Cake flowers?

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ctherose

ctherose

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Oct 13, 2006
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Milford
www.specialoccasionsflowershop.com
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NE
I have a wedding in a couple weeks and was thinking about cake flowers. Not that I have to actually put flowers on the cake this time, but I was wondering, what do all of you do when you have to put gobs of flowers on the cake (e.g. some on each lip of each layer on a stacked cake). How do you get them to stay? I've never done it, but do you actually stick a short stem into the frosting? I would be nervous about contamination.
 
If the layers are open, meaning you are filling space between layers, we may use small pieces of foam, on waxed paper, and set them on the cake.

If you're doing the outer lip of stacked layers, we insert directly into the icing. We're careful of which types of flowers to recommend for this - nothing hairy or dropsy, nothing poisonous. Never had a problem.

good luck,
tracy
 
:) We right up front tell the bride to show her cake person how she wants it decorated and where she wants flowers and decorations -

we drop off the flowers or they pick them up and thats it.

We dont take responsibility for decorating someone elses work.

We provide the flowers and arrangements - cake decorators responsibility to decorate their own work.
 
Thanks for the replies. Sorry I asked my question before doing a search for previous posts. Looks like there's been some controversy on this topic. Like many of you, I would much rather have the cake person decorate the cake and I would think they wouldn't want someone else to touch their masterpiece. However, the local cake lady here is in her late 60's/early 70's? and is too nervous to put flowers on, even if it's just to set the topper on! I'm always trying to find ways out of it (asking a relative of the bride who is creative to do this, etc.). Usually it's not a lot of flowers anyway. I was just curious on all of this. Thanks.
 
ctherose said:
However, the local cake lady here is in her late 60's/early 70's?
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That's not as old as it once was! I know some older than this who can work circles around me. The latter is one of my 85 year old mom's favorite expressions, and until her heart attack last year, she could do just that! LOL
 
Just to clarify, I would never mean offense to anyone for doing a job at any age. Us younger folk will always have something to learn from older generations. I guess what I mainly meant was that for the majority of her cake-decorating career, people didn't put flowers on cakes and around here, it's been a trend for only a few years. I think she feels that she can bake & decorate the cake but flower design is best left up to the florist!:)
 
who decorates cake?

Just my two cents but...
I consider the cake floral the "designer's" responsibility. I do not make cakes, so I won't add extra frosting, but I do design flowers, therefore as in all other aspects of wedding work, if we are the designated designers, then we decorate the cake. I am rather adamant in this. I've seen way too many cakes "decorated" with flowers by the cake person and WHEW! not what I would consider good. They usually overkill flowers, make the top piece look too heavy etc. Reconsider this, we decorate every cake on every wedding we do and we do approximately 50-60 weddings per year. My name is on the design aspect of a wedding. I would much rather someone assume the cake person did a perfect job of the cake than the flower designer did a horrible job of the cake. make sense??
 
parie said:
Just my two cents but...
I consider the cake floral the "designer's" responsibility. I do not make cakes, so I won't add extra frosting, but I do design flowers, therefore as in all other aspects of wedding work, if we are the designated designers, then we decorate the cake. I am rather adamant in this. I've seen way too many cakes "decorated" with flowers by the cake person and WHEW! not what I would consider good. They usually overkill flowers, make the top piece look too heavy etc. Reconsider this, we decorate every cake on every wedding we do and we do approximately 50-60 weddings per year. My name is on the design aspect of a wedding. I would much rather someone assume the cake person did a perfect job of the cake than the flower designer did a horrible job of the cake. make sense??
Click to expand...

makes perfect sense to me!
 
Tracypieface said:
makes perfect sense to me!
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I'll second that. I had a bride in March that bought a TON of flowers for her wedding cake. She even drew out the cake and the placements that she wanted. Sure, she was picky but at least she knew what she wanted!

The baker insisted she place the flowers so I told her to send me over some images of cakes she had done with flowers in the past. The flowers were slapped onto the cake with Ivy strewn everywhere. It was awful! Needless to say....that baker never touched the cake flowers.

I had one bride that just bought loose flowers to put on the cake and it looked like a big fall flower ball, it was hideous. Never again.
 
I have always done my own cake flowers. There is one bakery that will call you and see what flowers you are using and includes flowers with their cakes. They do a very decent job. But some other bakers are just that bakers. The only bakers I would let decorate with my flowers are ones that do sugar flowers, I find if they can decorate with those and make those they can certainly do it with fresh.....I still prefer I do it especially if bride is very specific about how she wants things done.....
 
I have always done cake flowers, but I'm picky about what I'll put on there - nothing that sheds. I think in the future I'll have the bride sign something stating that she is aware that the flowers decorating the cake are commercially grown and not organic, and she is directing me to put them on the cake...
 
I usually work with the cake person. Some cake companies like to do the cake flowers themselves, so I just provide the flowers. Some other companies just leave it up to me to insert the flowers. For those cakes, I just make sure to talk to the cake maker about the structure of the cake.
Other cake companies I just work with them on the flower part.

Julie
 
Important!!

Remember when decorateing cakes as some have said nothing fuzzy on the cake, here is some other things to consider, becareful of silks, they can bleed, also no alstro never ever use this, becareful of dendro's unless you get the edible type, also no wired flowers, also no floral tape as well, they do make little mini holders for flowers if you need them use them, also if a rose comes in and a dusty leaf don't use on the cake, also soak ivy before using it, with water and some baking soda, Also ask if customer has problems with some items as well, Recently a shop wired all the flowers with some kinda of cake so when the groom smashed in face she swelled something awful, No Latex as well on it. Hope this helps some, aslo stay away from stem dyed flowers.
 
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