What are the best steps to take to begin a career in cake decorating?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

some people usually count on their own talents to get them their dream job. I'm a photographer, never finished college but I have a photo career. If you don't feel you need to get certified or take classes create a masterpiece and bring it to whoever you wish to work for, just don't mention anything about no training or certification. master your technique before anything.when you go to whatever business have them see and taste first as, your skills and talent is what counts not pieces of paper,but just in case lie if they ask. and don't go into business for yourself unless you really know the ropes of the catering business.

You don't need to be certified, you need to be good. Practice, practice and practice some more. I would recommend classes just to get techniques down, they can also help with ideas on how to start your business. Then get your recipes down, make cupcakes using your best recipes for people to taste what you make, and decorate them with details you use on your cakes and find a venue to offer your wares, like a wedding show, a hotel, a local caterer, they are the ones that can give you a leg up in the business. Make cakes for birthday parties, showers, retirement parties, sometimes for free to get your name out there. Did I mention practice?

You can do any kind of practicing at home that you want to do but you could also visit a couple of the local bakeries and offer to apprentice in exchange for learning how to decorate cakes.
That would also give you the chance to see in person the good (and the bad) points of choosing to do this.
The bakery I work at has done that during the slow season.
Check your local college for adult courses in beginning cake decorating.
Check also your local craft stores as some offer beginning classes.
Be careful of buying too many do-dads and gadgets until you know for certain this is what you want to do and that what you bought is actually useful and not just some junk heavily advertised as what is needed.
There is no such thing as being certified as a decorator.
I work at a bakery and every decorator we have there has never been to a culinary class and 2 of them have won national awards at Bakery contests.
The decorators DO have that sense of flair and artistic eye. One of them was a young Vietnamese guy who could draw pictures like crazy and was a real artsy fartsy sort of guy. Our owner talked him into trying his hand at cake decorating and he did great. Its that kind of sense of art that really helps.