Hi, I have to make a 4 tier wedding cake in a week, I wanted to ask, first...When you freeze the cakes, do you do that AFTER they have settled? Do I bake, torte, crumb coat, let settle over night and then FREEZE? Im a little confused with the order I should do this to prevent bulging. My other question is , I am making the bottom tier a dummy cake because the bride wants that bigger cake look, but doesnt really need all that cake, anyway....can I decorate that tier now a week in advance and will it still look fresh and not dried out? I will be using fondant. This is my first wedding cake and I really want it to look nice.

the cakes will settle as they defrost. You can go as far as crumb coating before freezing if you want or you can fz after cooling.

It has been my experience that a dummy will look really good for longer than week. cover it with plastic or something until youre ready to use it.

Thank you for all your help!