im starting out and i am about to invest in some pans, what do you recommend i get? whats the most requested? i was thinking 6" 8" and 10" so it can stack nicely? should i get 2" or 3"? i am not planning on doing fillings quite yet til im more experienced.. so should i go with 3" so its taller? does that look better? HELP PLEASE lol also what are the basic tools and everything most people get to start out? and essentials that anyone think i should get that you use a lot?? thanks so much.. im excited..and nervous.. i am supposed to do my friends wedding cake in february.. iiiii yi yi!! lol 
I use 6-8-10 mostly. I would also invest in a couple of 4-inchers and 12-inchers (oy, that sounded, well, a little porn-y). I love the 2" tall pans. Make sure you get at least two in each size.
Make sure you purchase Magic Line. They are, truly, best quality.
Why don't you buy the pans you need for your friend's wedding first, then add others as you need them?
If you can find a coupon for one of the craft stores, the 3" deep round pans Wilton makes are pretty affordable that way. They have a set that's 8", 10", 12" and 14". I think I bought them during Hobby Lobby's 40% off sale and they were about $28. The sizes I use most often are 6" and 10"...I don't have a business and most of the friends I bake for don't have occasions where they need 3 tiers. But I like a 4" size difference between tiers because it looks nicer, to me, and there's room to put decorations.
If you just do 3" and don't use filling, your cake isn't going to be very tall. Also, it doesn't taste very good to eat a 3" thick piece of cake with no frosting in the middle...my sister's wedding cake (from Walmart 
) was like that and no one could eat a whole piece. It's not hard to put filling in a cake...bake two cakes for each tier, cut off the domed parts, then pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of one layer about 1/2" from the edge and put frosting in the middle of that. Put the other layer on top, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for a few hours to settle. I use 3" deep pans all the time but I bake two layers with it and my tiers are usually between 4 and 5 inches tall which makes a nice-looking cake.
Besides the pans, you'll need an offset spatula, flower nails for heating cores, a turntable (the cheap plastic kind is all right), and some piping bags. I use the disposable bags because they're not that expensive and I can never get the regular ones clean enough to suit me.
Why don't you buy the pans you need for your friend's wedding first, then add others as you need them?
If you can find a coupon for one of the craft stores, the 3" deep round pans Wilton makes are pretty affordable that way. They have a set that's 8", 10", 12" and 14". I think I bought them during Hobby Lobby's 40% off sale and they were about $28. The sizes I use most often are 6" and 10"...I don't have a business and most of the friends I bake for don't have occasions where they need 3 tiers. But I like a 4" size difference between tiers because it looks nicer, to me, and there's room to put decorations.
If you just do 3" and don't use filling, your cake isn't going to be very tall. Also, it doesn't taste very good to eat a 3" thick piece of cake with no frosting in the middle...my sister's wedding cake (from Walmart
) was like that and no one could eat a whole piece. It's not hard to put filling in a cake...bake two cakes for each tier, cut off the domed parts, then pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of one layer about 1/2" from the edge and put frosting in the middle of that. Put the other layer on top, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for a few hours to settle. I use 3" deep pans all the time but I bake two layers with it and my tiers are usually between 4 and 5 inches tall which makes a nice-looking cake.Besides the pans, you'll need an offset spatula, flower nails for heating cores, a turntable (the cheap plastic kind is all right), and some piping bags. I use the disposable bags because they're not that expensive and I can never get the regular ones clean enough to suit me.
agree, cake with no filling, never heard of it. What are you putting between cake layers? If there is something, then it is a filling even if it is only BC. Putting filling between layers is one of the easiest things to do as long as you put a dam down first and then the filling and allow to settle.
wait wait, im kind of confused now lol i thought a filling was like chocolate ganache or however u spell it? or cream cheese filling someone told me u have to cut a hole in the middle of one and fill it in.. ?
A filling is anything you use between the layers, wether a lemon curd or just regular 'ol buttercream. 
filling is anything between layers of cake, whether it be ganache, buttercream, or fruit. No you don't cut a whole in the cake, you sandwhich it between the layers, after putting a dam or ring of thick BC around and filling in the middle (the dam keeps the filling from oozing out the sides) hth
And wait, wait, wait. What do you mean cut a hole in the middle and fill it?
For the record, you may split two layers into two and end up with four layers, filled between each layer. That is torting the cake. You can also just have the two layers of cake, filled in the midlle with whatever filling you choose. Either way it is ideal to have at least 4"high cakes.
I use 6-8-10 mostly. I would also invest in a couple of 4-inchers and 12-inchers (oy, that sounded, well, a little porn-y). I love the 2" tall pans. Make sure you get at least two in each size.
Make sure you purchase Magic Line. They are, truly, best quality.
And ditto, ditto, ditto. My smallest pan is 4", my biggest is a 16" square. I, personally would also get a 9" and 12". So having 6-8-9-10-12 would be ideal. And if you want to do this on a regular basis, be it business or hobby, you might as well get Magic Line. Look at it as a one time investment. 
You can easily fill it with the same frosting you're covering the cake with. I normally do, because it's easier. It makes the slices prettier, makes the whole cake taller, and gives you a better frosting to cake ratio.
