Hi, CCers! I am supposed to make a bridal cake using real roses, and I have a small problem.... never put real roses on a cake before and I don't have a clue as to what to do! I've searched the forum and I am not finding the info I need. This cake will have a small bouquet/mound of roses on the top tier (6"), probably about 7 total roses there. The top tier will be on top of hidden pillars. Amongst the hidden pillars are two layers of roses. What do I need to do?

I read in one thread that for the top, I can use the little water vials to put the stems of the roses in. Will I need to take out "plugs" of my cake on top to do this? I don't want to split the cake.

For the "rings" of roses in the middle of the cake, can I just put wax paper and lay the roses on it? Will they stay fresh looking? I will be traveling at least 1 1/2 hours to the cake destination. Can I put them on the cake beforehand, or do I need to wait until I arrive?

Also, since I've never done this before, where is the best place to get roses...cheap? Can I just get them from my local grocer? (like Publix?)

Thanks for any and all suggestions/help!
Kim

Hi,
Sorry I can't help you but I would like to know too. I will be doing a wedding cake in a few months with real roses on it (my first with real roses). So I am just as curious as you are about the do's and don'ts using real flowers.

I require the bride to provide all florals, real or silk. I tell her to just leave them on the cake table and I will put them on the cake when I get there. I encourage silk florals as much as possible.

I avoid penetrating the cake with a real flower. I'll either use a blob of BC as an oasis type of thingto put it in, or I'll cut the stem off close to the head and 'glue' the flower to the side of the cake with a blob of icing.

Florals that will lay on top of tiers, I just lay them on the tiers.

For the topper, I would use the little water vials/picks. You can probably get by with using just 2-3. They will not split your cake. I have used them before and never had a problem. They don't take up much more space than a dowel would. I just push them right in.

As Debi said, you can just lay the flowers between the tiers. They should be fine, but if you feel better about it put wax paper between. I have done both ways without problems. If you aren't sure whether pesticides were used, I'd play it safe with wax paper.

Also, I would wait to assemble on site...including the flowers. HTH

Thanks! This doesn't sound as "boogerish" as I thought it would be. I also saw on a thread that you could "freeze" the roses the day before. Would you recommend doing this? If so, for how long?

I haven't frozen them, so I can't help you there. I'm sure someone on here can though. Maybe this will bump you up.