well, i got a call this morning from a lady who's friend is to be married this saturday. the lady who was suppose to do the cake had an emergency, her mother past away today...so she asked me if i could do a last minute wedding cake!!! 
i couldn't turn her away, so i said yes. 
she made it easy for me, because all i have to do is a three-tiered all buttercream, no filling, and three flavors, and she will be putting silk flowers on the cake too! well, since i'm in italy and i get all my supplies from the states, i am in trouble! 
i don't have the seperator plates or the dowels. i do have the heavy duty plate for the first tier and only the cardboard 10 inch and 12 inch circles. our bx doesn't supply much. my question is...what can i use to support the layers??
i need some quick answers here, please!!!
Does your bx sell those craft dowels that come in various diameters? You could use those, after you wash them with a light bleach solution.
I have read that people have use plastic straws- which of course some people have said don't use since they are not solid. Maybe to make them more solid is to fill them with royal icing and allow them to dry so that they get more hard by Saturday.
Ummm- that's all I can come up with.
Hope it helps!
Diane you sound like me! Doing things because you love it but not thinking of all the work & if you even have supplies! I do the same thing!
She wants a tier cake? If you don't have the plates or the dowels for the tiers I don't know what to tell you other then do a stacked cake. You could probably find wooden dowels at the BX or even at a hardware store.
That's the only advice I can give you. BUT don't give up!!!!! Someone will have some better help for you~~~
It really is so nice of you do do that!
I've used drinking straws before (to support a 3d ducky) but not for a wedding cake. I think it would work though. If you want to use the circles you have, put 2 or 3 together and cover them. If you have some cardboard (boxes) around the house, you can cut circles from that. I really hope it all works out Diane!
It is my experience that at this point the bride doesn't really care about details any longer.......she just wants whatever works........you are really doing her a favor......I'd make each tier separate and make a real pretty arrangement with flowers, candles.......whatever...around the tiers and keep it simple.....no one will know what the original plan was........it could be very pretty....no stress.....no tears........
I agree with the last post from cakelady. An arrangement of the three separate tiers will be much prettier than a possibly runined cake from stacking it w/o the right tools. Do you have cake stands of varying heights? Afterall it is Italy! You must be able to get your hands on some beautiful ceramics! That would make a pretty arrangement.
That is a good idea! I was watching semi-homemade a couple days ago and she made an elegant wedding cake without any tools. She just used cake boards to make the cake. No dowels or anything. She frosted it white (out of a tub even) and decorated it with bunches of little green grapes dusted with confec. sugar. I was really impressed.
thanks everyone for all the great advice and answers!! 
i am going to try the bx and the craft store and wood work store, if i have no luck, then i'll let the bride figure out what she wants to do!...yeah, and you're right, this is italy, i should be able to find something!
Hi I also saw that show on the food network. Semi-home made. She made a wedding cake and I found it a little bit scary. She put so much jam between the cake layers, that I have a feeling after the "shoot" was over the jam would be oozing out. She did not use any dowls between her stacked cake, and it was 3 cakes piled on top of each other with just a board inbetween. I think if the jam wasn't oozing out right away she wouldn't notice it because that cake would be falling in upon itself. She decorated it with a can of store bought icing using a plastic ziploc bag. I think she will give expectations to some who have never decorated a cake that it was just as simple as she made it appear on t.v. So though it was entertaining, and may even interest some in finding out about cake decorating, maybe taking a class I think the show was just for entertainment. I also want to note that I loved the other shows this past weekend on cake decorating done on the food network. It was just the show semi-homemade that I found might not be helpful.
cupcakes...it was just tv magic. She used dowels. It just never showed her doing it. Of all the things to leave on the cutting room floor! And maybe I'm just easily impressed, but for a cake that was decorated with a ziplock bag full of store-bought frosting--it looks pretty good!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_27589,00.html
At the end of the recipe, it says Find mate, wed, serve.--LOL!
What producer made that decision?
Maybe one that does not make cakes
...at least it did show her making a dam for her jam. The friend of the bride who watched the episode and volunteered to do the cake won't have to worry about the jam oozing until the cake caves in. When I saw the episode, I thought That must be some sturdy cake. How funny is that!
I'm sorry Diane--all this talk about cakes falling really isn't helping. Back to helping Diane 
Just because I'm in a mood today... 
I don't like Sandra Lee or her show, Semi-Homemade. I think most of the stuff she makes is mediocre. Take 20 extra minutes and make it all homemade. Or send out for Chinese food.
I saw that show with the cake you are talking about a few months ago...I remember thinking how "easy" she made it look and how difficult it would be to do on your first try at home if you weren't used to making this sort of thing. I think the show does a disservice to the art and skill of baking and cooking.
See...I told you all I was in a mood!
Ok, well you're going to need internal support of some sort. Thin dowels about 1/8" thick should work and can be easily cut with scissors or clippers. You can get these at almost any craft store or hardware store. Barring that, chopsticks that you break would work. If you need to make it tiered instead of stacked, let's see.. thicker dowels - about 7/8" thick would work, and you can spray them with the colorspray if you have some, or cover those with rolled fondant, too. Another idea for tiered support is some small candlesticks or littel ceramic cupids. OOh! I have also seen plastic champagne glasses used between layers to hold them up. Make sure you put a cardboard or plate on top each layer that is the SAME size as the bottom of the tier above it. GOOD LUCK!!!
LOL cookieman.. Hope you have a better day tomorrow >>>TGIF!! (whatever that means) Friday for me just means 4 days later from Monday.. Hmm am I in a mood too? hehe No.. Just tired, took my Brian (3yr. old) to the park. Oh Diane GOOD LUCK..
You can do it! 
Diane, since your friend was prepared to do the cake, why not borrow what u need from her...this is an emergency situation, she'll understand. Good Luck. On Sandra Lee, I saw that episode and just OH MY GOD WHAT IS SHE DOING. LOL.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%