New Favorite Wedding Colors

We decided not to participate in the two area bridal shows this Spring, so it's not been crazy busy like this time last year.  My big sister is recovering from a small stroke so I decided to visit her in Maryland for a little while.  It was very lonely without my sweetie, but someone had to make some money and take care of all our kitties!  If I'm not baking, we have no cakes to blog about!  Chaddy will not let me only do one blog a week, so it's dummy cake time!  All my display cakes need to be replaced.  They are old, dirty and I'm super tired of looking at them! 

The hardest part of making a display cake, for me,  is deciding on ONE design.  Pinterest is killing me!  There is so much inspiration out there to get your wheels turning that it becomes overwhelming.  I mean, OVERWHELMING.  So I have start with some guidelines.

1.  It's not a cake contest.  I don't have to use the hardest techniques or do everything I know, on one cake.  No one is judging them!
2. These displays are for brides, not me!  It's not my wedding, so I should tailor the designs to types of looks that my brides like and can afford. I would love to add an extra $500 worth of gumpaste flowers to a display but I don't have that customer at this time (maybe one day, Sylvia Weinstock!).  
3. Combo of 1 & 2... Keep it simple.   Sure, I have the rare bride that wants something really different, but most want buttercream icing, a little color, a few flowers, a little personal detail (monogram, graphic from the invitation, etc).

We will see if I can follow my own rules in the next few weeks!  I still want to be proud of these cakes and they should represent my style too!  This little cutie cake is the first in a group I'm going to make in the same color scheme.  I just love this gray and yellow combo!  My idea here was to get the bands of color without using plain ribbon (which is a constant these days).  It was hard for me to paint flowers a "not so natural" gray, but it had to be done!  Tee hee!  A lot more "could" be added, but I'm trying to follow rule #3.  If you think differently, please tell me!  Also, I want to make some gumpaste "billy balls" for one of my upcoming displays, so if you know how to make them, please let me know!