Making my own wedding cake

I am very happy that you have some experience at this. If you also have someone reliable that you could appoint to be your back up for the day of the reception that would be good for you. Cakes are so last minute huh. And weddings can be so demanding it would be good to have someone in place for back up now and train them with  what you want done while it's calm here well in advance. I mean delivery alone can be most daunting to anyone much less the bride and groom themselves or a newbie caker.

The size is about exactly 65 servings without the top tier. I like to err on the side of too many servings. So you could have a 9x13 waiting in the wings if necessary. But if you can use the top tier you'd have that much more wiggle room.

Vintage pedastal stand should be no problem. My ideal size (across the top of the stand) would be 14 inch for a 10 inch bottom tier. A 12 inch stand would be fine especially since your cakes are all two inches in difference anyhow.--perfect.

Flowers--you want to be careful about those--some are poisonous. Check that out--google I'm sure has that listed far and wide. You can get flower picks--specially designed to put flowers into cakes--Wilton has those--or you can even place them in straws--be sure the end of the straw is folded up (dipped in wax) so nothing can seep out. Don't know how deep into diy you wanna go. Flower picks are easy and inexpensive.

I did my cake umpteen years ago. And it's a pretty cool thing to pull off. Best of the best to you!!

I think you should expect people to eat more cake, because they know you are cake makers.  I would use the Wilton chart for the "party" size and maybe even a little more for those who take seconds.

There is a difference between cake pedestals (engineered for a single tier) and cake plates (that have a more substantial base under the plate).  Cake plates run 12"-14" across and can hold your tiers. If you find a good china cake plate, you can epoxy a  matching bowl under it for a healthy stand.

Or else you would make 3-5 small cakes and the stand the pedestal in the middle of the group with 2 tiers on it. That gives you more cake.

And a 3 tier cake is just 3 cakes put together at the venue.  Transport them as separate cakes and you will be fine.

I also made my wedding cake two years ago. It is stressful. I would do a mock up cake for sure. Keep the design to something simple. Fresh flowers are great, that's what I did. Put wax paper on the top tier between the flower topper and the cake and use the flower picks.

A few tips that worked for me:

1. Bake and freeze the cake 1-2 weeks before the wedding.

2. Plan ahead well and make sure that you have the day before your wedding clear to decorate the cake. (Things like have your nails already done, no showers or parties, plan the rehersal dinner accordingly, etc.)

3. Will your venue allow you to deliver the cake the day before and store it in the refridgerator? This was a lifesaver for me, it never hurts to ask.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabathaba 

Will your venue allow you to deliver the cake the day before and store it in the refridgerator? This was a lifesaver for me, it never hurts to ask.

Yes delivering your own wedding cake the day before is a lifesaver, but...

If you have any sort of delicate or valuable plate under it, build a shallow wooden box or use an old cake pan under that.  My venue BROKE my cake plate when they moved the cake themselves...