Ladies, I have uploaded the majority of my DIY cake attempts to my new Flickr account. Once you’re on my page, click “sets” to see the different attempts and read some of my thoughts on the process.

I have also added a Fkickr sidebar to this blog. Look down and to the right. Every time I upload more pictures, the sidebar badge will update.

As always, feel free to share your own hindsight advice, add comments, or ask questions. Thanks!

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Thinking of a DIY wedding cake? Wondering how to make a wedding cake? I share my DIY wedding cake experience in hindsight.

I made our wedding cake. I did it for a variety of reasons, the least of which was to save money. Incidentally, after I purchased all the equipment, practiced  for 7 months, and made the final 4 tier cake for the wedding, I found it would have been cheaper to buy a small 3 tier cake to feed my 60 guests. Nevertheless, my grandmother baked and decorated elaborate, multi-tiered cakes. She died when I was young, but I have missed her fiercely over the years and this was a way to remember and honor her at our wedding. That, and I have long found  time in the kitchen relaxing. What started as a money-saving strategy turned into a personal quest for perfectly buttercream because I actually didn't save money.

Two days before my wedding, when I made the filling. The following day, I made the cakes and buttercream. The act of making my own wedding cake relaxed me. It felt like an act of love for our guests–those family and friends, most of whom had seen one or the other of us grow up. It was quite an intimate and emotional experience. I know I'm likely in the minority here. A friend of mine who married 9 months before I did issued stern warning about not adding to week-of-wedding stress by attempting to make my own cake. For me, it was the opposite; making our wedding cake was one of the most memorable and joyous parts of the my wedding prep.

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