I've already taken Wilton's Course 1 & 2 classes and am almost finished with the Fondant and Gum Past class. My question is should I take Course 3, because it seems to teach the same things as the Fondant and GP class. Did anyone who took both Course 3 and F&GP think they were beneficial? Thanks

I took courses 1, 2, 3, and F/GP back-to-back. I thought the F & GP was a big waste of my time and money!! Not a total waste because I would probably have not even attempted gumpaste otherwise (not that it's hard, I just wouldn't have done it). I did get a lot out of Course 3--more royal icing flowers that I can actually master (I had trouble with the Course 2 flowers), stringwork (which I love), brush embroidery (love this too), ruffle borders, and stacking/tiering. You'll get a lot out of Course 3!!

The F/GP course is like a 102 level, where course 3 is like a 301--KWIM?

Well....this is an interesting question. I took all 3 wilton classes 5 or so years ago before they changed the format. Then with the new gum paste class I took it as well, but then realize they had changed the classes an decide to take the 3rd class again, mostly to learn the roses.

Yes, most of the class are things you could learn by yourself without taking a class- stringwork, ruffles, garlands. The exception is the lily nail flowers, those are pretty difficult and were nice to learn from a teacher, but she says she has never actually made them for a cake. I think they look neat, but I would have to practice alot more to make them look nice enough to make it worth the time they take. The roses of course were nice to learn from someone who had made them before.

So truthfully, paying full price ($30) at michael's wouldn't be worth it, but I was able to get it fairly substansively discounted, and I enjoy the day a week off from the babies anyways. So for me it was worth it, for the fun.

I think I'm one of the few people who enjoyed each and every class, including Fondant and Gumpaste. I'm not very creative, so that class gave me the skills which I wouldn't have normally aquired to try and do things differently with Fondant.
Level 3 was invaluable, stacking, royal flowers, etc. Great!

I think it has to do with the teacher as well, and somewhat of the other people in the class.

I'm currently in the Gumpaste/Fondant class, and we're not exactly following the book. Our instructor has gone to pastry school and knows other skills/is comfy going "off book." We spent a day learning about fondant and how to cover the cakes, the next we did some of the things in the book but started on the next lesson (their flowers). Next week we're learning the flowers we picked (I think lillies/peonies/roses in gumpaste), plus the daisys and finishing the "fantasy flower"/carnation. The fourth week we're doing as we choose, which it appears the plan is that we'll not only have finished the book, but will be "challenging ourselves", in other words finding something out of a magazine/book we want to try/skills we want to larn, and going from there.

If I had to stick to the book completely, I wouldn't be happy. This is my first Wilton course, and if this is advanced, well then, I'm the Queen of England!