buttercream & fondant
2. Friday morning/afternoon - Carve & torte cakes; crumb coat
3. Friday evening - Apply fondant on cakes & finish decorating
4. Saturday afternoon - serve cakes

I have a few questions:
1. Would the above timeline work? If not, what do you recommend?
2. These cakes will have nonperishable fillings so I don't need to refrigerate them, but should I refrigerate them until I apply the fondant (to prevent drying up?)
3. How long exactly do I need to wait after I've torted,carved,and applied a crumb coat can I apply the fondant? I was thinking 2-3 hours, but was is the recommended time? I'm just concerned about the cake "settling."
4. While I am waiting for the cake to "settle" (i.e. pre fondant application, is the crumb coat enough to "seal" in moisture so that the cake won't be dry on Saturday?

TIA!

I think that timeline should work just fine. I have baked on Wednesday, built carved, coated with BC on a thursday and let it set/settle till I apply fondant on Friday. Thursday even if I've done the settling process early enough. I like to carve a cold/frozen cake so I have to let it "thaw" out before fondanting. Plus if you let it sit a bit, the BC will get firm and if you had to recoat, you aren't ripping off all the BC. Then I will finish the decorating/embellishing Friday/Saturday. I have never had a problem with a cake being dried out and always have gotten compliments on the taste and moistness!! I think your timeline is just fine!!!
Hope this helps

Thank you so much for your input! I'm so glad that I don't have to start over!

This is the way I do it,
1. Wed. make BC and any decorations (fondant/gumpaste flowers, bows, etc.)
2. Thurs. morning bake cake, in the pm torte, fill, and carve, cumb coat, also get the fondant ready if covering with fondant.
3. Fri. cover cake with BC/Fondant and decorate the cake.
4. Sat serve/deliver the cake.

I like to have the cakes as fresh as I can, so I try to bake the cake no more than a couple of days ahead of time. By the way, I do this as a hobby and don't have many cake orders so I don't have to bake way ahead of time or freeze cakes.