Love the watercolor cake. Absolutely beautiful. Don't worry about the fondant. Most people know to avoid eating it and if they don't know, they will figure it out after the first bite.

I love your inspiration cake!

Magnificent. And fondant can be awful ; like the stuff they sell at Michaels .., but I've also had good fondant, honest

That cake is gorgeous. You had me at hummingbirds. Love your inspiration bouquet too. Have you thought about flowers for the topper?

Yessss do the painted peony cake!

Fori doesn't know fondant isn't supposed to be food. :0

Good fondant is delicious. I much prefer sugar paste flowers on a wedding cake, but very few people know how to do them well.

I made homemade fondant and sugar paste baby feet for my cousins baby shower. He was a premie so I copied his footprint for the cake. Homemade fondant is delicious. Store bought fondant may as well be Play-dough.

The cake and flowers are beautiful.

Peonies are so pretty, but mine are always covered in ants. They seem to be in bloom in early summer where I'm at.

That cake is so adorable/beautiful/gorgeous! I did wonder what one would look like with larger flowers, however, so had to hunt some up. I think what makes your inspiration work so wonderfully is the delicate art and a lot of white space showing (at least to my eye). You've probably looked at them all, but I saw these two that I thought were particularly attractive with larger flowers:

I know some of these are dogwood, but I loved the middle cake left white, too.

I've never seen cakes like these....they are gorgeous! A big yes for your wedding cake. Your bouquet inspiration is really pretty as well.

Gsciencechick, your cake is gorgeous! Love the flowers. It looks like buttercream, but I'm not sure. If it was fondant, how did it taste? Our cake tasting was fun, but we did one "to go" they gave us cupcakes and lots of different feelings. I assembled them into mini cakes. olychick, for some reason, I didn't see those two cakes. They are stunning. How did you know that dogwoods are my favorite tree? Maybe they go hand in hand? I do like the extra white space, but I also like the idea of flowers draping from one layer to the next. I'm going to ask the pastry chef/artist to sketch it out for me both ways.

Can I tell you all how relieved I am you all like it? It's very reassuring. Many of the cakes that were painted that I saw online had real flowers popping out of the stems. I don't like that look. But that brings me to the topper. Should I just do some sort of cabbage roses? Or some personalized carved topper? It's an area I could really screw up as the wrong choice will completely take away from the simplicity of the cake.

( this is my hint, hint for someone to find a suitable topper.)

Yes, ours was all buttercream. I focused on bakeries that had good reputations for buttercream. But there are places that have good reputations for fondant, too.

The topper? I thought about flowers, or else instead of the monogram on the cake, a monogram there, but MIL bought us not only one, but two cake toppers of this type--one with a music box and without, so there you go.

I just have to say that this thread is fun. Thanks for sharing your wedding details.

Just when you thought you've seen everything, now water color wedding cakes!

I would just do the same flowers painted on the cake as the topper. I think anything else may detract too much from the beautiful paintings.

The cake is formal and delicate. So many toppers I see are humorous or rustic. If you want bird toppers, I might look at some of the mercury glass Christmas ornaments.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as a painted cake, but oh my, they are exquisite!

The painted cakes are just lovely-- perfect for what I know of your venue and plans. I really don't know that I'd want to do a topper but if you do, I think Mtn's suggestion of ornaments is where I'd start. I think they look stunning, as is. No topper. I wouldn't likely include flowers as I think they'd detract from the artwork.

Really, everything you are doing is so beautiful and so personal. It's going to be such a very special day for you two!

this might be too much with the flowers....

https://www.etsy.com/listing/73978322/hummingbird-blown-glass-wedding-cake-top?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=glass%20hummingbird%20cake%20topper&ref=sr_gallery_2

Thank you Funky. That's so sweet of you to say. I will not do birds on top, leaning towards just having her paint another peony centered on top

Oly, that's really exquisite. Will definitely keep it in mind.

Isn't there a layer of buttercream underneath the fondant?

Love the watercolor idea. Very whimsical and fun!

Oh my gosh, this is the first I've seen a watercolor painted wedding cake . . . they're gorgeous! I hope that you pick one for your own wedding and share photos of it with us. I am so enjoying all these details of your upcoming wedding!

