The cake was carrot cake with cream cheese filling and chocolate cake with chocolate ganache covered in marshmallow fondant. The lilies are silk because I wasn't sure I could replicate them in gumpaste, but I did make the plumeria out of gumpaste. The sand around the bottom was a mixture of graham crackers and brown sugar to give it the right color and texture.
I was amazed at all of the work that went into this cake since I have never made something this big or detailed before. It was fun but also stressful. I was so worried that it wouldn't be perfect for my friends. There were actually several small flaws that were driving me nuts, but I'm sure no but me got close enough to notice them. Total time for shopping, baking and decorating was probably 11-12 hours worth of work, but from everything I've read, that's standard for a wedding cake this size.
