Several weeks ago my DIL asked if I would be willing to help her friend with a wedding cake. Strictly in an advisory capacity as the friend wanted to make the cake herself for her daughter. I said I would and have her call me if she needed my help (as a freebie--I only do cakes for family and fun). She never called me and my DIL said she was determined to do it herself. Friday afternoon my DIL called and asked if I could come to the church and do some emergency repairs on the groom's cake and the wedding cake. When I got there the groom's cake (red velvet w/DH cream cheese icing) looked like it had the measles with all the crumbs in the icing. And I had never seen such a sorry looking cake as the wedding cake (14" heart double layer) with the icing lumpy and runny and running off the top down the sides of the cake. The mother-of-the-bride (cake maker) was understandably almost in tears and I was in total disbelief. I set about fixing the groom's cake first as it was the easiest fix. The family went to the sanctuary for the rehearsal and then the bride and groom began to quarrel and both left the rehearsal. Total chaos followed after that and then the rehearsal was called off when they both refused to come back. Here I was in the middle of this conflict working on cakes when no one was sure if there was going to be a wedding. My DIL and I convinced the mother-of-the- bride that the only hope for the wedding cake was to scratch her icing and start over. At that point the wedding cake was the least of her worries and she agreed. I left to get what I needed to make the icing still not knowing if there was going to be a wedding or not. When I got back, there still was no decision as to if the wedding was on or off and I proceeded to work on the cakes. My DIL scraped off as much of the icing as she could, but we had to leave the icing between the layers. The couple made up and the wedding was on before I got all three heart cakes iced. The cakes were to have a fondant rope wrapped in beads around the bottom. The SIL-to-be started making the ropes but when his family started arriving to "help" they decided they didn't like them and then decided to make fondant roses to put around the bottom instead. This had become a design-as-you-go wedding cake. As we arranged the cakes on the table the groom's family decided they didn't like the arrangement so we had to rearrange the cakes. The mother-of-the-bride had fresh flowers coming to put on top of the cake and I was a little skeptical of how the fondant flowers (more whimsical looking to me) and the fresh flowers were going to blend, but it wasn't my decision to make. I left the church at 11:30 p.m. and still didn't know how the cake was going to turn out. My DIL said after the wedding that the cake looked good and they were all happy with their "community" cake. My prayer for this couple is that they wil have a long and happy marriage after such a precarious start. But I will never understand why people are so reluctant to ask for advice when they don't have a clue what they are doing.
wow!
i dont know if i would have stuck through that! 
I don't understand how someone can say they will make the cake when they don't have a clue what they are doing. They owe you BIG time. Sounds like you saved the cake and the day. Good for you. Not everyone would have taken their time to do that for free.
She said she couldn't afford to buy a cake and I understand that. But my advice was free from the beginning. I thought she would at least have tried a practice cake first. I made both of my sons wedding cakes and I made the entire cake in dummies first just so I would know what unexpected things I might run into.
Since your advice was free, I don't understand why she didn't call you either. I would have been bugging you to death! Not to mention, there are all kinds of tutorials on the internet and cake decorating books at the library.
I would have made a practice cake too. If not the full version, on a smaller scale.
You are a kind person to tgo to the rescue and I am sure you've earned several stars in your crown.
that is totally crazy, it was really great of you to save the day like that, but it still makes no sense why she wouldn't have at least called you I mean it was their wedding cake. Kudos to you for being so great. wish we could see the final product if you get a hold of some pics post em.
Good for you that you saved the cake. Not to many people would have pitched in like that. It amazes me how many people set out to make a wedding cake never having done it before, they figure whats the big deal its just like making a sheet cake. I help out at a cake store and these things happen more then i care to think about.
All I can say is that I bow to your generosity! You truly should be taken out to dinner (at the very least) for working on such a potential disaster, and with "helpers" like you had, I'm surprised your tongue is not in shreds (or maybe it is???)!!
Good for you for being so generous. Your wings just got a little fuller and your halo has received an extra dose of polish for your efforts.
Odessa
nana....I'm sure they were very glad you came through for them....and they should have called and got a bit more info. I recently had something like that happen to me as well. I got a call from the Groom's Mom....she had wanted me to make the wedding cake and the bride got the cake from a relative. They set the cakes up....one fell over and the groom's mom called me and asked if there was any way I could run and come fix it for her.....she of course paid me for my time, etc. But it turned out to be a mess as well......ended up taking most of the frosting off....redoing the trim and such. The relative hadn't done a tiered cake before....so she didn't know about adding dowels to the cake!!!
You did a wonderful deed, now just pray for their marriage.
.....The relative hadn't done a tiered cake before....so she didn't know about adding dowels to the cake!!!
Well, Gosh! It's "just a cake"! I mean, like, you know, like, how hard can it be!? 
As I said in a previous thread ..... and they're allowed to vote, drive and pro-create!
I can understand someone wanting to "try" to make the cake for a birthday or something, but this is a WEDDING!!! An orchestrated pagentry of custom and tradition...... "but what the heck! We can wing it on the cake!"
