I am seriously thinking of making my own wedding cake. I need opinions on what u guys think, Also i need to know what i need to do to color some gumpaste a very red color. Any suggestions???

If you need bright red fondant, I'd just order the precolored Satin Ice...much easier than trying to get it bright red yourself.

I suggest DON'T DO IT! Your day should be a special day for you and your fiance. You should be worried about how beautiful you look, NOT about a darn cake turning out, even if you DO get a lot of it done up ahead! It's not worth it....

Red color: Good dark red color comes from Americolor gel paste. I have to put quite a bit in, and then do it up a day ahead, so it has time to really turn dark. Works great. But, if you are dying fondant? Then I suggest buying the red Satin Ice. MMF doesn't dye very dark, very well.

You're looking for red gumpaste to make flowers I assume? I've mixed red satin ice fondant with white satin ice gumpaste, 50/50 and then added red color from there and it's dried just as hard as straight gumpaste. It doesn't need as much color at that point. I usually dust them afterward to get a really deep red. I think global sugar art has a red gumpaste too, marcela sanchez or something like that.

I'd also recomend not making your own cake unless you're doing something super simple. the days leading up to my wedding were filled with picking up my linens, getting my favors ready, making sure everyone had their dresses and tuxs, keeping the mothers from fighting and so on and so forth. Plus the day before you usually have rehearsal and then dinner. The day of is just non-stop, the cake is the last thing you want to worry about it.

I would have to agree with the above poster as well. Don't do your own wedding cake. Unless some one else is planning everything else and making all your appointments, I would let someone else worry about the cake. Besides stress level, just think about your time line. The morning of the wedding you're getting your hair and make up done. The day before you may be getting your nails done (I say might because I didn't get my nails done when I got married). The day before that you have to be ironing out any wrinkles that come up. One of the bridesmaids got the wrong size shoes, they lost an earring. You may have to drop off some checks at some places, the possibilities are endless. The night before the wedding you're at the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. So say your getting married on a Saturday, as most people do. By the above timeline, the only plausible day to do the cake would be Wednesday. That means your guests are getting three day old cake. A lot can happen to a cake in three days.

Just let someone else do it.

I made my own wedding cake, and am still glad I did it eight years later. I just baked the layers ahead of time and froze them (after careful wrapping). Of course, it all depends on what kind of cake you want to do. This is NOT the time to showcase your work. Mine was as simple as it gets as far as decorations went - fresh flowers! But I made sure the cake (MS's Italian Cream), fillings (almond paste and apricot puree), and frosting (MS's Grand Marnier Italian Meringue Buttercream) were all delicious. Truly, the simple decorations will serve you best if you want to do it yourself - your wedding day needs to be as uncomplicated as possible!

Im thinking something very simple, maybe gumpaste roses done ahead of time and some scrools on the sides. I dont want to stress myself that much. sometimes the most simple things are the most beautiful. Thanks for all opinions

Lol...you bet your bootie I'll be making my own cake...I mean, seriously, I would be critiquing whatever the decorator i hired to do it, the whole time I was at the wedding.

"I do!!!!....now what the heck, is that a dowel I see sticking out of the top tier??? What the?!?!"

Yeah...uh, me make my own cakie.

how many red roses do you need?

Oh, gosh. Wedding days are crazy. And the days leading up to it are even worse. If you want to keep your sanity, don't do it!

To weddingcake1 I dont know an exact count of red roses but I'm thinking of making plenty and just keep the extras for in case they are needed. I think I might do them white then just dust them red.

To get a beautiful shade of red...like Christmas red...start with burgandy...just a little and mix..after thats blended together add no taste red until you get the red shade you want.

This is how I do it and it comes out perfectly

Remember that the red colors are prone to fading. I don't know how far in advance you could make the flowers and have them retain their original color. I've never used the pre-colored satin ice, though, maybe it holds its color better?

I just finished a cake with red gumpaste roses, it's in my photos. I ordered the red gumpaste that someone already mentioned, and mixed it 50/50 with burgundy colored gumpaste. They did get light when they dried, but then I dusted them with petal dust, a mix of rose, red wine, and christmas red.

Hi hecteli,

Ive tried to color gum paste red before and I didnt have much luck - I didnt get the deep red I was looking for. I decided to mixed red pedal dust with a little vodka and paint the flowers instead. I was very happy with the results, a deep rich red. The cake is in my photo album if youd like to see how they turned out. (JFYI my red flowers are painted black on the ends. I painted the flowers several days before I delivered the cake to my friend and the color didn't change)

Tammy

EDIT - I painted the flowers, then let them dry over night, then painted them a second time.