I'm a hobby baker and I have (foolishly??) agreed to do 150 wedding cupcakes for a close friend, I don't have a problem with the amount, she only wants vanilla and I once made 600 in 10 different flavours for a fete! so this should be a breeze!! My issue is that she has no ideas around what she wants, she said for me to just do what I think is best!
I've tried asking if she wants fondant or buttercream, or if she wants different colours to match the wedding colours or just ivory etc and all were met with a 'I'll leave it up to you'. I have the potential to ruin her wedding if I get it wrong but I cannot get any ideas out of her!
Should I bake up a batch of 4 with my ideas on and see what she thinks? Or should I just go with what I think best and turn up on the day with them???
My ideas are to have 35 cupcakes with ivory (or maybe lilac) buttercream topped with a sugar paste white rose (which is her bouquet flower) then 35 with ivory butter cream topped with a sugarpaste orchid (the other bouquet flower) then 30 topped with ivory fondant with maybe a royal icing stencil or indented pattern then a lilac fondant ribbon & bow (the wedding colour) with maybe some little mini white roses??? What do you guys think??????
Well, my opinion would be to just make what you want and don't consult with her. I think she's made it clear that she just wants you to do them as you see fit. Hearing your ideas I think she's in good hands.
I'll say this, you're certainly NOT going to ruin her wedding with whatever you choose to do with the cupcakes so let go of that stress now. It might be wise to send an email to her confirming that she wants YOU to decide the design and colors, etc. That way it's written down somewhere for later. Just have her reply back with a YES and then get to work settling your design 
As for design, I think a mixture of designs would be nice as long as the color scheme is the same....like a collection. Otherwise, I would stick with one wedding-y design.
I have the potential to ruin her wedding if I get it wrong.
Bunnykins, the only way your cupcakes will ruin the wedding is if you lace them with arsenic, which I doubt you will do. Your friend is sweet for allowing you to have artistic freedom and she obviously trusts your ability. Your ideas are lovely and quite intricate. Please post pics when you're done!
Thanks for such positive replies!!!! I think when your in your own bubble it's so easy to make a panic out of something and start doubting yourself, so its nice to get some perspective!!! It's why I joined this forum because there is nothing more valuable than lots of voices of experience!!! I've been stewing over the best thing to do and getting more and more stressed, and I think your right I should just trust in my instinct and design and just do it! She has seen my work so she knows what I can do so I guess I should take it as a compliment that she trusts me!
I'll post up pics when Im done, the wedding is in a couple of weeks.
Ps I think I'll reserve the arsenic cupcakes idea for the next time hubby annoys me ha ha! 
The wedding was yesterday and the cupcakes were a success!!!! I followed your advice and just went with my design, I decided last minute to add a minicake with a handpiped design taken from the wedding invites as a special gift for the bride.
I did a combination of bows, roses and orchids, I originally thought it was going to be lilac but I was given some of the material a week before and the purple was much darker and richer, and it looked fantastic on the cakes!! So overall a ton of stress trying to make it perfect but it was a lot of fun to do and definately worth it as everyone loved them!!
I've put pics in my gallery
These are beautiful!! You did a wonderful job. You should be proud of yourself
Aw thanks 
Great job!
You've inspired me, as I too have a customer who is getting married in October who flat out and out doesn't even like cake. She is doing this JUST for her guests as she feels she is supposed to have a wedding cake for appearances. She decided upon cupcakes because she won't have to eat so much when her and her groom share a bite.
She doesn't care what flavor, or what design so I'm looking at her wedding as a photo op for me and a chance to be creative. I was told that her colors are white and "apple" which is a crimson shade.
I know I won't ruin her occasion, have too many weddings and special events under my belt for those concerns, but I do feel somewhat directionless. I will e-mail her right now to ask about her flowers, and I like writing with chocolate, either their initials, or the word "love" or something else romantic. I've not done the writing technique yet so this would be an opportunity to show case it.
so I'm looking at her wedding as a photo op for me and a chance to be creative.
I think that is a great way of looking at it, its what I ended up doing too, I just used it to do designs I wanted to try and also to hone my skills on flowers, I guess we should think ourselves lucky really as most brides have such a strong vision and it must be hard to not only match their expectations but to be restricted to the design they want!!!
I know I won't ruin her occasion, have too many weddings and special events under my belt for those concerns, but I do feel somewhat directionless. I will e-mail her right now to ask about her flowers, and I like writing with chocolate, either their initials, or the word "love" or something else romantic. I've not done the writing technique yet so this would be an opportunity to show case it.
If she at least gives you the flowers and you already have the colours then just run with them and go wild! I like the sound of your ideas already, please make sure you share the photos I'd love to see how they turn out
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