Hi all!  I've been reading the forums here for quite some time on CC and have learned so much on here in regards to cake decorating; thank you all!  I am a newbie posting my first question now, and I have a wedding cake coming up soon and was wondering how much fondant I will need to purchase in order to cover a 16"x16" square board.  How soon can I purchase it (the wedding is May 3), and how soon can I make the fondant covered board?

Thanks in advance! 

AThe amount of fondant will depend on the brand. I know fondarific has a chart. I would guess the others do as well.

Fondant is good for at least a year.

AYou can find a chart for this online as well.

I can NOT stress enough for newbies that your best investment will be the book, Complete Photo Guide to Cake Decorating by Autumn Carpenter. I bought it a couple weeks ago, and am in awe of all the directions and photo tuts in it. I paid less than $20 thru WM, including shipping, and the book is HUGE. And yes, it even has charts for what you are needing. The spend will be well worth it.

Just FYI

AI bought that book a wile ago cost me 27 $ I think with shipping but is a good source for info and I plan on getting more with recipes now like the cake bible.

quite often i have 'cheated' with the look of a fondant covered board by just covering from the cake to the edge. I will mix in some tylose powder to get the base fondant to firm up.  I just hated wasting all that fondant under the cake!  I also normally use Fondx Elite or Elite Plus, so i'm going to use that on a board. I will make a MMF to use on a board.