I've mentioned here before that I'm baking the wedding cake for my son's wedding, which is coming up in June. I've never baked a wedding cake before...The bride selected a lovely cake from one of the Wilton books that is displayed on the tall tier cake stand. Flowers are in between the 4 cakes and around the bottom of the stand.

Well........today the mother of the bride suggested that maybe there are too many flowers and that maybe the top two tiers on that tall tier cake (there are 4 cakes) could be combined--in other words, stacked instead of separated by the tiers. The rest of the cakes would be separated by the tiers.

I'm wondering how that will look. It seems to me that perhaps that particular cake should be prepared as the picture looks. It might be better, it seems to me, to choose another cake, instead of changing things. But what do I know? I'm not a wedding cake expert.

I would very much appreciate know what some of you experience wedding cake bakers think.

My only reserve in doing the cake with the top two tiers stacked together, would be wondering if the cake plate on the tall tier stand would be overloaded (weight-wise) with that much cake on one plate? I personally would advise against changing the cake in this manner.

If they wanted the same general cake, but wanted it seperated differently, I would suggest using the "Hidden Pillars". They give the same floating tier illusion, but you have more support (in my opinion) with the four legs than you have with the one center column with that much weight on one plate.

Anyone else have an idea on this?

I would suggest for them to do the cake as the picture shows it or choose another cake. I would tell them that the structure may not hold up right with that top layer being stacked. I am pretty sure I know the cake that you are talking about and I am thinking that may not look quite right anyway.

You might have them go online and look at some other options. There are tons of gorgeous cakes here at Cake Central. She would have tons of ideas!

Good luck on whatever you end up doing...and I think you will love doing wedding cakes!

If you're talking about that cake called "autumn" that thing is beautiful the way it is! I LOVE that cake.

Is the MOB's point to save money on flowers? Combining the top two tiers isn't really going to help all that much and it's going to make the cake look top heavy, don't you think? And I would worry about the stability on that stand too. If I were going to combine any tiers it would be the bottom two and I would use hidden pillars as already suggested.

It will then be a totally different cake than what the bride had chosen.

Good luck! I can't wait to see it!

Go with the flow! What's wrong with changing the separations? If you don't think the plate is strong enough...do the cake on a wrapped board on top of the separator. I recommend the push pillars from Coast (cakedeco.com). They are extremeley sturdy. I might suggest stacking the bottom instead of the top so that it will look more balanced.

I love combining separated and stacked tiers. I think it looks great.

I too would be worried about the cake being "top heavy". I haven't done many wedding cakes, so I'm not very confident in my stacking skills yet anyway, but it seems to me, that if you're in doubt, DON'T do it! LOL
There are just too many designs out there to chose from. I would have them find something else I think.

I think before you change anything, that you should check if this is what the bride-to-be and your son wants. As much as the bride can take into account MOB's opinions, I think it really comes down to what your son and his bride want. If they want the cake as it originally is, thats the way it should stay. (I was just married this past June, and my mom and I had really different tastes when it came to certain things!) I also changed my mind a lot before the wedding, so there could still be the possibility that something else will catch her eye. (My aunt made my cake, and just basically told me the cut off time for when I would most defintely need to tell her what I wanted so she could get everything. So it worked out well )

I would also wonder about the weight issue with the tiered stand, depending on the rigidity of it, the last thing you would want is it collapsing.

Thanks for the input! This weekend I will sit down with my son and primarily my future daughter in law and discuss the cake issue. I'm for the bride being happy with the cake...and for the bride choosing an easy cake for me to do ....so the goal will be to find out her true feelings about the wedding cake. She absolutely loved the first cake she picked out, on the tall tier stand, so if that's the one she really wants, w/o changes, then I will encourage her to stick with that. Maybe we can work out the flower issue so that everyone will be happy.

ANYWAY, thanks again for all the input--I now understand, as some of you pointed out, that the cake might be top heavy if the top layers were stacked. However...if she does really REALLY want to combine layers, then I wiill suggest that doing it with the bottom layers would be better. And I'll suggest that she look at more pictures. Maybe she'll just choose another cake. .....but that one cake, as pictured in the book, is so pretty and simple.