Wedding Cake with Burlap and Gerber Daisies

 can't tell you how happy I was to make this cake, how happy I am that these two people found each other and have begun their life together. The bride, like a sister to me and dear to my heart, gave me few instructions, just burlap, gerber daisies and she pinned a few pics on Pinterest. Love her confidence that I'd make something she'd love. 

If you're interested in knowing how this cake came together, see the photos below. Keep in mind this is how I do it, but there are a few ways to put a big cake together.

1. Bottom tier is 3 14" layers (vanilla and chocolate marble cake). Filling is vanilla creme. Below, it is stacked, filled and crumb coated with buttercream icing.

2. Big cakes are heavy and need dowels. I used 4 wooden dowels cut to size for support and 1 for the center, which helps keep the tiers from sliding.

3. Next I added a 10" cardboard cake round, for the next tier which is, coincidentally 2 layers of 10" marble cake. 

4. Some people put their tiers together and then set them on the cake. I prefer to assemble them on the cake: bottom layer, icing "dam," filling, then next layer, and a crumb coating of buttercream.

5. I chose to use shake straws as support, 4 of them cut to size. They are strong enough to hold the 6" tier. Then I added a 6" cardboard cake round.

6. Add the 6" layer and follow the same steps as #4 above.

7. Next step was to frost the whole thing with buttercream.

8. Then I just smoothed it( I use the viva towel method, google it if you're curious) and decorated as below. I used the cornelli lace and dot techniques, burlap ribbon and live gerber daisies (complements of the bride). VOILA!