dyna said:
I decorated cakes years ago. As I soon found out if there is a local candy and cake shop near you that sells supplies and offers classes it's usually cheaper to take classes there and I LEARNED MUCH MORE FASTER!!!!
I made wedding cakes & novelty cakes for many years both as an out of my house business & for bakeries.
Many of my fellow ICERs had been Wilton instructors & I agree with
dyna. wilton classes are convenient & teach what is needed but can be unnecessarily expensive & protracted
IMHO, there is really no reason to have an initial equipment outlay of (around here, costs vary of course) of more than $50 -$60 tops, for begining tips, nail, bags, couplings, colors, parchment.
As OP emphasized practice, practice practice--
I don't know how to post a link, but go to
ices.org for cake info, including supply sites. ICES is an organization for cake decorators.
I will be giving a small class for homeschoolers, & we have them buy a small tip kit, or just a selection of 6 tips, parchment, a few bags & 2 couplings & 8 basic colors. Do investigate the different brands of supplies, especially the colors & kits. For the first few classes I have the students use my colors, try out my tips, so they get a feel for what they like. I feel most don't even need a tip kit, as some kits do not contain what you'll be commonly using when 1st starting out.
My teacher--who had cakes in movies & all the 'society weddings & functions--included her pick of 10 basic tips, parchment, coupler & 2 bags in her intro class. At the time she was only about $50 more for lessons than Wilton & her class hours & length of program were double theirs. Of course you had to sign up about 6 mos--or longer, depending on the course--in advance--
any path you choose, you'll find the classes fun & helpful. My favorite cakes were the ones I did for DS' birthdays. It's a nice little business. Take pictures for your folio. I liked being a small part of so many weddings & children's birthdays--just so much fun!
Jean