Looking for any tips here. I prefer to use buttercream to ice, but like fondant or gumpaste accents. Usually I make them ahead so they are dry and then attach the day of. The problem I have is the ones that go on the side of the cake always seem to really indent the icing and make a mess of what I worked so hard to smooth out. Any ideas?

That's all I know how to do with that is to stick them into the icing....

here's a bump!

It sounds like you are not rolling your fondant thin enough.
All that is necessary to attach gp/fondant items to a b'cream cake is to pipe an open circle of b'cream on the back of each item.

make your accents as thin as you can... put some buttercream on back of accents.. they will stay on sides ..hth

I just stick 'em on - never had an issue. As previous posters said, roll pieces a bit thinner...

When I have attached fondant accents, my icing is already crusted, so I just use some BC on the back as a glue to attach it to the cake.

I usually just stick them on but just recently, I tried using Gum glue and it worked like a charm. But I make my gumglue thick so it it more like a thin paste.

Use a small paint brush and brush the back of the fondant pieces very lightly with water.

You can also brush just a little water on the back of the fondant accent to attach it to the side. Be careful not to use too much water though or it can make color from the fondant run. If you just make it damp so the fondant is sticky it works great. Also to avoid the denting, make sure your buttercream is totally crusted before applying the accents. You can stick the iced cake in the fridge for a little while to make the buttercream extra firm.

Perhaps you are pushing them on with a bit too much force - thus leaving an indent...
I use sugar glue - and if i think they might slide or move i have been know to get 2 toothpicks (wooden ones) and poke them in under the shape - on an angle so as you can never see the tiny little hole made by the toothpick.

Bh.

Whenever I decorate with fondant, I always chill my cake first so that the surface is hard. I use IMBC and it stiffens up like butter when it is cold. The I just place the foncant accents, sometimes with the help of water that was brushed on.