Okay - first attempt at Bride and Groom topper out of gumpaste/fondant.

Bride is not getting cake from me (did not know about me)- MOH bought cupcakes & cookies from me for the shower. MOH asked if I could make a topper that "looks like" bride and groom. She gave me pictures of examples, was not too picky, so I said yes.

Priced it at $145 for the topper (both bride and groom), this seemed to be the going rate out on the 'net.

I know this first one will take longer, and that once I get it down I will be able to do these quicker/better.

So I had to re-do the bride's body 4 times. Still not sure if I should re-do the entire thing. I want it super so that other people there might order from me. I think in the long run I will try one more time, just to be sure. But now I have the groom to deal with and I only have ONE DAY to do this - she wants to pick them up on Wednesday.

So PLEASE tell me what you think - I still think she is a bit fat. ANY AND ALL CRITIQUES are WELCOME and APPRECIATED! I really want to make sure this is worth the $145 for her and that I get more orders for this if I can get it down. I still have to add her veil which will hide a bit on the back that doesn't thrill me. I have also trimmed the hair a bit since I took the pics.

MANY thanks to Aine2 for her face tutorial!!! Could not have done it without her!

Man! The face/head, really looks much better in person - that was one thing I was actually happy with. Bad angle I guess

i think she is really cute. the only thing i see that could be changed a little is the upper torso area. she looks a little wide on top but other than that i would be proud to have that on my cake. Lovely!!!

I love it. I did a larger one before redoing it to make it a little trimmer. Love the face. I want to be able to do a face like that.
If it somewhat resembles the photos then maybe keep it that way. $145 seems fair. They are tricy little things and some places in oz charge $400 for the pair of toppers.
HTH
Leigh

She looks great. I cannot answer your questions I am a real novice at fondant figures. But I think she is great.

How big is the figure for a topper?

Thanks for sharing.

Good Luck on the Groom!

I have no idea about the price but just wanted to say she is really cute! The only thing I see is the top of her back is a bit thick.. but like you said, a veil would hide that.

Good Luck!!!

I think she is really cute! Nice job!

She is just under 5" tall, and she and her groom will fit just right on top of a 6" cake. This order is so "loosey-goosey" I don't even really know what size the top tier of her cake is!

I never even talked to the bride, just the maid of honor, but the bride did already send me a check paying in full.

Leigh - for the face you have to go to Aine2's website ; http://extra-icing.blogspot.com/
and go to the free face tutorial, she really makes it sooo easy!

I do agree with you all - she is a bit thick on the top, and the back is not great - that's because I carved away a lot of it and tried to hide it with piping.

I really think I am going to give it one more try in the morning - after I attempt the groom.

Thanks everyone! I'll keep you posted.

Great job! Can't wait to see the next one!

She looks fine and I'm sure they'll be thrilled. I do figures all the time, and never promise an exact likeness, or inclusion of all details.

It gets easier, and you will get faster, I promise. The first ones aren't worth the money, but it is a learning experience. The sixth, seventh, eighth etc will be worth it. I can crank them out with about an hour and a half worth of active time.

Did you let the body dry thoroughly before adding the head? I always make them in steps, and let them dry in between. If the body hasn't dried/hardened then the weight of the head will compress the body and they'll be short and fat.

She is very sweet looking!
The only thing I see (and it could just be the angle of the pic) is that the front of her dress is slightly lower on one side.

Thanks for providing the link to the tutorial. Be sure to post a pic of the groom!

I love the bride! You did a wonderful job. The only thing I notice, and it could be the angle, it looks lopsided. Like she is leaning? But personally, I love it! Can't wait to see both together.

well to me she has that beautiful hour glass figure (like me hehe)... you have done a fab job wouldnt have thought it was your first well done.

Yes they do get quicker i find the grooms take longer speciallywith dressing them.

Great job cant wait to see more..

ditto what Chutzpah said. My teacher recommended they be 6inches tall also, just a thought. mine were too chunky to begin with too.

She looks good. Her face/hair turned out really cute. She has personality! I would recommend getting the full person tutorial aine2 did. My first figures I didn't have a scale to measure the portions of fondant or the right tools (splash into summer cake in pics). They turned out cute - but not what I had in mind. Finally got the scale and tools and my next figure turned out much better. Graduate in my pictures.

