....why are we so hard on our selves? I keep looking over my pics and finding what's wrong. I know it's my first wedding cake...it's not completely finished but I won't do that until tomorrow. I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that it's not UGLY. The bride did want the scrolls and there will be a black ribbon around the bottom of each layer. Thanks for looking and any feed back would be helpful....(just don't rip me apart ))

Sorry! still figuring this out!!!!

and the bottom and final layer!

Of course it's not ugly! Here's a ((((big hug of reassurance)))) for you. Just make sure your dowels are exactly the same height. The dowels in the middle tier look like a disaster in the making (unless they just aren't pushed in all the way ).

Can't wait to see your final pics! Get some sleep and rest assured the bride is going to love it!

Your scroll work is lovely! I'm sure it will be beautiful when assembled and finished!
I would double check your dowels in the middle as they are uneven- or maybe they just aren't all pushed in.
I hope all goes smoothly!

I agree...your scrolls look great...once the ribbons are on ,that will tie them all together and they'll look very elegant...it'ds just the dowels on the middle one...

It looks great now..and it will be beautiful once assembled!! Don't forget to post a pic so that we can admire it!!

It's beautifully done and with all the other things you have planned it'll be fabulous.

Here's an idea for you if you want to do this.

I worked for a lady who was extremely critical. She thought every cake should look and photograph like a Wilton showroom cake, like a magazine cake with perfect angles and no flaws. I mean I do too but then there's reality too. So I learned to watch every angle and piping stroke on every cake. Especially hers--lol.

So the idea is carefully eyeball designer cakes. Find the flaws. They are so there. I mean I really have to keep that separate from my enjoyment of beautiful work but I can find the flaws. So just an idea for you to even the playing field.

Y'know there's so many wedding shows now. They show a cake on there and I'm like dang why can't I get my stuff so incredibly even and smooth like that. Then you get a close up and you see that it is a 'human' cake just like ours.

Just an idea for you.

thank you all SOOO much! I feel better now that i've slept on it. the dowel in the middle aren't pushed in all the way!! they were the last thing I did last night! i was getting tired. Baking and deco I have almost 11hrs into this cake....I don't have a convection oven or a big oven so I baked each layer individually! Very painstaking! Is that about the normal amount of time it takes? I dunno if I'll do a wedding cake again! Esp. a square!!! i think they're harder! thanks again, ya'll are great!

An observation for you, I would place my dowel closer to center by an inch or so. You want the dowel to bear the weight of the cake above. Your dowel will be fine but they are closer to the perimeter (the outside of the weight) rather than the weight bearing area.

In other words, picture your set up with the dowel not sitting in the cake, the dowel just sitting there. And picture in your mind setting the next cake on top balancing on the far spaced dowel. See how you would get a better balance by moving them inward?

That's just how I do it.

Don't forget, we are our own worst critics. Your cake looks wonderful. I always beat myself up over every cake even when others ooooh and aaaaah.

Don't forget to be proud of yourself and post the final pic!

It looks great! Be sure to post a final pic with the ribbon on.

The finished product! Everyone Raved over how beautiful it was! The sad part is they didn't even eat half the cake. The lady who served it cut the customary sized slices and then gave you half....WHAT??? no filling? I dunno, i wasn't asked to serve it...just make it!

Awesome!!

See, it turned out lovely. So many times, I will do a wedding cake and think "I don't like this at all." And then I get to the venue and it's all set-up...I think "This one is my favorite".

Separately, it may not look appealing but once it's finished...TA DA!!!! That's a beautiful cake!!! NOW--ON TO THE NEXT ONE!

I like it a lot. It is very similar in style to the first buttercream wedding cake I did. Yours is much, much better. You did a great job on getting all of the edges square and the buttercream smooth.

Fantastic job!!!

Wonderful! I hope my first one looks as nice as yours did. My first bride I'm going to have to deal with tends to be overly critical and expects perfection from me. (I'm the bride.)

It looks great!!


Lisa

Congrats!!! Your cake is beautiful! Like the others have said we are our own worse critics, I am so hard on myself with every cake I do and then end up loving it, most of the time. LOL. And everytime I say I am not gonna do another wedding cake...but I am still doing them!

I do feel your pain, when it comes to square cakes though. Have done ONE, only ONE square wedding cake and am really scared of getting an order for another one!

You did great! Do the happy dance!

Oh it's great I'm glad to hear every one raved about it
You can't control the serving.
I once did a cake for a gal who had her 300# daughter cut it. She was serving a 10" round in 4 pieces! I *had* to take the knife away from her, just had to!

Thanks, Ya'll! You all are wonderful!!!! i still look at the pics and think, "wow! I did that"!!! I said that this is my first and LAST wedding cake ,but I know it's not. The photographer even said it was the prettiest one he'd seen around here!!! He asked if I wanted referrals. My problem is I'm a "home" baker and I have 2 other jobs!!! this is my hobby! All though I'd love to be able to quit and have a small shop somewhere....a dream *sigh* so...thanks again.....

Great job for your first wedding cake! Beautiful!

Just beautiful!!

Gorgeous! I hope my first wedding cake comes out as beautiful!

It's stunning! You did such a great job!

Congratulations! It turned out great! Just a few weeks ago, I made a wedding cake very similar to this one in decorations (It's in my photos). I also wanted every scroll and every border to be perfect but I realized that they wouldn't notice all of the flaws that I knew were there. As others have stated many times, we are our own worst critics. I was in the room waiting for the florist to finish so I could take a picture when the bride's parent came in and they loved the cake. The mom said it was exactly what they wanted and that's a good feeling.

It turned out beautifully!! Sometimes you just have to see it completed to feel great about it!