flowers on cake real or fake?

wisconsingal63

does anyone know what is correct for flowers on cake. we are getting married in oct and the cake will be decorated but we have to supply the flowers. should they be real or fake.? and i so, where do you place them? thanks emme

SSaltzman87

i'd ask your florist about this :-)

Magdala9

Either is appropriate.  It depends on what you want.  I used real flowers with no problems whatsoever.

jagore08

We used real and our florist provided them.  

NOLAbridealmost

My order of preference is:

1) Sugar flowers

2) Real flowers

3) Silk flowers

But all will work just fine.  

rascal17

You can do either. Sugar flowers can be pricey because to amount of labour that goes into them, and if you are in a really humid place they can melt. If you are to use real flowers look into edible flowers (you can find lists online) as the non edible ones can be real bitter and make you sick if accidentlly ingested. And as long as they are edible (or even not) they can be placed anywhere that looks nice. 

I will be making my own cake (im a pastry chef) and I personally will be using sugar flowers because I wont be charging myself for labour and prefer not to use anything on my cakes if its not edible. 

raes19

As a former florist, my advice is if you go with real flowers, make sure that they are food safe. Many greenhouses that grow flowers/plants for mass markets use a lot of chemicals to make their flowers grow bigger and of better quality. Look for organic nurseries or at least ask what kind of plant food or fertilizers were used during processing. I'm sure the last thing you want to do is poison your guests!

031107

Sugar flowers are usually made from Gumpaste.  Your flowers will not melt if made from gumpaste - even in 100 degree weather with 100% humidity.

carissalf

You can use either, depending on certain factors:

1. Temperature-If it warm, and you use real, and the cake is left out, they will wilt
2. Some real flowers are toxic, including pollen which could fall on  your cake
3. Some flowers are edible, and/or not toxic---talk to a florist and/or look it up
4. Gumpaste/Sugar/Fondant flowers will normally always hold up well...

I'm sure there are other factors, but this is all I can think of off the top of my head.

Chelle2684

If you go with real flowers (which I really like the look of) make sure you personally make sure they are not toxic. You would be suprised at the number of florists that don't know which flowers are toxic.
Although the sugar/fondant flowers are technically edible, most people don't actually eat them because they dry to be very hard (especially gumpaste, you could seriously break a tooth on some of them). Also. they do tend to be kind of expensive because of the time it takes to make them. Although I can see the theory behind having an all edible cake, realistically it's not going to matter if the flowers are edible or not (I decorate cakes as a hobby and side job from home and still don't think edible flowers are that big of deal.)
As for where to place the flowers, I would let the cake decorator know what kind of flowers you are using and ask him/her where they would suggest they be placed based on the design.

HYDROPHILE

1. Real flowers: Make sure they are safe to use around/with cakes.  Real flowers tend to be less expensive than gum paste flowers.

2. Gum paste flowers: Can be pricey due to the amount of time put into each one.

3. Edible real flowers: More expensive than either of the options above.

4. Buttercream flowers: IMO, they look cheap. 

I have done cakes with real flowers and gum paste flowers.  The price difference can be quite large between the two.

HBaker82407

I spoke with the bakery and the florist, they both said real look nicer.  Its their preference.