Can I show off what I spent 2 1/2 days doing?

Momma always said it's not nice to brag, but I worked sooo hard on this cake. Liz (the bride) has been my bestest friend for nearly 20 years. When she got engaged, she asked me to do her cake. I make alot of birthday cakes, and some special type cakes, but this was my first tiered fancy type cake.

It was a outdoor wedding overlooking the Mississippi River, with the reception held in a log pavillion built during the depression by the CCC. My grandpa was one of the men that built every structure in this park. There are wonderful gardens and views of all 3 states.

The weather didn't cooperate early on, it drizzled for the service, but cleared up and was gorgeous for the rest of the day.

So anyway, here is the cake I made for her. It is covered in Rolled Fondant that I made with marshmallow cream as the base. The flowers on it are also fondant cut out with 3 sizes of cookie cutters.

I don't think I'll be making another big cake like this again, but the process was worth it to see her face. And her mom loved it too which was a huge relief, lol.

mg

mg - looking at that picture, we all know why she wanted you do do her cake!!! That is beautiful,and a fitting tribute to a beautiful couple.

I love the colors of the frosting. Beautiful!

Beautiful!!! You are so creative!!

Judy

that's one of the most beautiful wedding cakes I've seen!

What a great job you did. Looks wonderful!!

I made a wedding cake once, what a production. Yours is lovely!

Thank you all for being so nice.

How much would you charge to do a cake like that? Not that I want to go into the wedding cake business, but I'd like to get and idea of the value of my gift. I know how much it cost me to make it, lol. 18 cake mixes, 20 2lb bags of powdered sugar, 6 large jars of marshmallow cream, 6 doz eggs, ect. Plus the seperator plates, the pillars, and the dowels. Then add the 60+ hours it took me, minus the 3 hours of sleep I got. How can people do this every weekend?

Thanks again for your kind words!

mg

mg.....that is absolutely breathtaking! thanks for sharing it with us.
When I remarried last fall, we had a very simple square cake, bottom tier approx 14" square and top tier approx 8" square with stargazer lillies (fresh) as decoration. Very simple and elegant. I had somebody make it for me (like you, not in the business) and it was beautiful. Cost....$165.
This beautiful creation of yours I would put upwards of AT LEAST $425 if not more.
What a lovely gift of yourself to your best friend!
carole

mg,

My friend does cakes for a business. She charges 1.50 a slice with
butter cream icing. She hasn't working with fondant. So if you want a cake (small slice) to serve 100 it would be 150 dollars. There is alot of slices to your cake and fondant I am way sure would be alot more
as it takes alot more work. I would say alot more than 500.00.

Most stores charge 2.50-3.00 a slice.

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Beautiful cake not just that the couple bride and groom are beautiful too.

That is really beautiful! You did a wonderful job. I don't think you could pay me enough money in the world to put that much time and effort into something that would be demolished the next day. LOL I guess it would be worth it to make a friend smile though. :)

Wow, I didn't know I was so generous.

Thank you for the nice compliments, it was a good looking cake, and I am quite proud of myself. And after thinking about it for a week, I know I'll never do it again. Ever. Not even for my own daughter. I will stick to little cakes that are still fun to do.

Funny note tho, one of the guests at the wedding called the bride and got my phone number. She wants me to do a graduation cake for her daughter NEXT summer. I was stunned. Trust me, I'm rarely speechless...but I was. She is talking a big budget shindig, and she wants ME to do the cake. I'm supposed to call her back later in the week, I told her I would have to do some math. And some serious thinking.

Again, thank you for the ego boost.
mg

Well I will boost it alot higher. I talked to my friend she charges 4.00 a slice for fondant. I thought she said she hadn't done one but she has. And she said a cake shop she buys supplies at charges 7.00 a slice. She has not done the flowers you have though. Or the marshmallow base.

Did you make your own fondant? I am just curious. She said she buys it. so 4.00 xs ? = alot so probably 650.00 plus.

That cake is just gorgous. You have every right to brag on this one. The prices given for wedding cakes really suprises me but then I am sure I do not realize how much work they are. No wonder people are doing their own or having friends do it for a wedding gift to the couple.

I am so glad our girls just went off and got married. We were spared all the expenses, etc. My first wedding in '61 cost $90. The second one cost only the price of a small bouquet for me and the corsage for my bridesmaid and carnations for the best man and Jack. Maybe $30 tops. Then Jack's mother gave us a nice family and friends reception after we got back from our honeymoon to his sister's home so I could meet her and her family. Mom and her housekeeper made the cakes, etc. for the reception.

That cake is lovely, just gorgeous.

Did you see the pastery chef competition on FoodTV? I want to catch a re-run since we missed it.