I will be teaching my very first Wilton decorating class next month and thought I'd just put a request for any advice or hints/tips that might be useful as a newbie! Thanks so very much!

Congratulations!!!
I never took a Wilton's course (always full in my area, months in advance) I hope you get a great turnout.

I would go in with confidence and be prepared. You will probably have a mixture of skill levels from newbs to some with knowledge. And I guess have patience. It takes some longer than others to get things. When I took my course (at a local college) the couse was called "The Art of Cake Decorating". Well, we spent the first two classes learning how to torte, level a cake, how to fill an icing bag, and basic icing techniques. By the end of the course, some people still couldn't fill a piping bag to save their lives.

HTH and best of luck. Keep us posted after your first class. Would love to know how it turned out for ya

wilton has a forum, perhaps there is one for instructors. When I took the classes the hardest thing for me was the wilton rose. You should be fine. There was a woman who took classes with me that trained for being instructor right after finshing the classes, just a true statement that I thought might help you feel less nervous. Oh, a more experienced instructor volunteered to sit in a few classes with her. She has been teaching the wilton classes for two years now, and doing a fine job. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[email protected]

Email the above address to get signed up for the WMI only message board. It's a great place to talk about classes, ideas and issues.

The best thing I can suggest is run through the first class a couple of times, even if it is a dry run where you are just pretending to make the icing at stuff. This way you feel comfortable with what you are doing. And make notes to remind yourself to say something or do something.

Relax, enjoy it, and have fun. If you are having fun they will pick up on that.