I'm going to start by saying this will be a rambling request for help, so thank you to those that can make it to the end.

I did a Skate board cake for a friend of my brother's a couple of months ago. She decided after loving the cake I am her baker of choice. She's getting married this month. She did ask me towards the beginning of June if I would do her cake and I agreed. Wedding cakes aren't my favorite thing to do since they just feel more stressful to me. She's a down to earth reasonable preson, and they are having a very informal wedding so I think that takes some of the presure off for me and I think I might actually enjoy making the cake.

It will be a western themed wedding and she has pretty much told me she trusts my opinion and I can do what ever I want on the cake. Oh great. Sometimes I see that as a blessing and a curse.

As of right now I will be out of town the day of the wedding and will be delivering it the evening before. (This could change though.) Oh and she lives an hour away from me as well. I'm going to do 6, 9 and 12 in hexagons but we aren't going with stacking. I haven't done a dowel down the middle, and even then someone else will be transporting it to the wedding site, so I can see lots of things happening there, same thing with pillars. We are going to do stands of some sort (probably candle holders or vases), haven't decided on them yet, but that the cakes will sit at three different heights. I figure this would be the simplest set up for someone else to do.

With the stands would you place the larger cake on the table, then do the 9 and 6 on stands, with the 6 being on the tallest? Or would you have three stands in varied heights for them?

We've discussed things that will be incorporated into the wedding to help give me ideas. They are:
wagon wheels
Old milk jars
red bandanas
horseshoes
Texas (rustic) stars
hay
saddles
felt cowboy hats
section of fence with a saddle and cowboy hat on each side of the archway.
flowers are white daisies with yellow middles and yellow daisies, red roses (mainly only in the bouquet

I have a few basic design ideas in my head. One is to do all the cakes alike. Possibly a fondant bandana 'ribbon' around the base, maybe a fondant rope at the bottom edge of that. I can kinda see the rope coming up on a couple of sides to form a lasso. Then doing horse shoes and rustic looking stars on the sides of the cake.

The other idea is to do each cake different but where they all fit together. I'll attach a picture of the topper. Because it has some 'wood' or fencing on it and she is planning on having fence beside the archway I could see doing that around the sides of one cake. Then maybe maybe alternating wagon wheels, horse shoes and the stars on another one. But then I can't think of the 3rd?

Or again doing one design with the fence around each cake then the wagon wheels, horse shoes and stars 'hanging on the fence'.

I can use her flowers in the design, but she doesn't want a floral cake. So I told her if I used them they would add to the over all look and not be the main focus point.

I also have to figure out what to do on the tops of the other two cakes since they are not stacked. Does the topper always have to go on the smallest? I thought that is where I cold bring in a few of the flowers and something else related to the designs on the cakes.

Oh and did I mention this a buttercream cake for an outdoor wedding in July in Texas? I've told her she wants to keep the cake inside as long as possible, and even suggest she get a few people to bring it out right after the ceremony is finished instead of it sitting out the whole time. I also suggested it be put in the shade. I don't know if this possible at her location or not. If she writes back and says it isn't I may suggest a fan near the cake. Any other ideas/suggestions on have to protect a wedding cake in July/Texas weather? She asked about putting the cake in the fridge, but I am worried about condensation when it comes out. Alot of the accents will be in fondant so I don't want them to get sticky or have colors running off.

I just have too many ideas floating around in my head right now. Plus even though it is a informal western wedding cake I still want to give her something nice. Could elegant and western go together?

HELP! Please. HeHe. Any ideas on how to incorporate some of the stuff with out the cake getting to junky or have too much on it? Any ideas on Western wedding cakes? Any ideas at all?

Boy that sounds like fun. I picture the bottome the biggest (maybe put the topper on it) the other tiers maybe with a small bale of hay with a wagon wheel laying up next to it with a small rope draped over it and a cowboy hat layin below it. I just did a cake that was western that was stacked. I piped little horseshoes on the sides with the same color of frosting of cake and the rope around the bottom of the tiers. Very simple but they loved it. You don't want to over do it with too much. Can't wait to see what you come up with. Good luck.

I did a cowboy wedding last year that was really fun; you can see it in my pics (probably page 2), and just did their anniversary cake this week.

I used hats, haybales, rope, wheat, horseshoes, barbed wire, piped rope borders, and pillars covered to look like wine barrels. It was a blast to do, tho a set-up nightmare. On the anniv cake I learned I could pipe the barbed wire with royal and paint it, but the wedding had fondant wire that was a total pain.

I picture the largest cake at the bottom if you have them on stands.

NOTE, learn from my mistake, if you pipe horseshoes--pipe them like a U! If you pipe them upside down, it's unlucky because all the luck "falls out"... learned that the hard way AFTER the cake was done.

Shelly4481, I like the idea with the bales of hay and the wagon wheels for the tops. That would give me something to put on theme so they wouldn't just be plain on top.

Homecook, I'll check your picture out soon when I am on a different computer. This one is dail up and it usually doesn't load pictures on here.

There are so many options that I am afraid I will end up trying to do too many of them, but I do want to give theme something nice and impressive.

The first wedding cake I did had horseshoes and barbed wire piped on the sides with a rope border. I want to make sure this one looks different, plus I have learned to do new things in the last four years I wouldn't mind using.

When she was looking at wedding toppers she sent me some pictures of the ones she was thinking about. The very first one was on the other wedding cake I did. I was like umm, anyone but that one. HeHe.