Hi, I have been lurking for a few years on and off...but finally joined because I ran into a problem.

I am making a small wedding cake (1 tier) for my sons "elopement ceremony" this Sunday PST.
Here is my inspiration...[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7odrOl2smh4&feature=channel&list=UL Hope that inserted properly.

I am NOT trying to make this cake...just trying to put cascading flowers in a different way than I did on another more formal wedding cake.

Question is this: What is the best way to attach flowers onto a Buttercream cake in a humid climate? Do I use Royal Icing or buttercream? The cake is going to be transported to a venue that may or may not be adequately cooled and I have to leave cake there and then drive to the ceremony which is causing me anxiety to leave it.

I live beside Puget Sound and the venue in on the waterfront. We rarely get above 90 degrees and most places up here don't use air conditioning...they just open the windows....LOL! I am worried that my larger roses might slide so I plan to decorate it in middle of the night when it is cooler at home. I do have a tiny air conditioner in my computer room so it helps a little bit which is why I plan a night time assembly.

The other wedding cake I made was 1 type of flower...Petunias...and cascading down 2 tiers, BUT I put royal icing spikes on each flower way ahead and they worked beautifully. I just stuck them into place. This obviously won't work with so many flowers.

This cake has large Roses, sweetpeas or snap dragons...depending on which ones look the best, and tiny blossoms arrange like a hydrangea and some 5 petal star spiky thingy's/ LOL!

Will royal icing glue things well to buttercream in this climate or should I just stick to BC and pray?

Buttercream should hold fine, especially if your roses are air-dried in advance.

The trick is to build your cascade from the bottom up so the upper flowers are being supported by the lower flowers.

I made Roses out of Royal Icing due to my concern that they might not sit on the vertical sides of cake without slipping. I wanted to make them out of Buttercream...but the book I have on wedding cakes seems like they use only royal so thought it was for a reason. But those suckers are hard as hockey pucks...hope no one tried to eat them and risk a broken tooth. I usually air dry roses or freeze them.

It's been so muggy last two days that I am having some issues with royal icing getting spongy and buttercream is well...gonna make some cupcakes happy till I get it right...but added a little piping gel to the royal and it seems to have stablized it long enough to make a lot of small flowers.

THANKS, I forgot about starting at the bottom then going up. My dummy cake for practice I did top to bottom...but so far the roses are holding but the dummy is iced in royal. (Clearly there is a better way to make a dummy...but it is what it is...ie, plastic bubbles and sliding cake all over the place) At least it helps visualize...at a distance...LOL!

Just a tip: pipe a circle of buttercream frosting on the bottoms of your dried royal icing flowers, whether they have a RI spike or not. This helps holds the flowers in place. This old technique from Wilton has helped me in the past. I have pictures of flowers on sides of my cakes done many moons ago, feel free to look. One cake in teal and white was delivered in summer, 100 degrees with ugly humidity.

Wow, good idea about the ring of royal on the flowers...I will do that on my roses. My smaller flowers I am arranging to look like larger blooms and don't expect too much trouble with those IF the Buttercream stays on cake. LOL! I've never had one slip...but I have sure seen others' cakes that did in the transport.

On that note, I thought I'd give my new DIL the book "Cake Wrecks" so IF she is disappointed in the cake I bring, she will realize it could have been so much worse.

BTW...the reason I am making the cake for my son's elopement ceremony...he wanted me to be "involved" in the wedding. I told him when he first told me about the "elopement" that it kinda appeared to me his fiance might not be so gung-ho on eloping.

He insisted it was all her idea.

A week later I hear they decided on an
elopement ceremony just to exchange vows...nothing else except now there are some guests.

A month later I hear she decided on a formal dress for the "elopement ceremony". I was then asked to just make a small cake for just our family since they would be heading to catch a plane to go to Hawaii.

She sent me 2 pics of her planned bouquet and asked me to just put some little flowers on a small cake...that is all. NO PROBLEM I said.

Then I sent her a few pics and she picked a simple cake.

A few days ago I called to tell her I was trying out my color's...and she told me her colors changed...and BTW they now have a venue for a RECEPTION overlooking a harbor/yacht club. (That's right folks...my cake is gonna be in a large venue used for weddings) Now I don't have just family to critique my lovely cake.

She's going with SUNFLOWERS and PINKS, Oranges AND PURPLE Roses with small bright green flowers. (we was purple, Ivory, and purplish blue)

Then my other DIL told me I could NOT make a 1 tier wedding cake and that my new DIL is only trying to make my son happy...but she obviously wants a real wedding cake despite what she says. *sigh*

Called my clueless son to see if perhaps his fiance is just asking me to make a simple cake because he is perhaps accidentally pressuring her into a homemade cake...and he swears it is all her idea. (yeah like it was all her idea to just run off to Hawaii and get married just the 2 of them...NOT). (I used to be a professional baker back in the 70's but not for 30 years...BTW...my specialty was bread more than cake) Now it is retired RN and grandma.

She's getting Purple and whatever makes it on the now much taller cake...but it won't be buttercream sunflowers cause I'm the MOM and I have to drive to 1 town South to deliver the cake to the venue @ noon, then drive home and get ready...then I drive North to an Island for the elopement ceremony. I do not plan to risk a disastrous buttercream sunflower cake while doing my manicure and hemming my dress. Besides...I've never seen a Sunflower themed wedding cake...LOL!

Then I get to drive back South (past my home) to a sunset reception dinner.

All I can say is I should have kept my mouth shut and let my son insist on the original plan since then there would be less chance I will disappoint my new DIL.

Thank God and Prednisone that I am able to even consider this adventure.

I think instead of getting your future DIL the Cake Wrecks book you should get her a dictionary so she and your son can look up the word "elope."

let my son insist on the original plan since then there would be less chance I will disappoint my new DIL