So much time (mostly time) and cost to the customer is put into these beautiful elaborately decorated fondant cakes. What happens to these decorations, flowers, characters? Do people keep them? Do they throw them away?

These cakes are works of art. Worthy of timeless pictures. I just wonder what happens to all those time consuming flowers, characters after the cake is eaten?

Are they just tossed? Nice to look at and then thrown away? What do people do with those creations?

Many people keep them, most throw them away. Either way, I really couldn't care less and don't consider it a waste as long as I am properly compensated for what I put into them.

I have in my contract that they should throw them away. Once they're on the food and they've been moved around and handled by who knows who, they shouldn't be used on another cake (and peope do try to do that. My mother once called me and said that the ladies at the church where we'd done my daughter's baptism wanted to know what they should do with the flowers they'd taken off the cake. They had them in the freezer and wanted to use them again. )

They really should be treated like a garnish, so if you wouldn't re-use the radish rose form your salad, don't re-use gumpaste form a cake.

If people want to save them and display them in a container or something that's fine, but they'd better wipe all of the icing off of them or that will smell really good after a while.