I have only made a few cakes for family and I am always making it the night before or morning of the event. I am making a baby shower cake for my niece. Her shower is Saturday but I am going out of town Friday morning so need to make it thursday. I plan on making buttercream with fondant decorations. Would this be okay? also - can it be refrigerated with the fondant? i have read that fondant doesnt do well refrigerated but the buttercream would need to be put in the fridge to keep from melting... any input would be appreciated.. thank you!!

You can bake the cake anytime between now and Thursday. Wrap it in plastic (a plastic grocery bag is fine if it fits; plastic film/wrap is good too. Place in fzr. On Thursday remove to frig for 4-6 hours, then it should be thawed enough to work on it.
You could cool the cakes out of the oven, fill and crumb coat before wrapping & fzing. Then all you have to do is put on the finish coat of b'cream and decorate. No need to frig the cake UNLESS it has a filling that will spoil OR it is *VERY* hot in the house (over 85 degrees). Room temp is fine for 36-48 hours B;cream should not melt - especially if you use a crusting b'cream. If you are using Swiss or Italian Meringue then you probably do need to frig it.

Because I am incorperatedworking full time and getting my cake business started, I makes some cakes a day or two ahead.

Yes, this will work and you can freeze your un-iced cake (wrapped ) up to two months ahead of time according to Wilton.
I usually never freeze for more then 2 weeks. I just never have my act that organized, two months ahead of schedule!

THANK YOU all!! I appreciate your help! very good info.

See? that shows how new I am to all of this and how many I have made LOL.. i thought the buttercream HAD to stay refrigerated. Maybe this time it won't be so stressful since i know that i can make it ahead of time instead of finishing it up right before the event.

I have a lot of respect for all of you who do this all the time. I would have ulcers