Hey yall. I am doing my first wedding cake this week. It will be 6, 8, and 10" squares stacked. I am making it for someone my dad works with. The problem is this. I can not deliver it myself because I have to work. My dad is going to bring it to work Friday, and the lady will take it home from there. What is the easiest and safest way to prepare it? I plan to dowel the heck out of it but what else do I need to do? I was thinking about cutting a piece of plywood for the bottom support. Please help me!!

~Ashley~

Nice sturdy board on the bottom and center dowel all the way through. Get a nice big box that will house the whole thing and close on the top. If the box is wider than you want the bottom board to be, make sure you put non-skid material in too. I would include another piece of non-skid for between the box and car.

Kory, thats an awesome idea for the non-skid mat! When I was married, I had my dad and BIL pick up my cake, and it was in a box. The box was bigger than the cake base, and my dad *almost* lost the whole thing when the cake SLID inside the box and almost overbalanced in his hands...

Ditto on that! The non-skid shelf liner works great. Put between cake base and box, and box and board.

Also, if client doesn't have SUV to place it flat in back, then make sure they have a rolled towel to balance out seat and I use my large bread board placed on that to level out the seat. Then place cake on that.
Always remember the nonskid liners between tho!

Sweetcakes, I do that, too (the rolled towel on the seat to make it level).

Also take a picture of it before it leaves your hands. I would try to get a signature from the lady picking it up from your dad that it is in perfect condition. That is a lot of transporting from place to place...a lot of ways that it can have issues.

Plus, 3 tiers is EXTREMELY heavy, is the lady going to have someone to help her move it in and out of her car? I would do whatever I could to either have your father pick it up at your house and deliver it or find some way to take off of work and take it. There are so many things that can go wrong here, it just gives me a bad feeling...plus will the lady keep it in a cool place until the wedding? I would also explain about taking corners with a cake on board.

I'm neurotic enough, but to have a wedding cake (especially your first one) not make it because of someone else's mistake would not be good.

P.S. Make sure you get paid up front in full prior to Friday!

Thanks everyone!! I like the idea of nonskid shelf liner. I didn't think of that. I think I will have to do the rolled towel thing because my dad drives a truck, so there isn't enough floor space for the cake. The lady drives a hatchback so I know she has the room.
I am paid in full already so I'm not worried about that. Should I send a little extra icing in case something small happens? I can't take off work because I am trying to get someone to cover my Thurday shift as it is (stupid schedule).
How do I go about boxing it? (For some reason I can't picture how to do it)

And where do you get a box big enough for a three tiered cake? How do you place the cake in the box? I can't imagine trying to lower a heavy 3 tiered cake into a box...or lift it out....

You can get large moving boxes from Home Depot, and such stores. I believe they are up to 20" square; very sturdy. You will want to use a side load for the cake.. not the top. Just make sure you write in really big letters, with arrows pointing up, which way is UP... the write [i]"open here" on the side. Sounds complicated, but it isn't... good luck..

If you order today you might even be able to get SPS in time.