AI have been thinking about entering a wedding cake for the international sugar craft show in the UK in November. I have looked at 100's of pictures and prize winners. I have plenty of ideas too -but what makes a. Prize winner.

What is in fashion. What are the up and coming trends. And most important of all what would you choose for your wedding cake.

Ideally I would like to include flowers so would like to hear your comments about realistic or fantasy flowers.

Cake shows are weird, what makes a winner in those kinds of things are following very specific guidelines. Maybe you could look for articles by judges about the kind of things they look for...I know that I've seen a  bunch of them over the years.

In competitions I've entered I've always just done my own thing rather than trying to win, feeling that if I do what I'm good at (be it in fashion or not) I'm in a better position than if I don't!

The competitions I've won gold I just went all out on what I'm good at, the competitions I've not placed at all I paid more attention to what people had done previously or what was in fashion, so I would say do what you do best whatever that may be!

AI work a lot on my own and don't really have anyone who is into this craft to bounce ideas off so am hoping that the forum will be willing to share in that way. The criterion is quite open really - minimum 3teirs max 18 inch any shape dummies or cake and I can use wires staymens ribbon. I am planning to do what I am good at and try to achieve an original design at the same time. One of the marking criterion is originality. I am looking at trends and fashion to try to avoid what has been done before. I know that I want to include flowers but am hoping that someone might just inspire a thought that will feed my imagination and help me through the design process.

I plan to use dummies, but am thinking, that to make the cake damage proof, of covering it in gumpaste. just wondering if any one who has entered competitions has done this and how the judges reacted to it. The cake has to travel about 120 miles to the venue.