Here's yer sign!
wow - u r super nice! not sure if i would have stuck around and tried to save cakes for a wedding that may or may not happen - and all for free! good for u! 
After this experience I have come to the conclusion that you ladies who do this as a business are perfectly justified in charging DOUBLE for repairing someone elses mistakes and TRIPLE if they "help". I have not spoken to the MOB but my DIL says she keeps telling her to thank me every time she talks to her. I still have not seen pictures of the finished product.
That was incredibly nice of you! What a fiasco!
I don't understand why someone wouldn't do a little research before making a wedding cake! The information is readily available in books and on the internet. Just your basic Wilton yearbook has all the information you would need about stacking a cake!
I made my first wedding cake with no formal cake instruction and no experience, but you better believe I read everything I could before I started.
WOW!!! Sounds like someone was a little too proud to call for help..... OR someone waited until the ultimate last minute and was up until 4 AM trying to make this cake and didn't call....
Either way, come on - if you don't have money for a grooms cake AND a bride's cake - just do one. Isn't that better than trying to do them yourself w/ no clue??? Or why not just do some simple hearts and arrange them nicely? Or screw the cake and just make cupcakes - since those are a trend now..... it's harder to screw up cupcakes I think 
And you could do them in heart shapes I believe......
That's one of the main reasons I'm here learning. I want to be able to make a wedding cake for my son and soon to be DIL. I'm on this site learning and reading information from everybody (Thanks, everybody). I'm trying to practice techiniques etc. so I will be able to make their cake. (Everybody's getting B-day cakes this year from me!!). I really wonder why she thought she could make this wedding cake? It's alot of time and work and knowledge. Bet she realizes that now and I doubt if she'll try another decorated cake anytime soon, if she ever does. The MOB was extremely fortunate that you were availble to help out and save the day, well, atleast the cake!!! What a wonderful person you are to do everything you did for this couple!
Good gravy! They do owe you big time, very kind of you to stick through all of that drama.
I love how they all became experts on arrangement and floral design once you came to the rescue. 
Family get-togethers and holidays with them should be interesting...
After this experience I have come to the conclusion that you ladies who do this as a business are perfectly justified in charging DOUBLE for repairing someone elses mistakes and TRIPLE if they "help". I have not spoken to the MOB but my DIL says she keeps telling her to thank me every time she talks to her. I still have not seen pictures of the finished product.
have you ever seen that joke-sign about plumbing rates?
"$10 an hour if I fix it. $20 an hour to fix another plumber's mistake. $50 an hour if you tried to fix it first."
.....The relative hadn't done a tiered cake before....so she didn't know about adding dowels to the cake!!!
Well, Gosh! It's "just a cake"! I mean, like, you know, like, how hard can it be!?
As I said in a previous thread ..... and they're allowed to vote, drive and pro-create!
I can understand someone wanting to "try" to make the cake for a birthday or something, but this is a WEDDING!!! An orchestrated pagentry of custom and tradition...... "but what the heck! We can wing it on the cake!"
Here's yer sign!
Once again, Debi, you get my day off to a rip-roarin' start! Hard to explain to the bossman why I am giggling at my computer when I should be typing his legal briefs!! 
I truly just love your simply twisted take on life! It's just like mine .... are you absolutely sure we weren't separated at birth???? 
Odessa
I love reading these kinds of posts lol for some reason I just love reading about tragedy I guess to learn what NOT to do lol....
But what I hate reading is how someone who has never made a cake for the public or something as important as a wedding cake can sit there offer thier lack of skills to the bride to be and get that far without asking for help... or tossing in the towel and paying for a REAL wedding cake... I for one would not be able to help someone without telling them they should've stopped long before it go to that point.... I wouldn't be able to freely give my entire night to fixing thier screw up and not getting any recongnition at least if it were my cake I'd get the recong. of knowing that if anyone asks who made the cake names will be dropped... and I wouldn't want my name dropped for such a messy cake.... and who in thier right mind thinks canned icing belongs on a wedding cake?!!?!?!
I'm sorry I just get very upset at this kinda thing because a wedding is one of the most important days in a woman's life, and sometimes a man's too , and for her own mother to knowingly enter into this knowing she couldn't do squat! just really ticks me off lol
Oh man!!!! You are such an Angel!!!!
I made my sisters wedding cake last month. It was my first wedding cake ever and my first tiered cake! BUt you know what I did to make sure her cake turned out? I made a comple practice cake.
Her final cake was 14", 12, 10, 8, 6" all torted 3 times, and covered in fondant. My practice cake was exactly the same minus the 14" layer. I torted filled, stacked, covered in fondant...everything. This was of course after reading TONS of info on this site about how to torte and stack cakes. I learned a few things from my practice and my cake turned out great! It's in my photos.
People need to prepare. I took me about one week to just make the practice cake! I can't imagine making one if I didnt learn everything I did from this site. Thanks everyone here!!
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