Wedding Cake take 1

Over the next few weeks I am going to be testing out a few different cake recipes. I am making a wedding cake in June so I have a little time to get things just right. The last wedding cake I made I used a doctored box mix. It came out good but I would like to make the cake from scratch this time.

The tricky thing about wedding cake is you want it to be moist but firm and sturdy, especially if it is being covered in fondant.
For my first test I used this recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pound-Cake-III/Detail.aspx with a few modifications that I got from reading the reviews.
Modifications:
1 1/4 cup buttermilk instead of plain milk
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
I think one of the most important things you can do to make any baked good come out good is to cream the butter and sugar properly. When you start out the mixture will be crumbly.

You want to cream it until it is light and fluffy looking, a good 5 - 10 minutes.

While I was creaming the butter, shortening and sugar I sifted the dry ingredients.

Once the sugar mixture is light and fluffy you want to keep the mixer on low speed and add in the 5 eggs one at a time. The add in your extracts. Now what you want to do is keep the mixer on a low speed and add your dry ingredients and milk alternately starting and finishing with the dry (dry, milk, dry, milk, dry). At this point you will have a super light and fluffy cake batter.

I made this in a bunt pan (because I have not unpacked my 8' cake pans yet) and had enough batter left over to make a dozen cupcakes so I am thinking I could have easily filled around 4 8' pans.

Here is a great tip for greasing pans I learned in cake decorating class. Mix together equal parts flour and shortening to form a paste. Brush this on the inside of your cake pans and they will not sick. I use this method every time I make a cake and it has not failed me. It is extra important to grease a fluted bunt pan well.
The recipe says to cook the cake for 90 minutes. Mine was done in 60 so I would start checking it around 45 - 50 minutes, it just depends on your pan size.

Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan.
I just mixed up some powdered sugar, a bit of milk, a drop of vanilla and lemon extract together to make a quick glaze since I was going to take this into work with me.

The verdict: This cake has allot going for it. It was moist and had a great light lemony flavor. I don't think it has the firmness I was looking for though. I will keep it in the running for now but I hope to find a recipe that has more of a pound cake texture to it.
*Edit to add:
I am changing my mind about this cake. It is on the top of my list. The cupcake that I had last night was nothing like the bunt cake I had this afternoon. After being refrigerated and taken out this was typical pound cake consistancy, moist and firm, with great flavor. This recipe does not make good cup cakes, make sure to use a bunt, loaf or cake pans.