I had my first wedding cake disaster yesterday, no less at a friends wedding. I was lax on my rules because it was a friend of mine. The cake itself was simple in design. She wanted roses and pearls. Her design was "gaudy" but I did my best to give her "gaudy" without being too gaudy, that is beside the point, I digress...

So again, I didn't stick to my rules and I finished the cake and was coming up on delivery time and I was still waiting for the topper!!!! The groom finally drops it off with my boyfriend as I am loading up the car. We get to the venue and when I grab the topper from him my heart sank. It was solid porcelain. The thing weighed a ton and was not a balanced figure either!!!! The hall insisted they didn't have any cardboard I could use to support the topper. I should have just placed it on the table and walked away, but not me, I put it on the top of the cake and pushed it down into the buttercream did a hail mary and headed to the ceremony. When we returned to the hall for the reception, it looked like the cake was fine. So I went to take some pictures in the different lighting. There was buttercream on the porcelain grooms head and a quick ice over down one side on all three tiers. It had fallen :(

I cried, and if you knew me you would know, I don't cry. My mother hasn't even seen me cry since I was 8 years old. Thankfully the brides mother got their before everyone else, she used to decorate cakes, so she was the one who fixed it as best as she could. It was still painfully obvious what had happened. Then I felt worse because she came and apologized to me because her daughter didn't get me the topper in a timely manner so I could plan for its weight!!!!

I just want to crawl in a hole and disappear!

AIt sounds like it could've been a lot worse. And yes, you should've just set it on the table.... Maybe now we can all learn and if there is the topper at the venue, we can pack a 6" round, scissors, pencil, and some straws, just in case. We'll all keep a little "just in case the topper weighs a ton" add on pouch in our emergency kits.

I have buttercream, skewers, paper towel, spatula, scissors, garden snips, non skid mats, and a screwdriver set in mine already. I keep it all in an old ice cream bucket and just plop a fresh bag of buttercream in for each cake.

AWoow that's a really good idea,thanks for sharing anna!!

Yep, me too.  I had the most thorough emergency kit, and frankly, never met a situation I couldn't fix.  cardboard, straws, pins, pens, ruler, scissors, floral tape and wire in three colors, pearls in various colors and sizes, and tons more.  That was just the basic stuff.  Then what specifics were needed for an individual cake.

AIt sounds like it worked itself out.

If she really is your friend she'll understand.

The fact that her mother used to decorate cakes was great because she recognized that it was her daughter's fault for not getting the topper to you earlier. I don't think you have anything at all to be ashamed of or fretful about. You and your friend will probably laugh about this in the future! The most fun stories to tell are of ones where something went wrong!
 

A:D you guys are great. I do have an emergency kit that I take with me, but now I know what needs to be added to it!

I am friends with the groom. The bride is playing little games online to try to show me she is angry, but as my boyfriend said... "It couldn't have been too bad, half the attendees asked for your business card" I think I am over the emotional part of having this happen. I have learned and I knew that eventually something would go wrong with one of my cakes. Stuff happens.

I learn from my mistakes and continue to move forward! It's all good :-D

A

I had a bride who told me the wedding topper they chose was very heavy so i doweled the top tier to support the weight.  What I didnt know was that it not only weighed a lot but that it had no base!  It was a glass heart that was supposed to sit on it's side!  I had it the night before the wedding and i thought it was going to balance okay but once I got to the venue I knew i was in trouble.  It was super wobbly.  I had pleanty of time so I left and ran to the party store and bought a tiny picture frame.  Removed and washed the glass and hot glued the topper to the glass that came out of the picture frame.  The rectangle glass piece made a perfect base for the glass topper and I knew the hot glue would peel off without any issues.  The topper was from oriental trading and is very popular.  I hope this will save someone else a last minute heart attack. 

http://www.orientaltrading.com/personalized-heart-cake-topper-a2-47_564-12-1.fltr?Ntt=cake%20topper

ABaking sis.....I don't know what the company was thinking when they made those. They are very petty but obviously made by someone who knows nothing about cake lol.

Sorry about the incident and hopefully the bride will get over it, otherwise she is being petty. It could not have been too bad since folks asked for your cards. I have seen some of your other cakes and I think that they are beautiful!!  I really wish I knew how to get buttercream to look so smooth and hold up to higher temperatures.

Wow - way to improvise!!  Definitely says something for giving yourself time to spare - huge helping factor.  But you obviously are good on your toes for knowing exactly how to remedy this situation.  That heart should be a paper weight, not a cake topper lol!