If you are trying to budget DIY. Even if you have to do it over a few times it is still less than paying someone else to do it.

Besides weddings are supposed to be about getting married not all the extras. Extras are nice if you can afford them, not everyone can and this gives them an alternative. I think this lady left it that way on purpose (at least I hope so) so a beginer wouldn't expect miracles! I doubt anyone will lose any business over this demo. (sorry can't spell worth beans).

This creates a whole new Master Card moment...

$100.00 + for cake baking and decorating tools
$2.00 for the aluminum foil to cover the board
you found in your garage.
24 hours of your time (after the article you read
said only 3

The looks on all of your guests faces as they watch your straw "supports" crumble and the ugliest cake they have ever seen falls in on itself......priceless.

Hope you have a Master Card with a high credit limit and a decorator in your town with a REALLY big heart!

Man! Y'all weren't kidding about how ugly that cake is!! I can't believe this goofy woman would have the nerve to post something that looks that crappy. Not to mention that cream cheese icing can spoil and I don't see anything in there about how to store or refrigerate....
Hopefully anyone who looks at this will see that it is a little harder than she makes it sound and does require quite a bit of time and practice.

However, if crap is what you want, crap is what you'll get by reading and following the limited information in this tutorial...

JM2cents!

Great cake freddyfl!

OKay I want to send the following as an e-mail to the author - anyone want to comment or add to it??(haven't sent it yet) Sorry it's long! maybe someone can help me simplify!

I just have to tell you that the "Make your own wedding cake" article on your site is terrible! How stressful for a bride-to-be to try to decorate her cake on her wedding day! The statement "making a wedding cake is easy" is also a horribly misrepresentative statement. I decorate cakes and belong to a cake decorating forum. This article was brought to the attention of the "community" and everyone is appalled. I understand that some brides are on a budget. However, as a decorator, it is very difficult and annoying to have to explain how real cakes are priced when there are articles out like these that say "making a wedding cake is easy" and have a ridiculous timeline and terrible instructions. The final picture can at least be shown to brides as a "this is what you get" but it still implies to brides that making a wedding cake should be easy and shouldn't cost a lot. That's another issue I had with the article - there is no pricing guide. The author states that brides can save money by making their own cake but she never goes through the costs of buying the ingredients, the cake decorating equipment and supplies - all of that adds up. Especially if you aren't going to use it ever again. Most people don't have 3 inch tall pans in their house for the "occassional" cake.

The timeline for the cake is ridiculous too. Even people with some experience couldn't do some of those steps in 5 minutes....... and I don't know if canned icing is used but you definitely need time to make your icing......and depending on how much, it will definitely take a good amount of time. Also, while baking time for one layer may be an hour - this was a three tiered cake. It would take at the very least 3 hours of just baking time for cakes of the sizes recommended.

The article also does not give any idea as to how many servings the cake actually makes. How horrible for a bride to run out of cake to serve her guests..... and if the bride is making the cake herself she probably doesn't have a lot of experience cutting "wedding cake" slices. These slices are usually smaller than regular slices. There are certainly cutting guides out there, but this author of your article does not provide links or even a reference to them.

I am also concerned with the way she tells brides to "stack" their cakes using straws. I didn't see her mention that you also must put each cake layer on a cake board. Brides following this article will have sinking cakes and falling tiers. How awful to try to go to your reception hall and finish decorating this cake on your wedding day only to have it collapse and sink. Plus with all the normal stress of the wedding day, this "easy" to make wedding cake could put a bride over the edge! Bridesmaids and groomsmen are usually a little busy getting ready for the wedding as well and probably don't have time to decorate the cake the day of the wedding as the author suggested. And how awful for someone to volunteer to make the cake using these directions only to have it completely fall apart at the reception! The bride will be angry and the friend will feel horrible.

I just feel this article grossly misrepresents the amount of time, energy, and cost that goes into making a wedding cake. It gives brides the wrong impression. If a bride reads this before visiting a cake decorator, she will probably feel that the cake decorator's prices are completely outrageous when in fact they are usually accurate considering the costs and supplies and time. I'd suggest if the bride is on that much of a budget that she goes to Wal-mart or a grocery store for her cake. Or serve other types of desserts. But this poorly written article will not save brides money and will just cause more unneeded stress to the bride and/or wedding party.

I am asking that you please remove this article from your site. Perhaps you could include a more detailed article or refer the bride to be to some books or cake decorating magazines. Above all, the bride should probably go to a professional to ensure that her cake turns out the way she wants, tastes good, and won't be something she has to stress over on the day of her wedding. Perhaps a better article would be one showing the true costs of cakes with examples of what kind of cake you may be able to get for different price ranges. So that brides on a budget don't have elaborate fantasies of spectacular cakes done for $75.00.............

Thank you for your time and I hope that this convinces you to remove the article from your site.

If she is on a tight budget maybe she should have made Brownies. Gordon's Brownies are really good.

I think that's a great letter, imartsy! It really is a gross misrepresentation of the time and energy and skills needed to make an attractive wedding cake....

freddyfl, Nice cake! Yes you can use straws, and I have. But I've only ever used them as a base support when puttting a small cake on top of a sheet cake. Afraid I wouldn't trust them with more than that.

