Making your own wedding cake can be enormously rewarding. As the bride, only you and your spouse-to-be have such a intimate connection to your own nuptials. There is perhaps no better way to express your love and appreciation to your family and guests than to share your wedding cake creation with them at your reception. Here are a few tips to help your creative process go smoother.

Traditionally, within the cake is a framework of wooden dowel rods that support the tiers above them. Start with the largest tier. Attach it to the sturdy base board using glue or glucose (corn syrup). Try to avoid using butter-cream, as it can allow the tiers to shift during transportation. Now, using cardboard the exact size of your next tier, mark the top of the icing with the cardboard.

Insert a 1/4 inch wooden dowel rod into the bottom cake, about 1/2 inch in from the circle indentation, and mark it at the top of the icing. Pull the rod out and cut with pruning shears for a straight, even cut. Using your first rod as a guide, cut five other rods to the exact length of the first. Insert the rods around the circle, about 1/2 inch inside the circle you marked with the cardboard.

Now, position the cardboard you used to mark the circle back on the cake, making sure it's centered. Add some glue or glucose, then place the next tier onto the cardboard. Add the rest of the tiers the same way - marking with the circle, cutting and inserting rods, and gluing the next tier.

If you're using a plastic plate between tiers, you still should have dowels in the lower tier and a cardboard circle between the plate and the tier below. Remember, plastic can and does break.

Once the cake is completely stacked, stand back and make sure it's standing straight. All the edges should be even. If any adjustment is to be made, this is the time.

Decorating the cake is the easiest part of making your wedding cake. First, cover all of the cardboard. Using a thin pipe, a flat line of icing against all the cardboard edges is made. This presents a nice white surface on which to begin the borders.

To look exquisite, wedding cakes need small borders, swags and decorations. Borders that are too large can make the cake appear messy or sloppy. If you have to cover a large area, over-piping two or three borders or swags looks much nicer than one larger clunky border. Never use large tubes to decorate the sides.

Eliminate the need for borders by using side ruffles, made with a tube, and pastel pink cornelli lace. Cornelli lace is a type of Australian decorating. The "lace" is actually a wiggly line that doesn't cross over itself or stop anywhere until the end. It does not have an exact pattern, and the icing line crosses over the edge and onto the sides. This also is a nice technique to use to cover the top plate so the plastic isn't so noticeable. Using color in the cornelli icing yields the effect of a colored background.

The green in the leaves looks like a light olive green, but it matches the flowers well. To create greenery that matches any flower perfectly, start with a light, leaf-green color, then add a spatula-full of the colored flower icing, pink in this case.

As you can see, taken in steps, anyone can do a wedding cake. Wedding cakes allow the decorator to become a true artist and pastry specialist.

L Hayes is a wedding professional and owner of Wedding Favors Emporium. They carry an extensive line of unique wedding favors as well as bridesmaid gifts, groomsmen gifts, and bridal shower gifts. For more information about wedding planning and wedding reception ideas, visit their website at: WeddingFavorsEmporium.com

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