JUDI

The grooms take twice as long ans the brides. Their clothes are more complicated... more parts.

My figures are about 5" tall.

Thank you all so much for your input - I do agree with everyone!

So basically I started over! Actually I started the groom first, got him mostly finished and realized I could not be happy with the wrinkling on his legs. THEN I started over! You can see the first attempt in the background - I did not finish the first groom - no arms, no hair!

Started with the groom first, then the bride - I put a bubble tea straw inside the bride for support, she is much skinnier now! Plus I changed the skin tone to a little more tan than pink. The grooms legs are thick, but I gave the pants a bit of a flare, so I don't mind, but if I had more time for them to dry and be stable I would have made them thinner. There is still plenty of room for improvement in the little details - but all in all I am happy with them now!

I know it could be a LOT more stable, but everything is quite firm and able to be moved around. So now I just leave them until the bride comes to get them tonight. Although I am thinking about telling her she can come and see them, then depending on where they have to be dropped off, I may ask her if she minds if I do it, so they have a few more days to firm up, they should be fine by this Saturday, right?

I will be on pins and needles until I hear back from the maid of honor next week to know that everything went okay!![/u]

wow - can i have a copy of the diet the bride used

These are gorgeous - i'd be happy with these on my cake. I was just gonna suggest you add some edible glitter or something to make a wee necklace to create an optical illusion and narrow her shoulders on the original but you were too quick and re formed them. This idea might come in handy next time if you have less time for making them as perfect as you want them.

Well Done!

AnneMarie

Absolutely wonderful......these are so cute, can't believe it's your 1st time, you make me want to try this. Fantastic job, you must be proud.

Omg, these guys are adorable! I'll take a copy of that diet too, lol. Wow, if you do this well after 2 trys imagine what you'll be doing next time! I love doing details on things, I might have to try this myself, too, too cute!!! EXCELLANT

They look great! She has more personality the second time and I think her diet did her wonders.

OH they turned out Wonderful!!! The first ones were cute but I love the second!! I'm sure they will love them both!! Great job! I can't even imagine what your work will look like after you have done a few more!! You might be teaching!!

Really cute!!!

Super, Super Job!!

They are great!

how do you feel about the price now?

would you do another one for $145 or would you charge more?

I know the first time is always harder and takes longer but I was just wondering how you feel now they are finished.

I have never tried to make people but I was thinking $50 per person, now I think that is way too cheap.

What an awesome job. They are lovely!

Good Luck.

Fantastic job! I know she'll be thrilled to have these on her cake!

I think I could stick with the $145 considering I did 2 sets of these in 2 days and that was with no clue as to what I was doing! I know I will get faster at it, the second set was much faster than the first. Maybe jack the price up a bit since I did lowball a little from the prices I saw on the Internet. Knowing people will pay $160 for them PLUS shipping, I could probably at least go up to that and people will still buy them.

If I thought I would be doing a few of these a year it would almost be worth it to make a few bride and groom bodies ahead of time to have them on hand and dry. The hardest part for me was the being patient part and waiting for pieces to dry - I am NOT good at that. I want it all done NOW! I was even thinking about trying one in clay, just to see if it was easier and more stable. Sacrilege, I know!

Thank you so so much to Aine - her face tutorial was priceless, I NEVER could have made a cute face without it. I did buy her full body tutorial as well, which certainly helped. If she ever offers a Bride and Groom tutorial you can bet I will be buying it!!

BTW the bride came and she loved them and said "Wow! That looks like a TON of work!" So that made me really happy, it sounded like she really appreciated it and she said the groom looked just like her fiance!

So now I just have to pray that all goes well and nothing falls off between transporting them to the cake person and getting them on the cake at the wedding. I would have felt better having more time and I did tell her to be very careful and to call me if anything happened. I'd rather drive somewhere and fix it than have a broken topper with my name on it out there. Soooooo.... holding my breath until Sunday comes! I asked the maid of honor to send a pix to my phone the day of the wedding if she thinks of it LOL!

My only suggestion was to make her thinner.. which you did....unless the bride is really chunky, I would imagine she might be offended with a chubbier likeness on her wedding day! LOL...

so, the only other thing I have to say is

DOUBLE YOUR PRICES!!!!!



(I have always admired your work)

You did a wonderful job