It is curious you are worried about the Fondant. All those fancy cakes the TV bakers make are all slathered with Fondant. It is the most versatile way to finish a cake beautifully it would seem. Your painted one will be fabulous!!

I just heard back from the pastry chef/artist. I sent her those pictures of the peonies to see what her thoughts were. I was holding my breath to see what she could do. This is what she sent me:

she also said she could add hummingbirds, no problem. I'm thrilled, and so impressed! What a talent! It doesn't always work that your vision and reality meet, but in this case, they did.

I cannot wait for your wedding. It is going to be gorgeous and this cake will be the "icing on the cake" (sorry).

The flower that she did of the bud is exactly what I envision peony buds look like.

Her artistry of the peonies is just beautiful. And yes, she captured the buds perfectly.

That looks great!

That is beautiful!

I love it.

Very cool! And I really like that colorway.

Simply elegant and perfect.

Update: I'm working with an artist in England on a topper idea. She makes really cool wire sculptures. I've explained my ideas and shown her pictures of the cake and peonies. I told her I really liked the birds she makes.Here's what she came up with (it would be in silver wire with a piece of pink quartz in each bird as a heart. The whole top or would measure 5 inches. The second picture is the view from above. )

as always, I value all your opinions.

jo

T

That's going to be one gorgeous cake and topper!

It's lovely.. and so perfect for your cake!

Oh my gosh, I absolutely love it!! And it looks like something you could put on display on a shelf after.

Both the cake and topper are beyond words. Awesome, beautiful, gorgeous don't seem to be adequate and unique sounds vaguely like a negative. I sent my friend the baker and my other artist friend (they know each other well) a copy of the first cake Olychick posted and suggested they might want to collaborate. Very much looking forward to seeing yours!

Can you all hear me exhale? I was worried that my vision might be a little bit "out there". For anyone who's interested, here is the link to the Etsy page of the woman who does the wire sculptures. I think she's pretty fabulous.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/inspireinwire

OMG - That topper is exquisite. The only thing I would caution is not to make the topper and the cake both too "light" in visual weight. Make sure that the cake is a little less delicate so that it appears to be carrying or holding the topper.

Does that make sense?

Thanks, Fenton, that does make sense. I think (hope) the large scale of the peony blossoms will anchor the cake. Fingers crossed! She is starting the topper next week and has told me I have no obligation to buy it if I don't like it.

Question. If the birds are silver wire, they might just "disappear". Don't they need some color to ground them?

ELD, I had the same thoughts. I am hoping that since the birds are 3-D and the wire will be fairly tightly knit, they should hold their presence. I would love to do color, but the female hummingbird is rather drab, and I can't really do two male ruby throated hummingbirds.

The picture below is from her website and is what inspired me to think of this. I am obviously using a different bird. And I will not have lights on mine.

If you're not totally committed to the wire sculpture, I thought these might be interesting and would make a nice display. I have the Swarovski budgies, which come in different color choices, but they're probably too small to have much presence on such a beautiful cake. However, there are lots of great bird figurines which would make great toppers.

N

This is also Swarovski, and a little larger.

But here's one I think would make a pretty topper for that cake from my personal collection

So, the wire birds didn't live up to my expectations. The artist is very talented, but I didn't like the model she was working for them. Here's what she came up with :

It really did not resemble the sketch that she had made and felt too chunky for the fine detail of the cake. So I'm going to pass. That was an option all along with her. instead, I am going with a gum paste peony on top. The pastry chef/artist is incredibly skilled in using fondant and has made lots of flowers. This is the look I'm going for. She can do it.All in favor?

Pretty. I like simple. This is a picture of our cake. Buttercream with pink fondant flowers. I like super sweet cake like a five year old

love the sleeves on your dress 1929

Jojoco, I like the peony better. It would be too easy for the birds to head into kitsch

No, to the wire birds (unfortunately as the idea is so romantic) and yes to the peony.

1929spanish - your cake looks like so much fun.

Sorry about the birds. Yes, a bit heavy handed with the wire. The peony will be beautiful!

Agree, the birds are rather unique but too heavy with all the wire. I always love flowers on a wedding cake and yours will be beautiful!

The peony is so much nicer than even the original concept for the birds.

Thank you, everyone. I agree. I love the peony more than the birds. And I meant she will make it out of gumpaste, not fondant.