I am going to stake a 5 tiered cake with the below idea.  Leah_S over on the SPS has helped me understand what I will be basically doing but I keep running into one problem that I can't get my brain to work through. 

Here is my plan:

6" round REAL cake

3" round styro drum

6" SPS plate with columns down through the 10" cake

10" round REAL cake - 6" SPS plate with columns down through

6" round styro drum

6" SPS plate with columns down through the 12" cake

12" round REAL cake - sitting on the 6" styro drum

6" round styro drum - resting on the 10" foam dummy cake below

12" square cake dummy

6" round styro drum - sitting directly on the foam below

16" square cake dummy

17" plywood base board (covered in foil)

Okay, now look at the picture.  What is my cake sitting on for plates?  It isn't the SPS plates, those are only on top of the real cake to support the 6" styro drums. Yes, I do want some of the plate showing 1/2" to 1" as this area will be used for the planned cake decorations. 

Do I simply get an extra SPS plate, turn upside down and put the cake on this?  Or should I buy a couple of Wilton plates?  This one thing has me so massive confused it is almost funny - that is if the hot flashes would stay away....lol. 

I appreciate any and all help! 

Was sure hoping for some feed back by now.  Here is a thought I had, will it work?

Glue to cake boards together and trip with a tiny ribbon or lace or something like that so the cardboard doesn't show?  Will this be stable enough to hold up a 12" and 10" cake with fondant and plenty of decorations on it?

The cake is not being moved more than being lifted to put on a nice table cloth before a Sweet 16 party.

Again, thanks in advance for any and all help.  I know it is a newbie question but as many have said before, if you don't ask you can't learn.

Yes you will need some type of board or plate to put the layers of real cake on, if you are going with cardboard i would suggest using a 1/2" drum and trimming it with ribbon that fits with the colour you are using.

Are these 1/2 drums foam boards?  This might actually work better as I am adding LED lights on the underside of the cake board/plates. 

Do you know if they make just plain flat plastic plates?  The only think I can find is plates for pillaring or PSP type things.

I'll try to tackle this (I'll respond in blue)...

First of all, to avoid confusion -- you say "styro drum".  I'll say "styrofoam spacer dummy" as drums are professional cake boards (thick foam core sealed in foil) used as presentation boards under cake rather than stacked as dummy spacers.

In your photo, did you notice that the Wilton tailored tiers cake display set has progressively larger spacers?  It's my opinion that you should use progressively larger styrofoam spacer dummies to avoid this whole thing from looking like cakes are impaled by a giant 6" diameter shishkabob skewer.  I'd use spacer dummies 2" smaller than the cake above.  (which brings up another point...)

You say you want space to show around each tier for borders and decorations, right?  I'd suggest using cake drums 2" larger than the diameter of the cake (they're available in silver, gold, white, and black).  So now you'd have 4" of space under each cake drum (between the outer edge and the dummy spacer) for your LED lights.  (are these LEDs wireless?  If not, where are you running the wires?)

Who chose these sizes and why?  Do you HAVE to stick with this plan?  It has a nice gradual incline from the bottom two tiers, then it goes straight up for at least a foot throughout those 12" square and 12" rounds, then goes back to a somewhat appealing angle (even though it's not a consistent angle).  Personally, Iike 4" between tier sizes (especially when separated) otherwise it looks too tall and towering (and this is not only tall, but is also extremely top heavy w/all weight at top and all dummy tiers on bottom).  I'd get rid of all 12" tiers and go w/6" x 10" x 14" x 18" sq x 22" sq on a 26" plywood base, using 4", 8", 12", & 16" dummy spacers (this would allow avoiding the 10" cake's 12" drum from hanging directly over a 12" cake, as well as having the 12" cake's 14" drum from sticking out farther than the 12" square cake directly below).

Speaking of top heavy (especially if you're sticking with all tiny 6" dummy spacers under all tiers), to prevent the top from toppling off -- this should definitely be built on a central pipe that's screwed into the plywood base.

Don't lift it to put a tablecloth under it... place the finished cake on the table only after the table is decorated first.

I think that's all that was on my mind!

Oh, and if you can't find large cake drums, you can make your own from foam core covered with fanci-foil.