I need to make a bride and groom but have never made people before. where can I get instructions on how to make them and would fondant work better than gum paste?

I use 50/50 mix of gumpaste and fondant. Gumpaste dries too fast so doesn't give enough time for manipulating and plain fondant is too soft so the mix works perfectly for me.

I agree on the 50/50 gumpaste and fondatn - try on Youtube and search for gumpaste people or similar. I also find it helpful to look at doll or similar to get proportions and indentions and so on. Good luck!

There is a lot of really good info out on the forums from which you can learn. In the search box, try typing "figures." You should get many options that way.

This is one that ran for a bit and had a lot of useful info:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-641578.html

I do a lot of standing figures and have come to the conclusion I like about a 60/50 combo of gumpaste to fondant best for figures. It dries really well, but gives you time to work with the figure.

There is also Aine2 who I truly believe is the Queen of Figures. Her work is amazing and one can learn so much through her tutorials:

http://www.extraicing.co.uk/