AHelp! Would love some advice on how to plan out my daughters wedding in April. I'm not a pro but bake a decorate a lot of cakes for friends and family and have decent fondant and BC skills. My daughter wants a cake buffet with a four tier brides cake and four regular" cakes in different flavors in SMBC. All white cakes. Also, I am making a 3d Lego Stormtrooper cake for the groom's cake. need to know how to plan my week before the wedding to get everything decorated and still fresh. I will begin baking and freezing layers next month. I know the groom's cake will take the most time but the helmet (RKT) can be done way ahead of time and covered with fondant ahead of time and the structure will be built and ready.. I could sure use some organization help! Thanks to anyone who can help clear my fuzzy head:(!

AMake a list of all the components you will need, like: cake, smbc, fondant etc. Another list for the ingredients so you'll know how much to buy. Another list for materials (non food) like boards, ribbons etc. Write down the steps under each component, like: Strawberry smbc - puree strawberries, make plain smbc. Then make a schedule out of all the steps. For example: Day 1, buy ingredients. Day 2, bake off cakes. You're making a lot of cakes, make sure to include a day or two for taking a break or what ifs. Stay organized and good luck.

GatorGal~~Since I have no idea how skilled you are at baking and decorating, I'll just provide my to-do list for my very first big project.  You can obviously tweak it depending on your needs.  I can say, that even with all of my sleepless nights and pre-planning, my total "newbie-ness" really showed!  The project took WAY longer that I ever dreamed.  If my dear, dear friend hadn't come over and donated about 12 hours of her time, it would have been a disaster.  2 years down the road of hobby caking, I would now provide an extra FULL DAY to this schedule.

There were 4 cakes on acrylic cascading cake stands, 14"/12"/10"/8".

Here's my thread on the Wilton forum talking in more detail about the harrowing experience:

http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=4&threadid=156177&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=

STEPS FOR MAKING ORPHA'S CAKES, DUE: September 17, noon, with delivery/set-up at 10:30:

Cut parchment circles for all pans used in this baking session.

Cut parchment collars for pans.

….Lay out:

Baker's Joy spray

Bake Even strips.

flower nails.

cooling grids.

plastic wrap and ceramic tiles.

Cardboard cake circles to place underneath when freezing.

Bake cakes.

Let cool for 2 hours

Wrap in plastic wrap.

Put cardboard cake circle underneath

Wrap in aluminum foil.

Freeze

September 14 (2 Days before cake is due). Put wrapped cakes in fridge to thaw.

Take buttercream and super-stiff buttercream out of fridge/freezer and place on counter.

......NEXT DAY, SEPTEMBER 15

…..Lay Out:

Super-stiff BC for dam, Ateco coupler without slit

Buttercream

Filling

Tools—spatulas, VIVA, metal scrapers, bowl for scraped icing, damp T-towels, paper towels, turntable,

cake drums, tips, The Mat, cornstarch in sock, powdered sugar for dusting, Crisco

Unwrap thawed 2" high cakes

Place dab of icing on cake drum, and put on bottom layer.

Tort

Put super-stiff BC dam
Fill
Stack 2nd filled/torted layer on top to create a 4" high TIER
Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place a weight on top (either a 12" or 16" ceramic floor tile) to allow the cake to settle for 2 hours or more. (Eliminates the "love handle" bulge)
Crumbcoat

Let crumbcoat crust/harden in refrigerator 15-30 minutes.

Apply layer of buttercream or ganache to go under fondant.

Put in fridge to crust/harden 30 minutes.

Color and roll out and apply fondant.

Friday, September 16: Apply final decorations.

Saturday, September 17: 8 am: (Make SURE A/C is on in church hall!)

AWow! Thanks, Apti! Great details. One good thing is I will be baking all layers a couple of months in advance and freezing. Then I just need to make icings and fillings and ice, and decorate. I like how you lay out the details for each cake. That's an awesome idea.

AThanks, Cakewitch. It looks like taking may time and organizing my plan for each cake way ahead of time will keep me on track.

You are welcome.  I was still so new at this that all the details had to be written.

While trying not to be too alarming, also remember that you'll have other responsibilities in the week before your daughter's wedding. When you're planning your cake stuff, I'd have a list by the side of the other things you'll have to do that week, and make sure the cake stuff fits in with everything else.

It would be awful to miss pre-wedding photos, or getting your hair done or something because you're frantically finishing cake the morning of the wedding.

And don't underestimate the other little things that will crop up along the way in your capacity as MOB? "

"Its Off"!!!!!! "I cant fit in my dress"!!!!!!!!!! 

"Mummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!"

Oh yes, the cake will pale into insignificance as you steer your daughter gently away from you and into the arms of the dear man who has sworn he will take her off your hands ...forever!

I did my daughters cake in September of this year and like you I am a "mum baker" and hobbyist and was pathetically flattered and honoured to be asked to bake the cake i had offered to pay for from a custom shop.

I blame a combination of pleasure at the engagement  love of my new SIL and copious amounts of alcohol, anyway I agreed.

No matter how skilled we think we are at actual baking it soon becomes apparent that our daughters, while swimming in sentiment at the time suddenly begin trawling magazines aimed at the discerning bride with oodles of cash to spend.

Thats when I found CC, thank goodness.

All the pro tips kept that fondant smooth, the cake fresh and delicious and transported to a fairytale venue in three well stacked tiers.

It went down very well and the happy couple were delighted.

You will find the cake takes second place to the duties you will have to undertake....I wish you all the best x

A

AThanks for all the wonderail advice. While I know there will be bumps along the way, I will have my sister with me for the week to do lots of stuff for me so I can concentrate on the cakes. I feel like I am prepared but I would like to know how long my fondant cakes can sit before they lose freshness. I don't want to refrigerate lest they sweat. I live in South Carolina and though April is generally pleasant weather it can be rainy and warm. The venue will be inside and out with the cake table inside so no hot sun!

I'm looking forward to the big day but still somewhat apprehensive regardless of my confidence.

Thanks for all the great help.

Fondant is pretty good at keep cakes fresh - so you've got a couple of days. I'd make a small cake at some point before the wedding though, and leave it out for the length of time you're planning to leave the wedding cake and just see. Different recipes and weather conditions make things act differently.