Oh My Goodness...help Me Picture This One
Decorating By luv2cake Updated 2 Jun 2007 , 10:23am by joenshan
Oh what did I do???
I got a call from a man at my church today asking me if I could do a small (50 people) wedding cake for next Saturday. I said that I could help him out. This is a cake for his daughter.
So I talk to the daughter and she sounds super young. She tells me that she really wants her cake to be the highlight of her wedding. She wants people to go away from the reception saying, "Wow, that was a great cake. I want one like that too." Then she goes on to tell me what she wants...
1. 3 or 4 tiered cake (she says there'll be more than 50 people at the wedding)
2. all white cake with white icing
3. On the right and left hand sides of each tier she wants silver swirls.
4. Down the middle of each tier - light blue wedding bells
5. Interlocking hearts in light and dark blue scattered all through out each tier.
6. The border at the base of each cake is supposed to be silver. We decided on silver ribbon.
7. She doesn't want flowers on the cake, but maybe some sparkles???
8. She's buying the cake topper at Wal-Mart and it will be there for me on Sat.
Then she tells me that she doesn't have a phone and I won't be able to get ahold of her this week.
I did ask her how long they have been planning this wedding and she says, "For quite a while...like 3 months. But we purposely waited to order the cake during the last week because ordering a cake 3 months ahead of time would be silly." What???
I feel bad for her. It sounds like she hasn't had any guidance on planning this wedding. She is still planning on buying her bridesmaids' dresses this week.
So I am having trouble picturing how this will look. Also, I don't know how to get silver swirls. My first thought was royal icing painted with silver luster dust...but I know that will breakdown. How can I do the silver swirls and the wedding bells and the overlapping hearts?
Please help. If I didn't want the money so badly I would've turned this cake down. I am saving for new living room furniture! 
Sorry so long. I just couldn't believe what I just took on.
o wow, that sounds like an interesting cake. I don't have an answer for your question, sorry, but oyu will have to post a photo of it when you are done, I am interested to seehow it looks. 
Yikes!
for the swirls, how about gumpaste cut and shaped into swirls and painted with Luster Dust, the same with the wedding bells and overlapping hearts. Use gumpaste.
Are you SURE the RI will break down? I KNOW Color Flow breaks down but, a lot of people use RI without any breakdown. I think THAT would be your best bet for ALL of it, interlocking hearts, etc. That way you could make them ahead of time.
Another suggestion would be white chocolate painted with luster dust.
Is there any way you can talk her OUT of all the interlocking hearts and wedding bells? I just think that sounds like too much "stuff". Now, the silver swirls sound nice and I LOVE all white cakes with silver embellishments. Very Classy.
I agree that this young lady sounds very young and that is affecting all these decisions. AH YOUTH! They RARELY do anything ahead of time (Youthful CCer's not included LOL).
Good Luck with this!
Beth in KY
I think it will be a mess also.
She doesn't have a picture for me, but I told her that I would try to draw it out and e-mail it to her so she can see what it will all look like together.
If she goes ahead with this design, I don't know if I want to post a picture of it. It will be a busy cake!
So the royal icing won't breakdown on the buttercream?
Hi there....you have your hands full, huh?
First of all...read this for gold or silver piping gel recipe....then you can pipe the swirls without having to paint.
I would probably pick the middle tier to put only one one set of wedding bells on the cake. You could alternate a silver swirl, a set of hearts, a silver swirl, a set of hearts, etc... going around each tier....
you could put the sparkles on the actual base of the cake. Are you doing BC or Fondant?
oops...I forgot the link....
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-7745-0.html
You could do tulle bells down the centre. Dip cotton tulle into a sugar/water mixture and shape it over plastic bell moulds and leave to dry. Remove tulle and cover in cornelli work. They look quite pretty.
Adven68: THANKS for that link! I didn't know you could do this and I'm a , glitsy DIVA!
Beth in KY
it's a great idea...I have used it after trying to paint royal. It does break down.
bkdcakes...we're sharing a brain tonite...
Oh wow, you guys are awesome...you all went above and beyond on the suggestions and the drawings are great!
Thank you so much.
On top of all this mess, I also have a 2 year old and a 9 week old to take care of. Like I said, if I didn't want the money so badly, then I probably would've turned this one down.
If y'all think of any other suggestions, I am all ears.
If I were you, I would explain to the bride that you were not given proper time to make the cake she desires. I would sketch my own cake or show her those sketches the others have given you and ask what she thinks. I may also try to talk her out of the "deco" work, either the hearts or the bells. I just think it's too much and if you have a limited time until the wedding (for drying purposes) and a limited time schedule as you sound like you already had your week planned. And I would make sure to bring it back to "ordering on such a short notice...." If nothing else maybe she can pass along the wisdom one day!
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