Okay, first you must know that I have OCD tendencies and plan out everything. With that said, I am going to make a little timeline to help me organize for this wedding and grooms cake project I took on. I am going to be using a regular buttercream (some white, some choc)...how far in advance would you make it? I have a huge deep freezer, so storage space isn't an issue. Also, would you recommend baking and freezing some of the cakes in advance? If so, how far in advance?

Here is my other dilemna. This is my DH's cousin, so we are invited to attend the wedding. The ceremony is at 2:30 and the dinner is at 5:30. When should I set up the cake? I don't want it sitting around all day (though there will be nothing to spoil), but I also want to attend the ceremony.

No problem with setting the cake up at 11-12 before the wedding, the cake will be fine for a few hours. I've done a few like that. Also, I freeze for a couple weeks no more than four though. I have to say I haven't froze frosting. Waiting to see what someone says about this one. Good luck and do post a picture!!

Hey slingmama, maybe I have OCD tendencies too, but I like to write down everything I need to do on a day by day basis, I've just never called it a timeline before The BC can be made weeks in advance-really. Even if you use milk, the sugar stabilizes it. I usually make my BC the week before and just refrigerate it. I almost always bake and freeze my cakes, usually the Monday before a Saturday wedding. I think they actually taste better and my Mondays are usually slow as most of my cakes are due on the weekend. I bake, fill and freeze the double layers, wrapped in double plastic wrap, then foil. To thaw them, I let them sit out, leaving the wrap and foil on until they come to room temp, usually overnight or all day of the day I want to frost them--My usual schedule is frost on Thurs night, decorate on Fri night, deliver and set up on Saturday. I work full time so this schedule accomodates my 9-5 day job. You can set the cake up hours in advance--for you around 11 am or noon. If it's all BC in an air conditioned room, it will be just fine. Hope this helps and good luck!

when you say "regular" buttercream, do you mean with butter or with crisco? Crisco buttercream can sit on your counter in a covered container for days. How big is the cake? If it's just a 3-tier for 100, I bake and crumb coat on Thurs, then ice and decorate Friday (if I dont' ice and decorate THurs, also).

I recently did a wedding with BC, 4 layers, fruit and cream fillings, and a groom's cake, 2 layers with fruit filling. Ceremony and reception times were the same as yours.

I work full time so I can only bake in the evening. I started baking Wednesday, finished baking Thursday night, started frosting Friday, finished Saturday morning. I didn't freeze or even refrigerate (nothing would spoil), just wrapped in plastic wrap once they cooled.

Find out what time the reception hall will let you in. Try to be there as soon as they will let you. Since you have nothing that will spoil, don't worry about it sitting out. It will also give the cake time to settle into its final resting place (sounds like a funeral lol). Take your camera to snap a photo once your finished, if you're concerned something will happen to it while you're at the ceremony, that way you know how it looked when you left. Then you also have it to post here so we can all see how lovely it turned out!

Good luck, hope this helps!

I was also wondering about this. If I crumb coat the cakes while frozen, will this mess up the icing or cause the frosting in between the layers to become unstable with all the condensation? If I do this, should I let it defrost in the fridge or at RT (because I have no fridge space???).

Thanks everyone!

Thanks for all the great ideas.

The wedding cake is 4 tiers and the grooms cake is 1/2 sheet cake with 1/2 the ball pan on top. So this a lot for me to do in my regular kitchen with a 3 yo running around. Most of my work has to be at night when DH is home.

The bc has not milk or butter in it (I thought it would do better in AZ this way). I have frozen bc before...you just have to stir it well after is has defrosted.