Hi! I am doing my first wedding cake in December, and here is the description: It will be all white, 3 layer, buttercream only, with edible pearls and the couples initials on top in silver. I am just wondering, what is the best way to do the initials on the top of the cake? Should I use plastic letters or are there edible ones I can order? Also, should I use edible pearls, or dragees? I saw the ones on Earlenes online store, but some of her's say "caution, really hard!" and so that makes me scared to put them on the sides of the cake! Any advice for thiscake would be greatley appreciated! Thanks!

Not sure about the letters, but the edible pearls you could make out of fondant. They have molds that you can make a string of pearls and then dust them with pearl dust to make them look real.

HTH!

Welcome lallthinm!!! you could use silver tinted buttercream to do monogrammed initials or fondant or silver tinted piping gel also for the pearls you could use silver buttercream or fondant and it will be totally edible hope this helps

you can make edible pearls out of fondant. use a small round cutter, so they are consistent in size and roll them. if you want them silver or any other sparklig color, you can put them in a bowl with the luster dust and shake them around. you can also do the monogram in royal icing...make it a stiff batch...pipe it out on some parchment paper and let it dry, then brush it with your luster dust. hth...good luck!

I made my first wedding cake this month. I had both elements: pearls and a monogram. I used a mold for the monogram. I have tons of the purchased dragees at home in the perfect size but I didn't use them and made my own out of fondant because I didn't want to have any problems with anyone cracking their teeth.

Go back to Earlene's site. She has excellent directions for making fondant pearls.

Are you talking about the letters being the topper on the cake or being a monogram on the side of the cake?

I require the bride to provide the topper....letters, bride-n-groom, florals, whatever.

As Narie said: go to Earlene's site and follow her wonderful directions. I made the pearls for a recent wedding cake following her directions and the caterer could not believe they were edible. I laid the fondant in between 2 dowels so when I rolled it out, it would all be the same thickness. Then, I used the big end of a tip and just cut, rolled, dried, put in a jar, shook in dust, then dried some more. I got the tip about using tweezers to place on the cake, and that was a life saver - since I am somewhat of a klutz! LOL!! The bride and groom supplied the initial topper. You can see my cake in my photos. Good luck with your first wedding cake. It is exciting and scary at the same time. You will do great.

What is the URL for Earlene's site?

http://www.earlenescakes.com/prlinstruct.htm
Good luck! They really are not hard to do.

Thanks for the advice everyone ! I appreciate it....I have a couple more questions. This cake I am doing is for a "friend"(we are not close) i've known since I was a child. I am going to be charging her for the cake, but she knows its my first wedding cake so I'm not sure what her expectations are for the price, or if I should cut her a break or not. She expects to have 300 people at the wedding, but she is ok with having two sheet cakes, and then the rest being a 3 tiered cake (the top tier to save). My question is, how much does a typical sheet cake serve, and how much do you all charge for them? Also, the sheet cakes will not be seen by anyone because they will be precut in the back so should I decorate them or not? And what would I charge for the main cake since it will be large enough to feed however many are left after the two sheet cakes? (remember, its only buttercream with small pearls) There is a grooms cake too, but I am not doing it so I don't know how many that will serve either. I just don't know anything about pricing the cake, and because she is a friend, im afraid of over charging! Is it ok to ask her what her budget is for the cake? THANKS SO MUCH FROM A NEWBIE!

http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/mini.aspx?T=15&SubCatId=154

The above impression mats would at least give you control over the sizes that are supposed to be cut. If the guide lines are on the cake, the person cutting the cake may at least follow the guide and get the proper number of servings.

First wedding cake.........it doesnt' matter, you know how to decorate and she needs a cake. I have learned that cake decorating is an art, and you should not sell yourself short on your artwork. It is your talent and time that you need to charge for.

A normal 9X13 cake should serve about 24 people ( serving size is a 2X2" square) and even though they are being served and cut in the back, a decoration of a rosebud on each piece would look nice. Pricing depends on your area, and I decorate at work not in my home...........a cake here in the northwest would go for less then on the eastcoast. Check around at bakeries in your area for prices and then make yours comparable.

What about gumpaste for your letters, cut them out let them dry then paint them with silver luster dust mixed with vodka?

Hope this helps.
Carie

I did this last month ..ended up putting it on the side on a photo frame holder since it came out too big. This is all Fondant painted in Champagne luster dust.

cake for 300 people is cake for 300 people. that's a (or should be) $1200+ cake. I don't care whether it is sheet cake or not - you STILL have to bake and frost the darn things.

A 9x13 only serves 24 people? I have a sheetcake pan that is 9x13 (its a wilton) and the paper on the bottom that came in it says it serves 100!!! I get so confused with all the different serving sizes!

A 12x18 sheet cake, one layer, will yield 54 pieces measuring 2x2x2, or two layers 2x2x4. Figure out how big you want your servings to be. I have no idea how a 9x13 pan could possibly serve 100. That would have to be 1x1 1/4 inch squares.

So a 9 x 13 by my cutting would yield 54 slices (1" x 2.25" x 5"-6") which is a decent size. That's 3 layers of cake torted or not. So if you do 2 sheet cakes 104 servings. Then maybe a 12, 9, 6 which is the same as the blue pearl one in my photos. It should serve 72+40+18=130. Altogether that gives you 234 servings which is almost 80% of the guests. That is using the top tier to serve although I still think that is too much cake and they will have leftovers anyway. I would prefer to do a seperate anniversary cake (boxed ready to go) or better yet a coupon for a FRESH cake in a year.

Pearls are time consuming so don't sell yourself short. Take a look at the blue pearl one in my photos ... pearls took HOURS! (I used Earlenes method and my pasta maker and sat in front of the TV) This was for a friend and I didn't charge but I would probably charge at least $350 - $2.50 a piece. I use all fresh butter and ingredients (Canadian too!) so just my groceries were over $100. I would say minimum $2 a piece if you're trying to build up a portfolio. As for the sheet cakes same price and I would pipe a little version of the monogram onto each piece. So altogether $468-585. It's a lot of cake and a lot of time. But don't be afraid to ask what her budget is - that way you both know what you are getting into. $2/slice is cheap, cheap, cheap for a yummy homemade cake and I would not go any lower.

So a 9 x 13 by my cutting would yield 54 slices (1" x 2.25" x 5"-6") which is a decent size.

I agree with this statement. A 1X1 inch slice of cake is not even what I'd call a decent slice of cake, that's a micro-slice! That's for those people who say Oh, I just want a small slice. When I go to a wedding, I want a decent sized slice of cake!