Help! Wedding cake stress!

[floatinglily]

We are making our wedding cake. We're making a rainbow checkerboard cake with white icing outside and an etsy bought cake topper. We've had a run through today and just making the cakes looks like it'll take about 3 hours (in the oven now). Then we'll need to cool them, stack them and ice it.

We're both in work that week, getting home around 6 with no chance of taking any time off work. Does DP's plan sound workable:
Thursday evening bake cakes, wrap in cling film and put in fridge
Friday evening wedding rehearsal at the church, come home and stack cakes and ice it, put on topper
Saturday get married

I'm worried about timings and freshness of the cakes. Please tell me his plan will be okay??

[StarlightCeleste]

A cake covered in buttercream freezes well.
Put it in the fridge 24hours before you need it and then 2 hours before serving take it out to bring to room temp. I don't suggest freezing royal icing as it can sweat during the thawing stages. But buttercream is fine! I did this with my own wedding cake. I froze the layers individually in cake boxes wrapped in cling film. Then my mum assembled the layers at the venue on the day.

[Si1ver]

You can freeze the cakes wrapped in cling film and un-iced.

When I'm making multi layer cakes (including a rainbow wedding cake) I've baked the layers over a couple of weeks - the wedding cake had 12 individual layers - wrapped them well in cling film and then taken out to defrost just before icing. Saves any worries about timing in the run up to an event and the cake is always moist and delicious.

[Kaz2200]

I make quite a lot of cakes and made a 4 tier wedding cake last week, one of which was a rainbow one. I've had trouble in the past getting colours bright, so I bought 2 kits from hobbycraft, came with boards, foil tins etc, came out really well. Needed two kits to get the height.

[Kaz2200]

Oh and they cook really quickly.

[magicstar1]

Don't bake the cakes and put them in the fridge on Thursday...it's a sure way to dry out your cake. They're not meant to be kept in a fridge. Make them a week or so in advance, when you have time, wrap well in clingfilm and freeze. You can buttercream and decorate them between Thursday and Friday - not putting in the fridge at all - and it'll be perfect for Saturday. That should take the pressure off a bit too.

[floatinglily]

Thank you so much all - lifesavers! How long will they be okay in the freezer for? I'm just wondering if we can bake them 2 or 3 weekends before and involve DSD in the baking (she's with her Mum the weekend before the wedding) and then freeze them for a few weeks.

When we've decorated them do we just leave them out?

Why are we baking our own wedding cake??? 😱

[TheSandgroper]

Cakes are fine for three months in the freezer.

[floatinglily]

Sorry to bring this back up again. If I were to make a layer that needs slicing in half, would I level it off and slice it in half and then freeze it or is it more likely to dry out if I do that?

[ChaosMoon]

Personally, I'd keep it whole until I was ready to start icing it. Unless I was going to buttercream it before freezing, as suggested by PPs.

How long have you got? I did my own but I was lucky enough to be able to take 3 days off work before the day.

[TickledOnion]

You can bake then freeze.
Or bake then slice then freeze.
Or bake, slice, fill (assuming the filling is not fresh fruit or fresh cream) then freeze.
Or even bake, slice, full, cover in buttercream and then freeze.
Basically cake and buttercream icing freeze really well at any stage in the process.

[TickledOnion]

As long as everything is well wrapped in clingfilm and maybe foil as well, it won’t dry out in the freezer.

[TickledOnion]

Another thing I just thought of. Checkerboards are easier to cut out of cold or even semi-frozen cake. Also it’s easier to build, fill and cover cold cake.
Only bring to room temp if you are using fondant.

[kateandme]

when you say white icing do you mean fondant.
id wrap in cling film then foil.
make sure its completely cool first.
you can make buttercream a day before too and shove it in fridge in tupperware.

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

Never made a wedding cake but when I used to make DC's birthday cakes, I would freeze and ice while still frozen. Prevents crumbs in the icing. I'd say you can ice it a couple of days before, the fondant will keep it moist.