Generating test data for functional tests

I need to generate some test data for a Web and WPF application (both .NET Apps). So I had two possible solution in my mind.

1. Generate test data by using sql scripts. This approach has the issue that I need to validate the inserted data.

2. Use the insert API of my .NET code to generate test data. For this I am not sure if its oversized, but I would reuse the validation logic of my code.

Do you have any other suggestions? Maybe Microsoft tools for supporting those creation tasks?

Thanks! Oliver