P.S. My oldest son was a sub-mariner for 6 years.

ok.. so the cake Nina made is pretty bad BUT she didnt SUGAR COAT (pun intended) the results! what she could have done was presented it differently... or maybe even researched that a bit more...... Brides get what they pay for. i am sure if a bride WANTED to make her own cake she could do a cupcake tree with choc dipped strawberries on each or something.... or if money is tight.. cut the guest list.... or elope!!
the picture she took is so bad.... maybe in a different setting it might.... be........ *urp* enhanced? (i'm trying on my diplomatic hat...i dont think it fits quite right!)


p.s. pretty cake, freddyfl!

OH MY GOSH! This is aweful!

What a ghastly cake! But I have to say, at least she doesn't misrepresent the final product like MS does! There's a woman who started the whole 'you can do this yourself and it's so easy and perfect' craze. I remember seeing Martha in a 'before jail' program making a tiered wedding cake, except she wasn't the one really doing it, a professional decorator was. Martha just repeated the instructions. Made it sound like anyone could do it. I think this was total misrepresentation.

I have to say though, this person needs to put in the cost of supplies, amount it feeds and remove the "making your own wedding cake is easy" verbiage!

Hey here's that cake's long lost child, My first cake !!!!!!

Hope I'm not the only one who finds this funny, that is an ugly cake no bride should be making cake on her wedding day

Hey, cakedecor, if I had to choose, my party would have 15 of your rainbow cakes before one of that other! That's not even a comparison.

well i just think my rainbow cake is pretty pathetic and funny
look at all the grease on the cardboard and is not even covered!!!!!!!

I am sorry I do a crappy job, but not that bad! I could see the cake being done after a heavy night of drinking and the hangover was so bad that the bride didn't care what it looked like. I think it would take a few more than 3 hours to make the thing baking all of those layers, making frosting, getting the things together.....

Ya know, if the sides were just smoothed a little better it wouldn't look too bad. Now the straw thing....

It's not the fact of bashing her cake - It's the fact that a website that is supposed to HELP people has this up there as a possible way to do WEDDING CAKES. It's the fact that brides do not have the nerves left to have this crappy thing seen and served to all of their friends and family on their SPECIAL DAY. It's the fact that they want to save money, but will spend a great deal on supplies alone, not to mention time, plus the possible spoilage factor of cream cheese icing which can cause food poisoning and lawsuits. It's the fact that she should simply know better.

[quote="amwake"]
The looks on all of your guests faces as they watch your straw "supports" crumble and the ugliest cake they have ever seen falls in on itself......priceless.

quote]

I didn't read through all the step by steps, so I don't know whether or not she gives reference to having the cakes on boards.....BUT I DO know that you can stack a 6 9 12 using straws as support. I do also know that they will not fall using straws - just look at all my work, ALL tiered cakes are supported using drinking straws. It can be done. And my cakes are heavy!
As for torting, filling and crumb coating, 5 minutes is fast, but yes when on the ball sounds about right. Takes me about 30 min to do 6 9 12 torted, filled & crumb and back in the fridge.
Yes the final product is not what most brides would want to see by any of us professionals if they were paying for it, but if they had done it themselves, I'm sure they would be happy with the final product.

I am no expert, but I think we are bashing her for misleading bride-to-be's. I agree that no bride could put that cake together in the time allotted. The recipe does say it feeds 50 people but you have to hunt for it. What she doesn't explain is that the icing is supposed to be under a fondant layer, at least that's what the original recipe said. I think we are concerned is that she is going to ruin someone's wedding day. I think she should have suggested the brides have a dessert table and ask her family to bring their favorite homemade desserts. Most aunts and family members would be thrilled to participate in this manner. If not she could have directed the brides to a website like this to lurk and learn things or suggested they take a decorating class somewhere. This woman is presenting herself as a professional bridal consultant by writing this article. A chain store cake would be cheaper, easier and prettier. Remember, what ever cake you do have will be in your wedding photos forever, unless you get divorced and burn them..

flourgrl, you are a professional, a woman making a wedding cake for the very first time could not do what you can do. And I really don't think anyone in here is bashing the actual cake. Yes, there are many people in here who could do a much better job but I know most of us remember our first cakes (mine wasn't that long ago). The problem with the article is not the cake it is the journalist who is trying to make it sound like it will be the easiest thing the bride has to do in preparing for the wedding. If I had tried this for my wedding day I would have been heart broken, mainly because if I had used the timeline stated it would never have been finished for the wedding. This article is far from the truth and it needs to be stated.

This is a site for friends to give tips and sometimes an opinion.

Immature, I don't think so, we are older and our sense of humor is different. The chances of the maker of the cake seeing this post is nil.

For some an article like this affects their livelyhood. It would make a difference in the article had truth to it.

I know there has been some joking going on here but seriously before the Bride displayed a cake like that they should make cupcakes instead.

To put this in another way. If you have ever watched American Idol even for 15 min. You have to ask yourself what made some of these people think they can sing and to embarrasse themselfs in front of so many.