This site shows a step-by-step on how to do that:
http://cooksdream.com/tip1.php
I only use 2" tall pans and my most used sizes are 6, 9, and 12. One batch of batter makes an 8 or 9" cake, so for small orders I do 9" commonly. Most of my tiered cakes are 6 and 9. small tiered wedding cakes 6, 9, and 12. For square cakes I have a 16", 8" and 6". I use the 16" commonly and cut it if I need smaller tiers. You can get a 10" and 6" out of it, or 12 and 4, or whatever. I would say for starting out, get a pair of 6", 8", 9", and 12". If you have a larger order, your cake price should cover your pan. Michaels always has coupons for 40-50% off and I got a lot of my pans that way. When I started making more on my cakes, I started getting Fat Daddio pans and I like them. Never tried the magic line but I wouldnt be opposed to trying it once. I think my supplier only has the fat daddio ones though. Fat daddio's turntable is way better than the wilton one and I am just waiting until I feel like investing $50.00 for it....actually...its even cheaper than the wilton one and better quality. I want it! (just another note, if you are starting out..)
thanks for all the advice and great website! ..i have a heating core left over from a stand up teddy bear when i was looking at pans it said i need one for a 10 inch or larger.. do yall all use one? if so could i use the one i already have? its slightly tilted...and does anyone know a good website thats accurate on how many servings each tier will make? thanks so much everyone!
Never used a heating core in my life and the biggest cake I've done is a 16" square. I did use the strips around the outside to keep them from baking faster then the center.
I use 6-8-10 mostly. I would also invest in a couple of 4-inchers and 12-inchers (oy, that sounded, well, a little porn-y). I love the 2" tall pans. Make sure you get at least two in each size.
Make sure you purchase Magic Line. They are, truly, best quality.
Just curious..are magic line pans better than fat daddio? I purchased some FD pans at homesense a few weeks back and haven't used them yet. I can still return them if need be. I don't want to buy another set of inferior pans. Years ago i purchased a tonne of wilton pans not knowing any better and have been unhappy with them. Pls advise me what i should do.
Ahhh, Magic Line square pans. There is NOTHING straighter in the sides and sharper on the corners.
Thanks for the info everyone..i'm returning the fat daddio square pans. :0)
I am an oddball, but I don't love the square magic line pans. I have Fat Daddio squares and have never had an issue icing them perfectly square. I have one magic line square pan... I had to get it last minute and it was wilton or ML and square wilton pans are HORRID... and I loathe using it. Such a pain to clean the corners.
Most of my pans are FD pans and I have no issues with them.
I don't use the heating core either...it makes a big hole in the middle of the cake. Instead, I use a flower nail, sprayed with pam spray and set into the middle of the pan before the batter goes in. It works just as well as the heating core, and it just makes a tiny hole in the cake.
Oh... and I think having a complete set of pans 3-15" (odd and even sizes) is a good investment if you are planning on doing a lot of cakes. I have four each of 3" (I use these for baby cakes and sample cakes), 4", 6", and 8" and two, 9", 10", and 12" pans. That way I can bake a couple full 4, 6 and 8" cakes and a full 9, 10, or 12" cake at once, and one each of everything else through to 15". For squares I have 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14". Most cakes I make are round. I don't get a lot of requests for square cakes. No one likes the fact that square cakes have to either be smaller in appearance or more expensive to get that grand look since square pans serve more than their round counterparts.
For just starting out I'd get two each of 4, 6, and 8" and one each of 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12" round pans. For square pans I'd buy those when you get requests for them. If you want to get them anyway, I'd grab two each of 4 and 6" and one each of 8, 10, and 12" to start and fill in when you need them.
I like 2" pans. They bake up nice and don't take forever to bake in the center.
I use flower nails as heating cores as well. I do it in all size cakes, even 4 inch, because it seems to help keep the top from bulging as much. For larger cakes, I either use more flower nails, or if I run out of nails I have some cannoli forms that I use. Makes a big hole, but I just fill it with cake scraps and icing. After trying it with core and without, I tend to like the final product with it better.
EDIT: Oh, and I use Wilton's serving guide charts. I use the party cake serving guide. It uses 1x1.5 inch slices instead of the wedding cake guide which uses 1x1 inch slices. I just think 1x1.5 is wimpy enough.
I only own(ed) even size pans, from 6" to 16". 6-8-10, round or square were used the most since the avg wedding cake size I made served 116, so lots of cakes for 75-100 people. I just personally never saw that a 9" gave that much more cake than an 8", so I just wasn't going to invest in the extra pans just to get an extra 1/4" on all four sides of the cake. Besides, if you're cutting the cake 1x2x4 (using my cutting method), then a 9" cake isn't easily divisible by 2".
I've never used rose nails or heating cores, no matter what size the pan, and I've baked in a 14x22 sheet pan.
I always explained to brides: "If we put it on the outside of the cake, it's called "icing". If we put it on the inside of the cake, it's called "filling". All icings can be used as fillings. Not all fillings can be used as icings."
I was the one confused when brides would say "I dont' want filling." Took me awhile to understand that they meant "no fruit stuff in the middle." They weren't saying "no filling" .... they were saying "just use regular icing in the middle."
This thread is really helpful to me, I appreciate all the information. As a newbie, I've gotten a lot of use out of my two 6-inch and two 8-inch round pans (Wilton Decorator), and they've served me well for a beginner cake decorating class I just finished. I have some 9-inch rounds that are rarely used. I just ordered a couple of 10-inch round Magic Line pans yesterday, I'm looking forward to trying them out.
I just like the look of the 3" difference in tiers over the 2". It leaves more room for gumaste flowers and such which I do a lot of. My most common round wedding cake is 5-8-11-14 (which I call 145 servings) or 4-7-10-13 (which I call 120 servings). I love 5" for the top tier... it's the perfect size in my eyes. If I do a 2" difference in tiers I do 5-7-9-11 or 4-6-8-10. I think a 6" top tier is a wee bit too big for my tastes... but that's me and my whacko arty side.
This is a 5-8-11-14.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewelldressedcake/4165748918/
and this is a 5-7-9.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewelldressedcake/4165748854/
I prefer the wider "shelf" left by the 3" difference in tiers... but I do both when necessary. 
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