I just finished a wedding cake and I'm not very pleased with it. The bride asked for cream buttercream base, champagne/peach colored fondant ribbon and white roses. I had worries that the white roses would stand out too much, but kept that to myself. Well, I dyed my icing cream and iced the cake, got the ribbon on and placed the roses. The cake has since darkened to a darker cream, almost champagne color itself. With the white roses, it makes the icing look even more dark! Ugh! It's one of those cakes that has my belly in knots. I have until tomorrow afternoon and part of me wants to take it apart and redo the icing on the cake. It would be sooo much work though, as it's three tiers and I have other cake orders to complete still. She never said light cream, but she did send a picture of a cake she liked and it's no where near as dark as mine.
So what would you do? Would you redo it or hope for the best?
All advice is greatly appreciated!
I know it is hard, but I would redo it. You won't feel good about it if you don't.
Hard to say without seeing the picture she gave you and a picture of your cake. If it's not close to what she wanted I'd reconsider doing it over--but again, without seeing it I don't know if it's as bad as you think. We're all really tough on ourselves!
The cake looks professional there is no doubt about it. I will also say that the picture may make it look a bit darker than it is.
Looking at it however the cake looks more biege than cream. It is unfortunate that this happened but the color of the buttercream does not look like the color the bride requested.
Ask yourself this question if you ordered a product in a particular color (a car, carpet or furniture) and what was delivered was not the color you requested, what would you expect from the company that provided it?
Me I would expect it to be replaced with the item I ordered. That it is a different color (even if it is close) means it is not what I ordered. I would expect no less from myself as a vendor. As such I would redo it, I cannot not hold myself to the same standard I expect from other vendor.
It's so hard to say if it's far off from what she wants or not. The picture she sent was definitely closer to white. It was also fondant and she wanted buttercream. I'll attach it too. These were her exact words though. "The cake I would like the buttercream icing to be a cream color with the fondant champagne ribbon and white roses."
Also, an added note, in the beginning she said champagne or peach, so when I realized the icing was a tad darker (not as dark at the moment though), I added more peach to the fondant. Now it's more like she got a champagne colored cake with peach ribbon and white roses. Blah. She has not been a picky bride at all. All of our correspondence has been super easy and she pretty much went with whatever I suggested for the grooms cake and such. You never know what they will be like when they see it in person though!
Vkandis, I didn't see your reply first and yes, I completely agree with you. I think I'm trying to just talk myself out of redoing it right now, but in my heart I know what the right thing is to do! Thank you for your advice and everyone else who has relied!
amyh1, send this pic to the bride. Ask her how she thinks it looks. Is she pleased,etc. tell her you did use cream color, but sometimes after sitting , some colors can turn darker. I think it is beautiful. I would surely be pleased with it. I bet she will too. Let us know how it all turns out.
Okay this is where I would say there is definitely room for artistic liscence--a cream color is not cream. I would not say this is just hair splitting, it is simply the case that if someone wants cream then they should explicitly say so--a cream color is not the color cream.
Clearly you have a judgement call to make. Try and bracket your other commitments--this will be hard because as you note as not having to redo it would be much better for you. Also bracket whether you think the bride will be a bridezilla or easy--that should not matter based on how you assess the quality of your work. Why I say bracket both is because you indicated you could redo it but it would be hard to get everything else done.
Thus as an artist and professional do you believe (with your reputation on the line) that your work fulfills what the bride ordered? The work looks good but does the color as it stands fit the spirit of the order. If your heart, gut, and/or head tells you yes then call it job well done.
I'm redoing it! 
I've already disassembled it. Now, I'm second guessing the lighter cream I'm using and if it's too close to white. Ha! This is not the first order that was light cream, cream, beige that I've battled with. I think out of all colors, I hate them the worst. 
I'm redoing it!
I've already disassembled it. Now, I'm second guessing the lighter cream I'm using and if it's too close to white. Ha! This is not the first order that was light cream, cream, beige that I've battled with. I think out of all colors, I hate them the worst.
I was a sign painter in my previous life and we used to groan when customers would order the dreaded Cream Buff Beige. To them the color is specific, to us it could have been one of a million colors in that family. We redid many signs after the customer came to pick them up and said they thought it would be darker/lighter/creamier/tanner/less tan, etc.
Because of that I never take a cake order without some sort of sample to match. I don't care if it's a paint chip from the hardware store, an invitation from the event, or a piece of fabric, but I won't do the cake without it. Pictures don't count for me because I want something I can hold right next to my frosting in a good light as I am mixing it and after it has sat for awhile.
I usually ask for a color swatch for every color in the book. I don't know why I didn't this time. Live and learn, that is for sure.
So it's done and I'm so much happier! My husband changed the lights out before I took the pic and now it seems even brighter than what it is, but really it's a nice light cream color against the white roses. I'm also not putting the roses on top until I get there, but the top will be covered. The best part, is the bulge is gone too! 
Phew, I'm so glad that is done. Thank you everyone for your advice and compliments. I love this place!
It is beautiful....and more in line with the colors of the photo she gave you. I know this was very stressful and a lot of extra work....but I think she will be pleased and you have the knowledge that you did everything that you could to give her the cake of her dreams.
Have a great night!
It turned out so beautiful! I can just see it with the roses on top, it will be stunning then! I'm so sorry for all the extra work, but it has paid off! Great job my Dear! And how did the other cakes that were due turn out? Great I suspose for them too!
Very nice!! I thought the first one was beautiful, just not what the bride was expecting--this one will blow her away!!
I agree and admire your decision to correct a problem. Not many would do that... I never thought of re-doing icing. Thought about making a whole new cake, but now i'm intersted...how did you do it??? Do you disassemble, scrape off first BC, and let crust?
How did you fix the bulge??/ Would love to know for future reference. I know this could be a whole new thread but, Yours turned out perfect! Thanks...you can pm me later if your busy right now. Thanks!
Thank you so much ladies! All your support really means a lot. I won't say I didn't cry a little last night, but it was worth not being stressed and sick about it all day today.
I did get all my other orders done and it ended up being a good weekend.
bmoser24, I was able to pluck off the roses and save them and had to toss the fondant ribbon, of course. I gently took off the bulge by scraping around it, as the cake had finished settling at this point, so I knew it wouldn't come back. Then I did a coat of icing over the other and smoothed it back out. Made new fondant and put back on and the placed the flowers again with royal icing. Yes, I'm sure they got a surprise when they cut the cake and the majority of icing was a darker color, but in the grand scheme of things, I think that will be okay. If anything, the icing underneath looked just like the fondant ribbon, so for all they know, it was an effect I added, lol. I will explain if she asks, but I don't think it would have been greatly noticed. Now you couldn't do this if say it was a blue cake and you had to change it to red, but creams are a bit more easier to cover.
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