This was my first wedding cake - the bottom is a double layer 16" round, the center is a double layer 12" round (and we had one back up for extra servings), the top tiered cake is an 8" double layer with a 6" atop it. The pearls are edible and I placed them one at a time using tweezers! There are pearl accents in the shell borders along the bottom, and in each rosette on the top borders of the cake.