Post # 1
Member
139 posts
Blushing bee
I would really like to bake my own cake for my wedding. There will be 250+ people there, but a separate dessert will most likely be served, rendering the wedding cake strictly ceremonial. Therefore, I was planning on doing only a top layer and then icing and decorating dummy cakes for the bottom layers. And baking and decorating cakes is not a new thing for me- I have done it for co-workers’ birthdays, their kid’s birthdays, done sculpted cakes, worked with fondant and gumpaste, and all of that stuff. So I think I could handle the challenge, but my mother says I’m completely nuts for wanting to do this. My dad agrees with her. But I’m thinking that it would be awesome to save all that money and funnel it elsewhere in the budget…
I don’t want to be some insane, frosting-smeared, sleep-deprived, sugar-crazed zombie on my wedding day, but then again, I don’t want to spend much money on something I feel like I can do myself for way less.
has anybody done this? any regrets? are my parents right? am i crazy??
and on the same note- what else would you guys recommend that I absolutely DO NOT take on myself?
Post # 3
Member
1718 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: June 2008 - Winery in the Gold Country
Mrs Bubblegum baked her cake and did a really great in-depth analysis on the ins and outs of it!
To Bake a Cake
To Bake a Cake Part 2: Logistics
Post # 4
Member
135 posts
Blushing bee
I would just say make sure you do some test runs. I have heard that making dummy layers can be hard. If you give yourself time to test it out and it doesnt work then you could still get one somewhere else.
Post # 5
Member
6 posts
Newbee
If you have the skills you should do it. I wish I could do my own cake but all the ones I’ve seen at other weddings look extremely homemade. Not in a good way.
Post # 6
Member
765 posts
Busy bee
I agree with jennred782, do some test runs. If it takes way too much energy, scratch it.
I would also suggest not doing your own hair or makeup. A lot of brides try to cut costs there but I think it’s worth it so it photographs nicely.
🙂
Post # 7
Member
606 posts
Busy bee
Could you do the dummy layers the 2 days before the wedding so that you only have the real layer the day before? Also, if it’s just your FH and you eating the cake, no one else will have it, wouldn’t it still be good two days later? I would say actually make the whole thing two days before if that is the case, so you still have the whole day before to destress and do as you please. If not, I don’t see why one layer would make you a sugar coated zombie!! I would however, have a backup plan if you find yourself with your head spinning the week of!
Post # 8
Member
184 posts
Blushing bee
As someone who has helped make a wedding cake for a friend’s wedding, I would NOT recommend this. In the days before the wedding you will have plenty of other things to worry about. Even if the cake will not be eaten, it will still be quite a hassle unless you do the dummy well ahead of time.
Of course, this could just be the cake nightmares floating back to the surface. 🙁
Post # 9
Member
152 posts
Blushing bee
I don’t think you are insane at all!! I completely want to do our cake as well– but with 9 months to go, I still have alot of room to really figure it out. I would definately do some test runs– even to see how much time it is going to take- take way, if you decide to go for it– you can budget in the time accordingly in the days before the wedding!
Post # 10
Member
1022 posts
Bumble bee
I don’t think you are crazy at all. However, I think it helps to have some artistic talent. If you don’t on paper, you probably wont have the best luck when you pick up an icing tube. My sister and cousin did the cake for my sister’s wedding and it turned out beautifully! They took a cake decorating night class and it helped them a lot! They did a couple of practice runs before the wedding for other holidays and enlisted a couple of people to hand paint all the fondant flowers because there was so many!
Post # 11
Member
2373 posts
Buzzing bee
I don’t think you’re crazy and I think it would be sweet (and I great way to save money). I would just look at what else you have going on, and don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Post # 12
Member
25 posts
Newbee
I have a good friend who had cakes as the centerpiece for each table and we baked and decorated all of them, there were 20 tables. We baked the cake ahead of time and froze it, then decorated the day before. It was super fun and the cakes tasted awesome! Here’s what the cakes looked like.
Post # 13
Member
1481 posts
Bumble bee
i THINK THAT ITS GREAT THAT YOU CAN MAKE UR OWN CAKES AND KNOW HOW TO WORK WITH ALL THE ELEMENTS. i WISH I COULD. bUT SOME PEOPLE MIGHT WANT WEDDING CAKE…SO I WOULD SAY MAKE MORE CAKE AND LESS DUMMY LAYERS…ESP BECAUSE YOU HAVE 250 PLUS PEOPLE…PEOPLE LOVE WEDDING CAKE AND THEY MAY JUST WANT TO TRY YOURS ESPECIALLY BECAUSE YOU MADE IT!
