When searching for ideas for a surprise mini wedding reception for a couple of friends who eloped, I came across some posts on how to make a cupcake cake in the shape of a wedding dress.
I am not artistic or creative at all, so I looked at the task as a big challenge. Fortunately, making the cake was actually really easy.
All you do is make 27 cupcakes. Because most cupcake mixes usually make about 24 cupcakes, I only filled my cups about halfway. Doing this gave me 28 cupcakes (so I got to eat one to sample!). I only had one cupcake tray that I borrowed since I seem to be kitchen-impaired and do not own any, so it was difficult to figure out how much to fill each cup. Do yourself a favor and own at least two cupcake trays. It will speed up the process and allow you to cook in half the time. For the extra few cupcakes, I had to do another cupcake cycle anyway, so I ended up having to do 3 cycles which is an hour just in oven time!
Another tip….purchase a hand mixer. I wasted a lot of time and arm power trying to whip the batter into shape by hand. I actually broke a sweat! Pathetic really 🙂
I think the most important tip I can offer is to purchase two cans of frosting if you are not making your own. I used red velvet cake mix and whipped cream cheese frosting and ended up using almost an entire extra can of whipped vanilla frosting to add to the cake. If you want to fill in all the gaps of the cupcakes, you may even need a third can. Surprisingly and luckily, vanilla frosting and cream cheese frosting taste delicious together! Even the zoo enjoyed licking the inside of the baggie.
In order to make the swirly frosting, I used a baggie with a corner cut off and a random fancy tip of a cookie maker that I had buried in the back of a closet. You can see that the frosting is not perfect. This is due to my trying to only use one can of frosting. Do yourself a favor and 
just plan your project properly!
Before placing props on your cake, be sure to let the frosting harden a bit – otherwise, you will end up with frosting all over your props and will make a mess if you need to move them. For the dress belt, I just used a beaded belt that I own…. I just cleaned it first. I also included a veil with was just another lace belt I own, folded over and secured on the back with clear packing tape.
I used a giant baking tray that I had previously bought for another use (it doesn’t fit in the oven) to carry the cake. I placed tupperware containers along the sides of the cake and covered it in saran wrap to ensure the frosting didn’t get smushed – the frosting never really hardened for me (I think it was too humid). To store the cake overnight, I kept it in my bedroom with my indoor AC pointing towards it. There is no way it would fit in the fridge and I think cupcakes taste better when not 
refrigerated anyway.
Fortunately, no cats attacked the cake overnight. It made it safely to its final destination and was enjoyed by all!
Aimee Knows 