Any advice on what the components of this cake are made of would be appreciated. I am trying to decide if I am confident in my skills to make this. My main question is do you think it is fondant or buttercream, do you think it can be done with BC? Also any advice on the swirls would be great. I've never made butterfly's like those but can figure that one out, lol!
Thanks in advance!

I'm no expert, and the photo quality is poor, but the cake looks to be fondant. the butterflies are most likely fondant, gumpaste or royal. and the swirls should be fondant as well. hope this helps

Here is a link, not sure why the quality came out so poor.
http://weddings.theknot.com/gallery/gallery_results.aspx?gallery=18&pageIndex=1&MsdVisit=1

Thanks for the reply!

I agree, I think the cake is covered in fondant and the black swirls are fondant. I think the butterflies are gumpaste, because I think they are on wire, because they look to be off the cake slightly.

You could use fodant for the butterflies, but you would have to get them to dry in a "flight" position, and they would break easier than gumpaste.

Thanks, The bride doesn't want fondant so I will be attempting this cake in buttercream and she wants it square! Thanks for the help!

I'm not sure that particular cake could be done in anything but fondant. The basic cake maybe, but getting the fondant swirls to take on buttercream might be a headache. the butterflies would almost have to be done in royal, gumpaste or fondant though. you have a real challenge there let know what you come up with.

It really doesn't matter if the cake you posted is covered in fondant or b'cream - it definately is do-able in b'c w/fondant accents.
I usnderstand why many brides don't want their cake covered in fondant (as much as I understand others insisting they love the look!) but if you roll the fondant rather thin & put it on a b'cream cake there should not be much objection (because of taste). There are times when we as decorators *MUST* educate the public - offer this bride a taste of cake w/b'cream icing and small, thin bits of fondant to show her what it's like. Let her know in order to get the look she wants you have to! use fondant.

Thanks! The bride is an old friend that i don't feel is going to be a bridezilla so that's a plus! She had heard that fondant is too sweet, I explained there are many different kinds. I also made her aware that fondant is more expensive and she quickly stuck to the bc idea! I have made sure she knows it will not look like the picture. Going to give her a price and see how she feels. When I asked about budget she just said she's not rich so not sure where she sees the price being.