I have made a few wedding cake now but this one has got me stumped! The bride originally asked for a round 3 tier canary yellow cake with big bold black polka dots & some fresh fruit as the decoration. She said she was not picky, wouldn't even mind being surprised with what I come up with from what she described.
I talked her out of a all yellow cake & her mom asked if she could do a fruit plate instead of fruit on the cake. Sooo.... now she just wants to be surprised. The only other guidelines she has given me is - simple and bold and not too busy.
I have never come across someone that does not have an absolute plan for their wedding cake before! I thought every girl dreamed about every detail of their wedding.
To make matters worse, I don't know the bride that well. They are both in their mid to early twenties & have kind of a rock-a-billy style. The cake topper was made by the groom & is a simple wooden heart with their initials engraved on it.
Any ideas would be REALLY appreciated!

Wooden heart sounds like they are Elvis fans! Rockabilly style is a cool one to play around with...I would stick with the canary yellow and bold black contrasting decorations.

If you google 50s fashion and fabric images, rockabilly images, etc you will get a better idea of the 'style' as such. Think bold, but feminine. Red is another popular rockabilly colour.

One thing that did spring to mind was the flared skirts, and neck ties the girls would wear - you could easily feature these elements in fondant somehow. (eg on a three-tier - on the base tier or the board make a flared 'skirt' of black polkadots on yellow?)

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.weddingsamples.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/rockabilly-bridesmaid-dresses-8.jpg&imgrefurl=http://exhibitcompanyinc.com/portfolio/rockabilly%26page%3D2&usg=__h-iCtI7sE_2rmdC1LDKrAWZsikI=&h=352&w=400&sz=28&hl=en&start=151&sig2=MdkI7bZlwCnmo7Wi9LxU8Q&zoom=1&tbnid=d9YYyzeMVooPGM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=139&ei=bq3MTfqQFJOWsgOpgqHiCA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Drockabilly%2Bdresses%2Bimages%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rlz%3D1T4HPAB_enAU317AU207%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D601%26tbm%3Disch0%2C3403&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=569&vpy=232&dur=141&hovh=211&hovw=239&tx=135&ty=138&page=8&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:151&biw=1259&bih=601

for some styles of the rockabilly genre...think yellow instead of red!

If she is asking for yellow give her yellow. I was thinking an all white cake with mid tier covered in a yellow canary ribbion with a beautiful bow and a couple of (yellow) flowers to go on top of the cake to go with the wooden heart its simple and bold!!!

Some ideas, but in their colours. Sorry no idea really, just thought i'd pop a few on here
[img]
http://media.cakecentral.com/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/540513/bling_bling_wedding_cake_3.jpg[/img]

How about something like this but in yellow and black dots
http://www.maisiefantaisie.co.uk/cakepopup/audreyweddingcake.jpg

Here are some bold cakes:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kFpqPc7ocOg/SwpMqJ8NRBI/AAAAAAAAAI4/9vw__0HV-6s/s1600/the+knot+buttercream.jpg (make some of the stripes yellow)

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1774814 (of course, make yellow flowers!)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4748186517_06591057ee.jpg (change blue to black, maybe fewer flowers)

http://everylastdetailblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cake-blog.jpg

http://hudsoncakery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/pink-brooch-cake.jpg (use more brooches, make them yellow, of course)

http://www.herecomestheblog.com/2010/03/24/black-yellow-white-wedding-cakes/ (first one in the second row is really nice)

the first thing I thought of when you said the wooden heart and rockabillie was country, go figure. what if you do painted the teirs to look like wood grian to representthe wood carving, with maybe some leafs and yellow flowers.

For something bold, I really liked this cake: http://cakecentral.com/gallery/26689

It's not my cake, but it think it would look great in yellow and black. I'm not sure how the topper would look with that color scheme, but the cake would also look nice in yellow and white. In yellow and white, it would also not seem so busy.

Thank you all so much for the great suggestions! Some of which I will be keeping for future cakes! I used this one for inspiration...

And this is how it turned out...

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2033555

I actually love it! Thank you all again!

With so little help from the bride, you did a fabulous job!

Gorgeous!

Beautiful!

Love the design - dots with personality!

Great job - the topper is really cute as well

Don't like the topper with it (wish it was outlined in black) but the cake is SPOT ON! Great Job.

Well done!

Thank you all so much for the wonderful & encouraging comments! I received more views & comments & favs on this cake than I ever have on anything! And I was told, at some point I had the #1 spot for most saved of the day! And i have never even landed on the home page before! So thanks again to everyone that helped with the inspiration!

As for the topper...

&

The groom made the topper himself. So, just the idea of that makes me love the topper. He seems to be a little more country & she is a little more rock & roll. So, for the couple, it was a perfect match.