So, I have 300 cupcakes due this weekend. The bride's colors are plum and navy and she wants the cupcakes to be navy. I am making a sample batch of icing and have already used 1 T and 2 t of CK Navy Blue dye and we are nowhere close. I took a bite to see how it did and of course,my mouth is blue. I'm going to have to special order way more dye and pray I get it in time, but right now we are nowhere close to the right color. Any ideas? I cannot buy the dye locally. At least not navy blue. But I guess my main concern is that it's going to be very costly to get enough dye and then once I do, it's going to ruin the taste, consistency and make everyone's mouths blue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

......my main concern is that it's going to be very costly to get enough dye and...it's going to ruin the taste, consistency and make everyone's mouths blue. Any help would be greatly appreciated. ...........

Yep it sure is going to stain everyone's teeth/lips Any dakr color will.
It takes time for those colors to 'develope'.....especially in buttercream....can take up to 10-12 hours. Just let the icing sit overnight and it should be dark enough. And yes, it probably will have a bitter taste IF flavoring the icing is o.k. -- use some Unsweetened KoolAid powder to help flavor and color it. I have never measured it but I'd say about 1/4 teaspoon per cup of icing should do the trick. Pick any flavor with the right color you're going for. Otherwise, increase the vanilla (or whatever flavoring you usually use in your icing) - using at least 2 T per batch of icing that uses 2#s of sugar.

Have you mixed any black in yet? It will help to darken the blue significantly. I made a deep navy using Wilton royal blue and black for a midnight stars cake. This will also cut down on the amount of color needed. However, dark colors always stain the teeth.

Can you lightly colour the icing the navy blue and then paint the inside of the piping bag a darker hue?

I think you need to tell the bride the high chance of her having a blue smile in her wedding pictures with the navy icing.

........ colour the icing the navy blue and then paint the inside of the piping bag a darker hue.....

Doing this will definately make peoples mouths blue!

Is it too late to somehow get the bride to agree on the coloring of ppl's teeth after eating these??? I'm sure your bride would understand completely for change and will thank you later once wedding is over! It really is nasty kind of and I only recommend deep colors like that for kid's parties more of. Just a thought. Hope it works out for you!

i think that should have been something to talk about at the consultation not a week before the wedding. Airbrush will solve this not sure you have time to order supplies for it but it takes way less color and will give you the tone you want. Yo DO want to tell her that everyone's mouth will be blue!!! let her decide what she wants you to do.
Good Luck

I also think you should let her know of the teeth staining issue. As a guest, I would not want to eat something only to find out my teeth and mouth are blue. Maybe you can use plum and navy cupcake liners and go with a lighter frosting. This way you are still incorporating her colors.

But as others mentioned, this is something you should have discussed a long time ago. I have done trial runs when trying new methods.

Royal blue & a touch of black will make navy. But you do have the blue mouth factor which would be awful for a wedding. I just did cupcakes for a wedding that I did their last name initials on top. Maybe suggest doing plum colored icing with navy blue initial on top. I just piped a fancy letter on top of mine & it looked great but I have also done the cupcakes with a fondant initial laying on top but wouldn't want to do 300 of those. lol!

As an alternative if you can get the bride to change the plan a bit, can you bake the cupcakes in blue liners? And maybe add some blue pearls to the mix?

Well, for what my 2 cents is worth at this point, I'd really try hard to talk the bride out of such dark icing colors--it's really cruel to guests to have to walk around with navy & plum teeth......

I think navy & plum pearls on ivory icing would be lovely, navy or plum simple flower cut outs would work,too, and even a basic fondant disc in those colors with pearls on top would be so pretty--and so much kinder to the guests.

Rae