Ladies, can someone help me please. I'm doing my first wedding cake this coming weekend. It is a 16, 12 stacked with a 10 inch tier. My question is how many cardboard rounds do you use to support the 12 inch cake on top of the 16 round. One cardboard doesn't seem really strong to hold a double 12 inch cake. I would appreciate any advice that I can get. I'm also going to cover the cakes with fondant. So right now I think advice would help me more then luck, but I'll take both.
Thanks
Rena

Hi. I buy my cake boards from a local box store. The brand is PAC...it is almost like having a double board. Just one works for me. If you use boards from Wilton...my advice would be to use at least two. If possible, I would see if you find the good ones! Good luck with the cake!
traci

Don't forget to cover your boards w/ foil & use dowel rods~ I use 2 boards together for cakes 10" & larger.

thanks, I'll make sure to use the two boards. I did pick up some of the plastic dowels and I have the wooden ones also.
Rena

I LOVE the plastic dowels from Wilton that you cut with a serrated knife. I don't worry about slippage or sinking or transporting the cake. I still don't transport with more than two tiers stacked together, though, I just assemble on site.

I've not tried using the plastic dowels yet, but I think that they'll support a cake better then the wooden ones. Now I have another question. When covering a cake with fondant, how do you figure how much you need. For example: a 12inch round cake, you roll the fondant to 16in round? Do you give it a four inch drop if your using 2inch deep pans?
Rena

If your using to boards, I hear your suppose to turn them so the cardboard runs in different directions on the back side. Does that make sense? It make the board even more sturdy.

Rose

I just wanted to say thanks to traci, tcturtleshell,loree001 and vitade for the suggestions. My cake turned out fine and the wilton plastic dowels worked great. I also used contact paper to cover my cake board. It looks nice and I don't have to do all that taping. I'm going to try and put picture in wedding cake gallery.
Thanks again.
Rena