I'm currenty working on a wedding cake that I'm ready to throw out the window. First of all, the bride wants only buttercream, no fondant, but as smooth and pretty as fondant. I do almost soley fondant-covered cakes and I warned her to this fact, but she seems to think that pulling off the buttercream-that-looks-like-fondant effect is easy as pie. My second and bigger issue is she doesn't want a ribbon around the tiers. Or a pearl border. Or a shell border. Or a rope border. Or ANY border that I've suggested. I told her I need SOME kind of border to hide the seams. I'm just not good enough to have flawless seams. She said, "Well, whatever you think. Just not (one of the above mentioned items)". I've never been able to get her to tell me what she DOES want. Only what she DOESN"T want. Anyone have ideas? If it helps, here are the other elements on the cake: swirls and sticks and pinecones and flowers. She wants a combination of rustic, outdoorsy and feminine. Like I said in my subject heading: Aye, aye, aye!!!

I would do the same, stack your cake, make sure it is cold and your buttercream is crusted than pipe a thin strip of buttercream around it and use your pinky to smooth it all the way around while turning your turn table should work smoothly.

How frustrating lol
I was in the gallery looking for ideas..since she want's outdoorsy lol would piping leaves work??
maybe like this..but only in a coordinating color and perhaps less?
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1290843/fall-wedding-cake

or maybe something like this?? http://cakecentral.com/gallery/77865/heart-cake-with-roses
Good luck!! xo