Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes (The Bridal Blog)

The Fon Don’t Cake complete with DIY Instructions/Pics (Lemon Tart)

A fondant version by Piece of Cake for Alison & Kevin’s Real Wedding (Event Accomplished)

Super Cute Citrus Candy Cupcakes (L’amour Photography)

Citrus wedding cakes (Jeneze Cake Design & Wedding Aces)

Absolutely gorgeous, modern lemon styled summer wedding cake (Real Simple)

Lemon Topped Wedding Cake (Martha Stewart Weddings)

Today I had a chance to try making this Marshmallow fondant myself so I thought I would post a quick update and repost this. The fondant actually tasted quite good. VERY VERY sweet (its sugar and marshmallows after all) so you probably don’t want to eat to much at once, but since it’s just a thin layer over the cake – it’s not bad at all.  The fondant was fairly easy to make (though it gets to be quite thick which makes it quite the workout for your hands lol) and was very easy to work with once it was made as well.

For those who want to know – here is what I was making. It’s a zoo themed birthday cake for a friend’s son and the hills are covered with the pale green marshmallow fondant that I made.

ORIGINAL POST

Fondant is a popular choice for wedding cakes because of the smooth, clean look it creates but it doesn’t usually win much praise in the taste department. Marshmallow fondant is a great alternative that you may like better taste-wise.   Check out the Austin Wedding Blog for a great DIY tutorial for making your own marshmallow fondant!

Are you planning to have fondant or buttercream for your wedding cake?

That being said, I met Sylvia Weinstock once at a bridal show and fell in love with her AMAZING non-budget friendly masterpieces.

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I watched a Cake Boss marathon once. I fell in love with Buddy’s AMAZING non-budget friendly creations.

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I did some google searches (how did brides plan a wedding pre-google?!?!?) and I fell in love with THIS

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I adore the glitzy-ness and the simplicity. I thought it was “the one”. Then I did a little MORE research and discovered that for the price of glitzy-ness and simplicity I could practically buy a whole other cake!!! Wow! That crystal cake banding is a fortune. Like $75 a yard! Wow! Talk about a budget buster! If you’re not concerned about breaking the bank, or if you’ve made the cake a priority in your budget, you can check out THIS crystal cake banding. It’s gorgeous and you’ll have a stunning cake.

BUT if you’re looking to plan a platinum wedding on an aluminum budget, like we are, get thee to the nearest fabric store. My mom and I found THIS ribbon for $19.99/yard.

Still awfully expensive considering we’d need 3 yards just to go around half of our four tiered cake. THEN we found out that JoAnn Fabrics offers a 50% off coupon in the Saturday morning newspaper (sorry ladies, I looked for one online but couldn’t find one… check your newspaper’s circulars). So for $10/yard we could have the look of the glitzy cake for 1/8 of the price! Woo hoo!!! But, just to make life complicated, we also found THIS sequins ribbon for $4.99/yard ($2.50 with the coupon). It sparkles WAY more, but I am a tad afraid it looks too much like a dance costume. What do you think?

Last weekend my husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary by renewing our vows in an intimate ceremony with about 70 or so of our friends and family. I’ll be posting lots of details and pictures over the next week or so – but I wanted to start by sharing our dessert table with you.

We decided early on that we wanted to have a dessert table rather then a wedding cake. My sister, who is a talented baker, agreed to help out. We choose black forest cakes (my husband’s favorites) and chocolate raspberry cupcakes (my favorite).

If you’re looking for an affordable alternative – a simpler cake style like the ones my sister did for us is something you can do and it still looks amazing! The cakes were iced in whipping cream icing with dolops of icing along the top rim for effect. The little chocolate hearts were made by piping melted chocolate onto wax paper. Once the chocolate hearts were hardened, they were placed on the cake with cherries for a gorgeous finish.  I think these cakes would also have made fantastic centerpeices if you placed them on pretty little cake stands at the center of each table. Gorgeous – and practice since it saves you the cost of centerpeices.

We also added a few jars with our favorite candies – Jelly Bellys, Chocolate Covered Pretzels and mints for after dinner.

With toppers featuring different sports like football and baseball, different positions like embracing and sitting, and many other types of toppers, your sure to find the perfect topper for your while adding a touch of humor as well.

Left to right: Groom “Taking A Plunge” – $42.00, Bride “Still Shopping” – $40.00, Bride “Wears the Pants in the Relationship” – $45.00

Left to right: “Reaching Bride & Helpful Groom” – $45.00, “Winter Skiing Couple” – $45.00, Couple “Walking on the Beach” – $42.00

Left to right: Motorcycle “Get-Away” Couple – $45.00, Western “Lasso Bride & Groom” – $35.99, Princess Bride “Kissing frog” – $35.75

Left to right: “Cell Phone Fanatic” Couple – $38.75, The “Love Pinch” Bridal Couple (Front veiw and back view, 2 photos) -  $35.75

Left to right: Bride “Having the Upper Hand” Couple – $37.00, “Expexcting” Bridal couple – $35.75, “Embracing” Western Couple – $27.99

It’s so chic – and also budget friendly!!! The favor boxes can be purchased fairly affordably and are then prettied up with a little ribbon (instruction available for the bows on Martha Stewart). Piled in layers on a cake plate, topped with a little ribbon, paper and silk flowers and voila – no need for a cake at all!

Normally – you would have to pay both for a cake and for a wedding favor for your guests. By combining the two, you save on cost and this is so gorgeous and classy, no ones going to complain.

And – if you happen to be one of those brides who doesn’t really want a cake, it’s a great alternative all around.

I found these really cool “cheese” cakes – and by cheese cakes, I mean cakes made of cheese.

Take a look at these for some inspiration.

These cheese-cakes came out of the UK courtesy of The House of Cheese and The Cheese Shed. Take a look at their sites for more ideas.

Paired with the right wine(s), your cake is sure to be a hit.

Thinking of something slightly different?

How about a wedding cake made from rice crispy treats?

Photo Courtesy Amanda Jaffe

Some other alternatives might be a cookie cake, ice cream cake, cupcakes, stacked pancakes, cheesecake, a “fruit” cake (not a fruitcake but a “cake” styled from fruit), twinkie cake, or even a croquembauche

So, will you be ordering a 3-tiered vanilla cake with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting OR will you use your imagination and come up with something spectacular and definately not your traditional wedding cake?
As usual, we’d love to hear your ideas and see YOUR wedding cake photos.

They also have a great selection of other culinary stencils available.

This cake topper would work well for a July 4th theme, a white & black theme, or a masquarade ball theme.

So can you do it yourself? Is it possible to make your own wedding cake? Well, yes it is but it takes some time and commitment. And of course, a simpler design is a smarter project for a first time cake maker. If you are considering making your own cake, or making a cake for a friend or loved ones wedding – here are some great books on the market with recipes and instructions for basic, beautiful wedding cakes for beginners.