Hi guys, another newby here again. I'm making my first wedding cake (paid too) this weekend and am wondering how many of you have used the push in pillars. Once the cake is set up, are they stable enough that the cake won't fall over?

The cake I'm making is fairly simple with few decorations and the sizes are 14", 10", and 6" tiered. Because this is my first cake to set up (not just deliver in a box), I'm wondering if it will be easier than messing with extra plates and dowels too.

Thanks for your help!

hey and welcome to the site!
as far as the push in pillars go, i have found them to be stable - just so you set your cake up THERE and not travel with it. be sure to make an imprint with the legs of your next tier onto your bottom tier, repeating as you go up, in order to line it up exactly. this way you know where to place the push in pillars. good luck and have fun

forgot to add...the pillars will replace the need for dowels. but as far as extra plates go, you will still need one for each tier bottom, but not the top of each tier. does that make sense? anyway, it is easy and much more stable than the non push-in type. i just made one last month the same size tiers and had no problems.
chisl

Yes if you use the correct number of push in pillars your cakewill be stable. Check your plates for the number, different sizes use different amounts of pillars. they work well and you don't need to dowel your cake. Congatulations on you order and Best of luck.

I love push in pillars and have used them for years. I usually make my cake on a wrapped board. I push the pillars in at home, so that each cake has a little "table" on top. Stacking is easy when you arrive at your destination. If you don't want the board to show, you can cover it with icing after you set up. These things are so sturdy and strong! You couldn't be safer.

Thanks!

A couple more things-

1. I'm putting a ribbon/curtain type border (not sure what it's called right at the moment ) on the bottom and need to know- will I first put the cake on the cardboard, frost it, and then transfer it to the plate before putting the final border on?

2. Also- because the ribbon "jets" out a bit, what size plate should I use for each size of cake?

These are round cakes by the way.

I leave them on the boards. Transferring would be a big risk.

yes, you need to ice it on the board and transfer it to the plate before you put borders on. otherwise, it's too hard to handle and a thumb will so easily dig in there!

the boards need to be the same size as your cake. the plate will be one size larger. so in your case, you'll have 6", 10" & 14" boards with 7", 11" & 16" plates (base tier always 2" larger at least). your border will hide the plate from view.

what i did to make it easy was ice the 14" tier. then i took the 11" plate and placed it on top of the 14" tier, pressed slightly enough for the legs to make a mark in the icing to use as a guide for assembling later. then i iced the 10" tier, secured it to the 11" plate, repeat for 6". each tier goes into its own box for transport. when you arrive, assemble the cake, using the marks on each tier for your guide as to where you push in the pillars. when it is assembled, do your final edges.

it's gonna look awesome and you'll be amazed how easy it is!
chisl

Thanks for all the help so far, but....

1. If I'm using the push in pillars, I assume will I only need one plate of each size, right?

2. Are the push in pillars a universal size? Or are they all different? I currently have two set of 5" Grecian pillars, will these fit into any/most push in pillars? Also- is 5" good or should I get longer one? The bride wants to put fresh flowers in between each tier.

I'm full of questions today but hey, what can I say, I'm new and needy!!!

to answer question 1, yes, you only need 1 of each size plate.

im confused about your question 2. it sounds like you're wanting to attach push in pillars into push in pillars ? anyway, push in pillars are typically spiked at one end and decorative at the other, the spiked end being the obvious choice for pushing through the cake. the other end of the pillar will be the plate will sit top.

if your cake is not torted, you should be ok with 5". the attached picture of mine were 7" spikes, but i hated the amount of space between layers and the florist did not provide enough flowers and it turned out awful looking (2 dozen red roses, dozen white roses, and 2 dozen white flowers - and still had gaps!). i thought shorter spikes would be better. you can always get the larger ones and cut down to exactly the size you think you will need.

good luck!

I'm new so I guess I'm not explaining things right.

I was initially wondering about the spiked pillars and how those work. Do you just push those right into the bottom layer all by themselves? If there is no separator plate on top of each tier, will it be ok with fresh flowers on it?

Also, I have two sets of pillars- at least that's what the package says. Don't these get pushed into either plates or those other hollow platic dowels (or are these called something else)?

You all are probably wondering how I'm every going to get through this! I am too!

I also would like to make a cake with pillars. But I want to but the next cake to the top of the first one WITHOUT any gaps between. So I neet some pillars (whatkind?) and plates under each cake (whatkind?, where can by those by online and that sends worldwide??? CC don't sell them).

Is there any easy guide (instruction) how to do this? With pictures?

Jenni...another newbie

The wilton site has the instructions for all of this and so does the Pastry whiz site.
www.wilton.com
www.pastrywhiz.com