I'm making my first wedding cake in 2 weeks. Am very nervous. Just started decorating in June and though I feel I'm pretty good at it, a wedding cake is a totally different story.

I'm planning to do three tiers with the petal effect on each tier - the one where you pipe large balls of icing and then smear them with the small offset spatula. It looks like petals or even scales - which is cool because the coups loves dragons.

Anyway - my question is, do I assemble this cake before delivery or do it at the place? I see them on TV all the time pre-assembled, but these people have vans, etc. I'm just so scared something would happen to it on the way over. I don't know what to do.

What are you using for your support system? I have delivered many three tier cakes with bubble tea straws or the large Wilton tubes as the supports without any problems. I also use two center dowels to prevent slippage--I think that is key to delivering a tiered cake with these supports.

If you are too nervous to deliver it assembled, then by all means stack the cake on-site. I've only done that once, and I hated it. Although I delivered the cake 2 1/2 hours before the party, there were people there decorating the room while I was setting up the cake. I hated having an audience. I much prefer delivering it assembled, placing the flowers on the cake, taking a few pictures and leaving.

If you are going to deliver the cake assembled, I strongly suggest that you make a practice cake, load it into your vehicle, drive around for a bit, and unload the cake back at your home. I did this "dry run" before my first wedding cake, and it really helped. You're still going to be nervous when it comes to the real deal, but it helps to have the experience of the dry run under your belt. Good luck!

I agree with cakegirl1973, that having an audience is no fun when assembling a cake, and that your support system is paramount for successful transportation. I also use bubble tea straws with a center dowel for 3 tier cakes. I have a small SUV that accommodates my cakes, and always use non-skid shelf liner to prevent the cakes from moving while in transit.

Kat

I definitely agree that I wouldn't want to assemble it on site. IMHO, stacking buttercream cakes is a lot riskier than stacking fondant cakes. You can always pick fondant tiers back up and center them better if you have to -- that would be reaaaaallly messy with buttercream. I'd be too nervous to do it on site.

I've transported lots of 3-tier cakes with one wooden dowel down the center, and the cakeboard sitting on rubber waffled shelf liner, as a previous poster suggested.

Thanks for all the feedback all! This is really helpful! I do have a small SUV that we can use. And I think I will put the cake on a yoga mat as they are sticky and the cake surely wont' slide. Wish me luck!