Cake decorating is a skill if you don't have that skill you are only embarrassing yourself. Maybe with classes and practice this person could possibly have an hidden talent. But, to show this picture and say it is presentable for a wedding is absurd.

Normally I am the first one to come to the aid of a teenager. But, in your case I think your comments were harse. And, you are not fully understanding the post.

If I see a post I don't agree with I may leave a comment with another point of view, if it really offends me I just don't return to that thread. By no means would I want to insult members here.

If you can't play with the big fish maybe you should swim in another pond.

While it is a nice beginner cake it is NOT a wedding cake. When you have been thru your own wedding or very immediately involved with a wedding or make wedding cakes (and you might!) you understand how important the cake and the whole day is to the bride and groom. There is a tremendous amount of stress even with the smallest of weddings.

What we are bashing is the fact that the author did not seem to take those things into account and the fact that the end result is not anyone's dream cake (even a simple dream). If she was going to offer a diy solution to the wedding cake costs there was certainly a different way to go present it that would have been more fair to the bride and groom than to make a poor stressed out bride think that making and putting together a 3 tier wedding cake is a snap. Even under the best conditions it isn't let alone when you are trying to manage an entire wedding and all the details. Coming from somone who planned her entire wedding almost completely by herself, this article is unfair to a bride to be and contains half the info the novice needs.

Thanks amwake!

I agree the timeline given is misleading to someone with no skills what so ever. Nor is it really reasonable based upon the fact that most brides are too busy doing other last minute wedding things to be worried about baking, making icing, buying supplies, making a mess of their kitchen, making a cake, delivering it there etc.

I was simply commenting that straws can be used when the cake is properly constructed since I noticed a few comments that questioned that point in the article.

Even bendy straws? Just kidding. I could see straws working - as long as you place them right and the right amount of them.

I think everyone here is mostly annoyed by the fact that people think cake decotators charge too much for cakes they seem to think is "a piece of cake" yes the cake it self is being made fun of but I think is just to show that paying for your wedding cake even if it's a lot of money is better than trying to make it yourself and wind up with it looking like that, that's something us begginers can make at home nobody wants that for their wedding so pay up and enjoy your day, also i think some of the real wedding cake experts here know the person who wrote this articles is way off with their instruction so in result you would probably get a cake that looks like the picture, "pay your cake decorator and don't try to bake your own wedding cake" is what I think everyone is trying to say, I feel bad if any real brides followed these instructions, if this was someone's class cake and it was their first one no one would make fun of it, notice no one made fun of my rainbow cake, even though I did,

Yes I am immature and made fun of the cake. I would not want that at my wedding--I would not try to make my cake myself. Yes I am married and planned a wedding --making my dress, bridesmaids dress, mothers dress, bought food for the reception and even help set up for the reception. This was an out of state wedding for me and we had to save money. I did spend the money for a wedding cake all $150 for three small tiers and 2 full sheetcakes. The cake was good and they were decorated nice--not really frilly but did the job. I would never think of trying to throw in making a cake and trying to deliver it and set up then have to run to the church for the service. To suggest to a bride that making your own is cheap is crazy. No one has those pans laying around, most people don't have decorating supplies around and to stack cakes for the first time is scary. I don't think a couple would want to look back and think that after spending money on cake pans and supplies that they could have just gone to the bakery like anyone else and had something they really liked.

I have seen this website before and yes, it is a hideous cake.

I think it's a little gutsy to hop on here and call everyone immature for saying the cake is ugly. If anyone knows how imprtant a wedding cake is to a bride, it's the cake decorators who deal with the bride months ahead of time.

Why are there bridezillas? Because when the wedding is over and done, the people are gone, and the flowers cleaned up, there are 2 things everyone is always going to remember. The bride's dress, and the cake. Especially if it's an ugly cake. And bride's don't need the added stress of ''you can do this in no time with no problem!'' right as they're getting ready to get married.

My wedding will be along the same lines as Janette's. We're getting married on the side of a mountain in Wyoming. The reception will be at my MIL's house. I'm wearing a summer dress rather than an expensive gown I'll never wear again. Not because we're poor but because fiance and I both prefer to have a small, quiet wedding with only family. And I'm going to make my own cake, because I can and I'm confident it will turn out ok.

But to tell the average woman she can make a wedding cake is ridiculous. Especially at that cost and time frame.

Wow that's a sloppy cake for a wedding - very sad!

first of all, if you don't have any of the supplies to start with, it's going to cost a pretty penny to get started, and i know the first time i torted, filled and crumb coated a cake, it took a h@#$ of a lot longer than five minutes. as far as recruiting a bridesmaid to do it- what if they decide they don't want to. i did a last minute (like with a weeks notice) wedding cake for someone who's "friend" backed out of doing it. it's a lot more time consuming than you think. and i don't think the overall look of the finished cake is what most brides envision on their wedding day. plus, the transport and set up of the cake that day! Who involved with the wedding has the time/energy for that! i think if you've decorated cakes before, you could do your own wedding cake. but, to make it seem sooo easy is so misleading and i can't imagine the added stress to the poor person making the cake.