Hi I'm new to making cakes and have just been curious about the time frame, 

for example how many days can you allow your self to cook decorate before pick up? 

I have 4 cakes due on the weekend I try and keep it so my cakes are eaten on day 3 after baking but not sure what the normal is? I don't know if I will have enough time to do that, 3 will be plain chocolate and one white chocolate all filled with Italian meringue butter cream and covered with Mmf. 

Can I bake 4 days before will they still taste ok, I am making all cakes from scratch no packet mixes. 

Thansk in advance any advice would be great 

A lot of the bakers freeze their cakes and then thaw them out the day before they need them and decorate.  I am not sure how many days you can freeze for. I think some people freeze them for up to 2-3 weeks before they take out and cake is still fresh. I am only a hobby baker so hopefully the others will give you more information. I would not want to eat a cake that was sitting out for four days unless it had been frozen as they taste fresh once thawed out. 

Oh ok thanks, maybe I'll try to freeze one and test it myself 

 I usually bake 3 days in advanced and just wrap the cake with plastic wrap after it has cooled and place it in an air tight bag and place in refrigerator. I have done 4 days in advance when i had a big order and just couldn't make everything in time. My schedule for cake that cake was bake (refrigerate), next day fill, stack and ice, 3rd day do fondant work and decors, and it was ready for the next morning. Cake was still moist but it also depends on what kind of recipe you have for your cakes. I like using moist cakes to begin with. Hope that helps. I never frozen cakes for decorating, i usually freeze them for cake pops and they work great for cake pops so i dont see why it wouldnt work for regular cakes as well! 

If you freeze you can bake up to a month in advance.  Wrap well in plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. Make sure you put the cake on a cake board so it stays flat - especially on the bottom.

  Freezing makes cakes moister but I've heard scratch cakes don't do well with either fz'ing nor frig'ing :(  Not sure on that as I don't scratch bake.  Yes, it's a good idea to do a test of fzing and frig'ing to see what works for you/your recipes.   

I bake from scratch and freeze my cakes, no issues.  I freeze them while still slightly warm from the oven and then they are in and out of the fridge while frosting and decorating.  This is only a hobby for me, so I work full time and don't have time to bake and decorate in one day.  I've never had dry cake and I do not use simple syrup (though I'd like to try it some time :) ).