Okay, so after I've put the fondant on the cakes (5 tiers) do I wait until the fondant has dried before attempting to put the posts through or do I do it immediately? (I think the bride will be using the new Wilton "ball" style pillars. I've never done a fondant cake before, so I've no idea.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for what to use for a base for the 18" bottom layer if the bride does not want the ball pillars?

Thanks for any and all help.

I'm not an expert at all , but I believe you can wait to put the pillars in. I put dowels through my fondant after it was dry and they went in just fine. In class tonight two other gals had no trouble at all pushing the pillars through their fondant. Good Luck!

The new "ball" style pillars have the hollow round plastic dowels that the balls slide over. I wouldn't think it would matter. I usually don't put any dowels or pillars in my wedding cakes until I get to the recption location to put it together. My own thought is that it keeps the cake sealed and therefore maintains freshness a little longer. Probably doesn't matter but that is how I look at it!

Thank you for the info -- sounds like it won't be a problem!

Any opinions on which kind of fondant is better...Wilton recipe or MMF?

wilton tastes horrible...............and they're both just as easy to work with......actually for covering cakes I prefer the mmf......has more give.....make sense?

MMF hands down!! Wilton tastes gross. I've added orange flavoring to the MMF...YUM! Just be sure to use less than the 2 cups of powdered sugar the recipe calls for and use crisco to roll out the fondant; it works much better than rolling out on cornstarch or powdered sugar. My MMF was tearing when I used the cornstarch or powdered sugar. You can PM me if this doesn't make sense.

i also add an extra tablespoon of water to mine when i'm mixing it and it starts to look dry....