Transporting and putting 4 tiered wedding cake together at venue

I did this for the first time last month. Was SO nervous. What I did was stack two and two. I stacked the top two together and the two bottoms together. When I got there I stacked. Made sure my cake was refrigerated and cold. I kept air on high in the car. I stack the Sharin Zambito way with the bubble tea straws. The straws are sticking up and not pushed all the way into the cake. So when I lift the top tiers with a long spatula and my fingers on the other side, I can then let go and the cake will sit on the straws. Then the straws will slide in by the weight of the cake. Hope that made sense. I recommend her videos. They are great. If the buttercream gets messed up I make sure I have extra and fix with a tiny spatula. And there is usually a border to put on that will cover imperfections.

Good luck!

Check out SPS. You can slide the tiers into place. And they will be centered. Or you can prestack and take it done. If you can lift it.

For four tiered cakes I stack the bottom two and take the top two in a separate container. I finish stacking and doing the border at the site, it takes ten minutes tops.

My first wedding cake I did I took each layer separate.  I put the layers on top of each other and then decorated the bottom of each tier and then put the flowers on.  Give yourself at least 2-3 hours before the reception starts.

I did my first wedding cake a couple of months ago. I suggest you take supplies with you in case there is a little damage to the cakes. eg extra buttercream, or ganache, paper towell, spatulas, piping tips, extra ribbon, etc (or what ever it is that you are using). Take the non skid rubber matting with you to put under each tier. It worked for me!!! I took each tier seperately. But you do what works for you. And give your self plenty of time!!!
 

I almost always deliver my cakes unstacked and assemble them on-site, especially if they are four or more tiers.

Each tier is already doweled and on a cardboard round.  The bottom tier is finished and on it's cake drum.  I make sure I have lots of royal icing, some Q-tips, vodka, a paintbrush and any other decorative elements that might go at the borders.  If I have sugar flowers or figurines, I bring them separately and attach them after assembly.

When assembling, I pipe royal icing at each dowel hole.  I find the back side of the next tier up and, using my large angled spatula, I lift it off of the cake round.  I usually just eyeball it when I slide the tier onto the one below it.  I can always use the spatula to lift and move it over a little bit to center it, if I need to.

When all tiers are assembled, I do my finishing work - piping at the borders, ribbon, cleaning - and then I take a picture.

It usually takes me about 20 minutes, start to finish.

Surely, you didn't mean to say you "lift the cake off of the cake round"... you must have meant that you removed it from an extra round used only for transport.

 

Removing a heavy cake tier from its board is not only asking for trouble -- it's leaving you without a support system which IS disasterous!  All tiers need to remain on their own boards to prevent any system from piercing straight through the cake.  Also, if sliding one tier onto the one below it (without each tier on its own board), you run the risk of disturbing the internal supports and knocking them sideways (which won't matter anyway, since they won't be supporting anything while perforated into collapsed cake).

 

When sliding, lifting, moving, centering tiers with a spatula, the best advice is to have a plate in place where it's being transferred to (or use an additional cake board instead of a plate).

I did two and two once... trying to stack the top two tiers was harrowing.  We transport all of our cakes assembled and chilled.  It is just easier that way 90% of the time unless it's a 6+ tiered cake.  I always did the same when I was working from home too.  I hate being on display and it's a pain in the ass to put on borders and such when the cake is not on a turntable too. 

 

How big will your cake be?  We put a central dowel in all of our cakes and use straws for the support in the tiers (unless again it is a 5-6+ tier cake then there are some wodden dowels in the lower tiers too). 

 

 

 

(editted for a spelling error)

I had to rmove a three-tiered cake from the cake drum today in one piece to put it on the wood stump cake stand that they'd bought and left for me without telling me. That's the second time that happened, so now I'm going to start asking them what kind of cake stand they plan on using. It's one thing to assemble a cake at the reception, it's another to have to de-assemble it.

No.  I thought it was implied that each tier is on its own round and sits on a larger round for transportation.

Thanks for clarifying that!