Can Someone Help Me With A Timeline For Wedding Cake Please?
Decorating By staceyd1984 Updated 23 Aug 2007 , 4:19pm by Shyanne_Mommy
im making a 4 tier wedding cake.
12" square
10" round
8" square
6" round
all madeira cake with jam and buttercream. marzipan and then fondant. edible pearls around the outside and gumpaste roses on the top of the 3 largest tiers. the top tier will have a bride and groom statue. each tier will be patterned differently. i have attached a pic of the minis i made so you can get an idea of them.
im struggling with a timeline of when i should do stuff! the wedding is on a friday (7th sept). im at work each day until 5pm. the friday of the wedding i will literally just have time to get home and deliver the cake to the venue for the reception, so friday is out of the equation for any decoration except for emergencies!
i have begun to make the flowers, i am also going to make the pearls as soon as i can. when should i bake the cakes? i have no problems in freezing them but when should i begin to decorate? how long will a cake stay fresh with marzipan on it? im not the fastest person in the world and this is my first wedding cake so im slightly stressing about it! im sure i can do it but my worst fear is them serving up a stale cake and it all getting left!
i was thinking about baking on the weekend before and then icing one cake a day in the week coming up to the wedding but will the cake i ice first be stale by the friday? at this rate im going to be forfeiting sleep and making cake all night lol. i thought id ask for some advise from the experts!
thanks in advance!
maybe the patterns cant be seen that well! just to clarify bottom tier (left in pic) is lemon and ivory stripes, second tier (bottom in pic) is cornelli lace, third tier (right in pic) is diamond pattern and top tier (top in pic) is edible pearls.
Sorry, I can't help you with your timeline problem as I have only done 2 wedding cakes since I started in March of 2006. I just wanted to wish you luck. And by looking at the minis and some of your other work, I'm sure it will turn out beautiful. Just remeber that we are our own worst critic. That's usually where I make my biggest mistakes, putting my work down when it's not that bad. Also remember that you have all of your CC friends here to help. Good luck and don't forget to post a pic when it's done. 
Wow, I vow to never do another Friday wedding! Well I think that if you use a moistening syrup and you have all that covering on them, ie the marzipan and fondant, that they won't get stale. Especially since freezing will also lock in a great deal of the moisture. So I would say if you wanted to bake on like Sunday maybe, since you said the weekend, that should be fine. Then take them out to begin decorating on Wednesday, Tuesday at the earliest. I think that's reasonable. But I'm sure you'll get some other points of view from the pros!
Hi,
I would not start icing your cakes that early, they would be dried out some by Friday for sure. If you think you could swing it I would not start icing until Wed. if you can and then put them in the fridge. It will for sure be a lot for you to do in just a few days but it will ensure a fresh cake for Friday. If you can get them all iced on Wed. and then do the deco on Thursday it would proabley be better. Anyway, hope that helps ( or makes since..lol) and good luck. Be sure to post pics of your cake when done.
Dawn
I have a Friday wedding this week. And also have a job.
Sunday night I gather and cover all the boards. I also make all the fondant.
I started baking on Monday evening and finished up on Tuesday.
Last night (Wed) I torted and crumb coated.
Tonight (Thurs) I will add another layer of frosting and fondant the cakes. I stay up Thurdsay night until I am 100% finished and boxed up.
I have yet to pull stay up all night, but I an sure it will happen at some point.
If you are organized you will get it done. It is the last minute trips to the store that will kill you.
Good luck
hamie
thanks for the words of advice! i didnt realise that i should put them in the fridge so thanks for letting me know that too! should i cover them in something while theyre in there or just in a box?
i think maybe i was thinking about starting too early! who needs sleep anyway? its overated lol
thanks for the encouragement too!
If you are going to freeze the cakes you can bake them anytime. Sometimes I have to freeze mine for a couple of weeks and they are still moist and tasty when cut into. I always take them directly from the oven and put them in saran wrap...it seems like it helps keep moisture in if this is done hot. Then I let cool down a bit and wrap in Glad press and seal and store in the freezer. I would do as you are doing now and make the flowers...also make any other decor than can be made in advance. I would make all of my icing on Monday and crumb coat on Tuesday. Wednesday I would ice all of the cakes and Thursday I would decorate. That's if you are stretched for time in the evening and only have a few hours. If you can spend about 6 hours working on Thursday I would move everything up ONE day and ice and decorate on Thursday and just omit Monday altogether. BTW, I decorate frozen cakes all of the time. Hope this made any kind of sense.....Friday wedding cakes always throw me off. My work week begins on Wednesday and I like it that way! 
will i have to defrost the cake before putting on the marzipan or it ok to do that while theyre still a bit frozen? i dont usually decorate them frozen in case it makes the fondant sticky but i wondered if it would make any difference to the marzipan?
i hate the fact the wedding is a friday! its by boyfriends aunty and i agreed to make the cake. the wedding was originally on the saturday at the point when i agreed and then she decided to change the day! how inconsiderate lol
I've never used marzipan so I don't want to speculate wether or not it would be ruined. If you have reservations about it just crumb coat on Wednesday that way they will be thawed by the time they are coverd on Thursday. Hopefully someone with marzipan experience will chime in for this...
I'd bake and freeze all the cakes the weekend before. If you're really stressing about having enough time and only able to work evenings I think I'd start putting them together Tuesday (stacking. filling, crumb coating) then refrigerate and go to the covering and decorating on Wednesday and Thursday. When I've done wedding cakes I spread them out over the week before to minimize the mess and the stress. I like to be totally finished with my cakes the day before an event so all there is to do THE day is the set up. I deliver/transport all my cakes in individual boxes/containers and set up at the venue.
Good luck and remember to feed yourself these evenings/nights. I hardly eat or drink when I get busy on my cakes. Oh and BREATHE..................
I'll be looking for your pics when you're finished.
Carol
I work full time also, so
My timeline for a Saturday event:
1-1/2 to 2 weeks prior, bake all cakes.........cool completely, and wrap in saran wrap, then aluminum foil, then into an unscented garbage bag, and set level in my freezer. I would not decorate with marzipan while still frozen, the condensation as the cake thaws will probably make it really sticky. I make all decorations (edible pearls, etc) as far in advance as possible. I start making my BC icing a week ahead........get cakes out to thaw on Thursday morning before work, take out of garbage bag, but leave the saran and foil on them.........if you want to torte and fill the larger layers while still frozen, they are easier to handle, just wrap them back up so the condensation collects on the outside of the wrappings. Thursday and Friday evenings, I crumb coat, Ice and decorate until finished, leaving Saturday morning open for any little mishaps.......With yours on Friday, just move everything up one day...........good luck and post pics!
thanks for all the great advise!
so what im going to go for is making the cakes at the weekend, freezing them.
tuesday - defrosting - torting, filling and crumb coating
wednesday - marzipan and fondant
thursday - decorate til all done
friday - deliver to wedding and make sure i enjoy the reception (and eat a huge piece of cake way bigger than everyone elses lol)
in between i am going to remember to eat even if its only the trimmings lol im sure thats nutritional, i am going to breathe occasionally but not too often, i mite blow the cake crumbs around that are making up my meal and im gonna remember to get 40 winks (or maybe 30 or 20 or 10 or maybe just a cat nap will suffice lol)
mainly im gonna remember not to panic and remember my computer is only in the next room and i can come on here and yell help! someones always around to help out, thats what i love so thanks!
Well I come in at the end but it sounds like you got your schedule down...I work also so I know it can be hard. I wish you luck.....
I can't wait to see the finished product!! The minis looked great!
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