Hi, I am new here and also new to baking cakes. This is going to be my first ever wedding cake for my daughters wedding in one week. I need some help if you could.
First what icing do I use for decorating and what do I use for icing the cakes.
What size dowels do I need for a cake that will be 6-10-14" pans? I will be decorating as much as possible at home and stacking at the wedding.
Also this is an outside wedding. When can be the soonest that I can bake the cakes and decorate?
Thank you for your help!!
Wow, that's quite and undertaking! I'd go with an all shortening recipe butter cream. You can frost and decorate with it. It stands up a little better in the heat. If possible I'd ice with butter cream then cover with fondant. For stacking the cakes here is and article that should help. http://www.cakecentral.com/article49-Building-The-Cake-Combination-Pillar--Stacked-Construction.html
If it's a cake with pillars there's an article for that too. Look at the top of the page and click articles.
You can bake the cakes now and freeze them if you want. Wrap really well in saran wrap then put them in an unscented trach bag and seal that up. ( for the small ones you can use a zip lock bag) For a Saturday wedding I pull the cakes out of the freezer on thrusday night. Leave them wrapped up and don't unwrap until they are completely thawed. That's really important! On friday morning I crumb coat and let sit a couple hours so gravity pull the cakes down all they will, then frost and cover in forndant or just decorate. Saturday I finish decorating and deliver.
Make a bag up ahead of time so you won't forget things. Include extra frosting, piping bags, spatula, and anything you need to finish the decorating. This way if there is an accident you will have everything you need to fix it. You might also want to make a check list of things you need. I have gotten to the reception before and left my dowls at home 
You're very welcome! I've gotten so much help here. You'll find just about everything you need to know! Good luck on the rest of the cake, and enjoy the wedding!
I did it, and lived to tell about it. Thank you all for the help that you gave me. I got so many tips from this web site and it really did help me. I did not get a good picture of the finished cake as I was so concerned about getting everything right, that I did not take a picture. I have one question about the buttercream frosting though. I used half regular crisco and half butter crisco. Woud this turn the icing an off color. It was not white and the top looked to white against the icing.
I did it, and lived to tell about it. Thank you all for the help that you gave me. I got so many tips from this web site and it really did help me. I did not get a good picture of the finished cake as I was so concerned about getting everything right, that I did not take a picture. I have one question about the buttercream frosting though. I used half regular crisco and half butter crisco. Woud this turn the icing an off color. It was not white and the top looked to white against the icing.
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