I got my first wedding cake order!!! It's for a sister of my good friend. I must say, I was flattered when she asked me a few months ago. I told her I'd never done one before and let her think about it. After all, the wedding cake is the most important cake you'll ever have! She called me last week and wants a seashell cake for 160!

I've made stacked cakes before as high as 3 tiers, but never a cake to feed 160 people. Would you use plates and inside pillars when stacking a large (I'm assuming 4 tiers)? We haven't worked out the details of what she wants yet, but she does want stacked. Or would you use dowels? I've never used plates & pillars before so I'm at a loss. Would you use smaller plates than the cake so the plates don't show?

Any help would be appreciated!!!!

A stacked cake is fairly easy and sturdy to dowel once you put it all together.I would just board all the tiers and then dowel it really well.Sounds like it is going to be a lovely cake!! I can see all the seashells now!!

I would do a stacked caked without separator plates or pillars. I love the look of stacked cakes...so classy! You will put each cake on a separate board and use dowel rods to support. I like the wilton white plastic ones. They offer great support.

I usually use a sturdy drum or plywood circle for the base tier. You want it to be sturdy enough.

I like to frost my tier and then smooth and dowel. I then stick my tiers in the refrigerator for a while and let the icing get nice and firm. This makes it much easier to stack. Then you can pipe your borders and finish your decorating.

Good luck on the cake!

Thanks guys! I've doweled plenty of cakes before, but never such a large/tall cake! That's why I was wondering about plates & pillars, LOL. Good to know I don't have to mess with them, as I've never used them before. I'd hate to have a disaster!

My favorite is the Wilton crystal clear cake divider set. It costs fifty bucks, but you can ask for it back after. When I used this I had no problems with it at all. No need to dowel! EAch cake is separated and makes for a tall presentation.
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3143DE-475A-BAC0-52E8E24115E1EED0&fid=3E331070-475A-BAC0-59D1F5191FA0F3DB