Hi all, I'm new here...I have done about 10 cakes, mostly birthday cakes but I will be doing my first wedding cake in july. they will be having 120 people. they want to have 3 separate cakes using stairs and a fountain. I was planning on using 2- 12 inch cake pans that feed 50 + people each, and 1- 8 inch pan all will have the 2 layers.. (does this sound right)? I know that usually the newlyweds save the smaller cake for the 1 yr ann. is this always done? or can the whole cake be served at the reception? one of the cakes will be a chocolate cake, how do I keep the crumbs out of the white buttercream? by putting the plain cake in fridge first?
any tips on the getting the buttercream neat? I read some about the paper towel method.....should I make the cake a day ahead? any help would be great! thanks.

Actually I've never heard of keeping the top tier for their 1 yr anniversary until CakeCentral.

Do a crumbcoat, let it settle and put the final buttercream to avoid crumbs getting into the frosting.

Of course you can make the cake a day ahead as long as it is very well kept.

I would just ask the bride if she is planning to keep the top tier for her anniversary or if she is planning to serve it. That way you will know if you are going to have the right number of servings. And plus, if she did want to keep the top tier, and you made the cake to serve people, she would probably be upset! Open those lines of communication! =o)

thanks ladies...I will do a crumb coat and I will give her a quick call to see if she wants to save the 1 tier for her anniversary, I personally don't think she's aware of saving it..but I will aske her. thanks

It's so funny to me that people haven't heard of saving the top tier. I got married 3 years ago and we saved our tier. I was into cakes, but no where near like I am now. But everyone, always saved theirs. I guess, it's a dying trend simply because cake artists are offering to make a new free cake for the 1st anniversary. Or maybe it's a geographic thing. I'm from the East Coast. Who knows?

Here's some info I've saved in my cake trivia file on the history of saving the top tier.....it goes back to the 1800's. Just some trivia that you could share with your brides as "part of your cake education!"

There is hardly a bride today who can't resist saving the top layer of her multi-tiered cake. Most couples freeze the cake with the intention of sharing it on their first wedding anniversary.

The tradition has its roots in the late 19th century when grand cakes were baked for christenings. It was assumed that the christening would occur soon after the wedding ceremony, so the two ceremonies were often linked, as were the cakes. With wedding cakes becoming more and more fancy and elaborate, the christening cake quickly took a back seat to the wedding cake.

When three-tiered cakes became popular, the top tier was often left over. A subsequent christening provided a perfect opportunity to finish the cake. Couples could then logically rationalize the need for three tiers --- the bottom tier for the reception, the middle tier for distributing and the top for the christening. As the time between the weddings and the christenings widened, the two events became disassociated, and the reason for saving the top tier changed.

Regardless of the underlying reason, when the couple finally does eat the top tier, it serves as a very pleasant reminder of what was their very special day.

Thanks for sharing that Indy! Very interesting!

thanks for all your tips...I spoke with the bride and doesn't want to save the top tier, which is great for me!!! i'll just have to make my 3 cakes!