Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I am making a 3 tiered wedding cake with fresh roses in between each layer. i have to buy the flowers before i leave and wont be able to set up the wedding cake until the day after on the cake. |The flowers will be slotted in between the tiers which will be supported by pillars. Can I cut the flowers to size before travelling, so that its quicker when it comes to arranging them and how do I store them when travelling? Also, as I have to wash the flowers, they will still be wet so what do I put on the sugar paste cakes to stop it getting ruined?

A lot of questions, but never done a cake with fresh flowers before. Hope someone can give me some advice.

Hello Tomandhen123

I’ll try and answer your question in order of asking.

Fresh flowers need to be conditioned overnight night before you need them for arrangements. You’ll find more information on conditioning flowers here: http://www.flowerarranging.me.uk/conditioning.html

While travelling the flowers should ideally be in water. If you’ve cut them down and can’t keep them in a small bucket, wrap the stems up in saturated cotton wool. To keep the flowers hydrated place them in a plastic bag with some water. Tie the bag up with some string and lay the flowers down in a long shallow box eg an apple box. Immediately you get to your destination place the flowers in water and flower feed. Let them drink for as long as possible before arranging.

Wash the flowers the day before, place them all on kitchen towel to absorb the extra moisture and then follow the conditioning advice given in the link. Fresh flower preparation takes time if you want them to survive the lead up to the wedding and wedding day.

You haven’t mentioned whether you will be getting your flowers in a florist or else where. If in a florist, they will be able to advise how your flowers should travel and possibly supply you with an appropriate box. If you’re not getting them from a florist, pop into a shop near you and ask for advise. Most florists are more than happy to help with all aspects of fresh wedding flower arrangements even if you’re not making your purchases from them.

Lastly you’ve asked how to stop wet flowers ruining the sugarpaste. Usually arrangements with fresh flowers are made into wet oasis. The oasis is soaked in a bucket of water until saturated. Let the oasis soak without trying to press it down. Once it reaches saturation let it drain until it stops dripping. When there are no more drips place the oasis a plastic dish and strap it down with gardener’s adhesive. This is just strong black or green sticky tape which can be bought in garden centres, flower shops, supermarkets or even DIY stores where they have a gardening section.
The cut flowers, if they have hard stems can be inserted directly into the oasis to make the arrangement. The dish can be placed on a thin cake card to prevent it coming into contact with the cake.

There’s a little discussion here which you might find quite useful:
http://www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/forum/planning/fresh-flowers-for-cakeshow-to-help-needed/176749.html

Oasis comes in different shapes and sizes so you don’t have to buy blocks. If you’re aiming for a circular arrangement it comes in small garland shapes. Have a chat with your local florist for more advice.
Hope some of this helps.

Thanks for your help. i will be getting my flowers from a florist. It seems that there is more to it than I thought and will speak to the florist for advice. My cake design does have a posy of flowers on top,which will go into some oasis but not sure how to put flowers between the tiers, as they look like they’re just slotted in. don’t know how I would place pieces of oasis on plastic dishes around the cake, which is a 3 tier square cake|? The cake is for my niece, so might see if she has another design in mind. I’m a bit worried about how it will all go!

If they’re just slotted in they might be inserted into a dummy, have a look at the instructions here:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11278/simple-elegance-wedding-cake
Scroll down to number 15. This is done with dummy separators in between the tiers. The flowers are inserted into the separator.
If your cakes are on pillars, there will be a gap between each tier. The dish with oasis sits in that gap, once all the flowers are inserted the oasis is concealed. Scroll down and have a look at the blue square cake here:
http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/08/8-square-wedding-cakes/
This is what I thought you wanted. I hope the idea helps.