I'm making a three-tiered wedding cake and they have requested plain whipped cream frosting. I've made cakes with whipped cream frosting as dessert cakes but never on a full blown wedding cake. I'd like to know:

1. does anyone have a good plain whipped cream frosting recipe that's firm enough to spread and decorate with without slopping straight off the cake? It's got to taste good as well

2. does whipped cream frosting start getting all runny if food coloring is added to it?

3. this reception may take place outdoors in the 90-degree summer weather.. should I have it pulled out of the fridge immediately before serving?

NO NO NO It would be a disaster. It would run and slide and not be pretty to decorate with .. There is a Toba garrett recipe for french vanilla buttercream that is very close to whip cream flavor with workability. I'll go see if I can find it if you are interested in it.

I HAVE told brides, "you can't have that kind of icing at an outdoor wedding", when they want something that doesn't work. This is where you're the expert and there are times you have to exert your expertise.

I might tell my house builder that I dont want any nail holes in my house frame and he's going to tell me, You can't build a house that way.

Same thing here.

(And I also tell my brides that I dont' do Kroger cakes. If they want whipped cream, Kroger is 3 minutes down the road.)

1.. Whipped cream can be used on a cake successfully. You can frost with it and do simple piping.
2.. Food coloring does NOT take well. It will get splotchy and make the cream look curdled. Trust me on this one. LOL
3.. DO NOT even think of using whipped cream for an outdoor wedding in the summer. NO NO NO! Even if you kept it in the fridge.. what would be the point.. no one would be able to admire your beautiful cake. Please try to steer them in a different direction.

My first reply would be RUN! But if you want to keep it refridgerated I would suggest Pastry Pride Premium. It's a Non-dairy whipped icing. you buy it in a carton in liquid form and whip it in your mixer. Your clients wont know the difference. It stands up to a little color (pastels or ivory) and can stand at room temp but NOT 90 degrees.

I had a whipped cream cake that was covered in fondant, in the middle of April. My air conditioning had let go the night before the delivery. Figuring since it was April it shouldnt be too bad even though my destination was two hours away. Ofcourse it had to be the hottest day in April on record, in the 90's. Well by the time I got to the venue, my round tiers looked more like wagon wheels. There were cracks in the fondant from the pressure even. You can see what happens to them in my pics, its under Haase wedding I believe.
So if you have to tell your client horror stories, do so! Tell them that there is no way to have whipped cream in the heat. Just like you cannot have an icecream wedding cake. It will melt the same way!
I can understand that some people do not like the taste of buttercream, especially the recipes that do not contain an ounce of butter! But there is very little frostings that can stand up to being outside and not melt, even in the shade! Maybe suggest that they go with something else and maybe have the venue serve it with whipped cream on the side? This way your still giving your customer what they want and it wont be a disaster in the end!