Making my own wedding cake

[pollysproggle]

I'm thinking something lemony with Swiss meringue buttercream!
Simple design with a few fresh flowers and 3 tiers.
I'm not a professional Cake decorator but I'm a Home baker and sell lots of bakes around London with everything made from scratch, boxed and delivered.
Wedding is in August but the venue is by the seaside and I'll be travelling down there the day before so Cake needs to be made a few days before the wedding.

I'm thinking of using a professional Cake mix rather than from scratch as I've heard it'll last longer. Can anyone recommend me a good brand?
Also, once the the cakes are iced I'll box, store them and assemble there on the day. What is the best way to store them? I know the fridge can leave a cake with condensation but I'm worried about the heat in August. I don't have any experience with storing wedding cakes and would appreciate some advice.
Thank you!

if you wrap the cake in clingfilm, making sure it's air-tight & then in bacofoil, it can go in the fridge or freezer. Maybe do a trial on one tier only? I was at a wedding where the bride had made the cake in Australia and flown it over to the UK, it was fine.

Thanks Ifaild, I'm thinking more about storing it when iced or do you mean wrap the box in cling film?
Yes I'll definitely do a trial cake but not much point in this weather- will end up an ice cream cake it's so cold.
That has given me more confidence, if your friend can bring a cake from Australia I'm sure I can get one to Hastings

AFAIK, she iced it other there, wrapped it up and put it in the freezer, when they arrived it went into her mum's fridge for a few days.

I mentioned a trial tier to (a) get the mixture right, and (b) try out storing it in the fridge/freezer.

What’s your reasoning behind making it yourself? To save money or something more sentimental?

I ask because we made our own cake which meant the run up to the wedding was spent baking and stressing over it, then the morning of the wedding was spent assembling it all at the venue when I should have been getting ready. Looking back I wish I had just paid someone else to do it.

No advice on storage as ours was made of macaroons .

Hope it all goes well!

Thank you
Yes I do worry about it being stressful around the time of the wedding so I'm sticking to a simple cake.
I have made quite a few wedding cakes for other people and friends but I've never had to store them longer than over night.
I'm not getting married until late afternoon and I'm staying in the place where we get married so I'm hopping it won't be too crazy.
The quotes for the Cake I want are quite expensive and rightly so but I think because I make cakes almost everyday I think it's one area we can save on

I helped my friend make and decorate her cake. Three tiers, all sponge. We iced it. The three tiers sat on a table in my study for two days. It was November, I just turned the heating off. It was fine.

re: setting up, the women I mentioned went to the venue the night before and set up the cake, the venue stored it over-night in their kitchen.

Have a look at Sky High triple layer cakes - it's an American recipe book which includes some wedding cakes and I'm sure there is a lemon cake exactly as you describe!

I would definitely not use a cake mix. I'm a keen home baker but have never made a wedding cake. If it were me, I'd make it from scratch in advance and freeze each layer, wrapping it very thoroughly in clingfilm. Layers are easier to move and trim, etc, once frozen. Then decorate the day before.

Also take a look at the Smitten Kitchen food blog (www.smittenkitchen.com) for her Project Wedding Cake posts - the blog author, Deb Perelman, made a wedding cake with Swiss meringue buttercream in the height of summer and has lots of useful tips. I love her recipes and she's a brilliant home baker.

Great tips thank you.
Yes I've never used Cake mix either but so worried about the cake drying out and I suppose considering my job I'm expected to produce a delicious cake.

If I freeze layers I can even get the baking done over a few weeks saving me time, that's a really good idea.
I'll look up those sites sound great.
I swear if I were making this cake for someone else I wouldn't be half worried about it!

In terms of it not drying out, mine have always been fine when frozen. Deb Perelman (Smitten Kitchen) recommends brushing them with a simple sugar syrup if you're worried though.

I made a 3 tier wedding cake which was just buttercream iced, brides florest was decorating with edible flowers on the day. It had to be at the venue before noon the day before the wedding.

I made and assembled the bottom 2 tiers at home and transported them in a very sturdy reinforced cake boxes. I then put the top tier on at the venue, they had a larder room which they stored it in. The cake was fine for the day.

I made a syrup which I brushed on each layer & made sure each layer had plenty of filling. Storing in a fridge can dry them out more I find, so just tend to keep them cool.

The boxes came from Windsor Cake Craft online I think.