I have to make a 6 tier wedding cake, 6-8-10-12-14-16 round, I planned to assemble the bottom 3 layers with dowels/ then the 8 & 10" layers, and just put the topper on when I get to the reception hall. Is there a dowel long enough to go through the whole cake? Should I do that? Normally I would put one through the entire cake, or doesn't it need one long one since I am putting it together in segments? What is the best way to do this? Any help would be GREAT.... 
I consider myself somewhat of an expert on these now...((ahem)) (patting myself on the back) 
Ok...self promoting over.
Firstly, and don't let ANYONE tell you any differently. In fact I'm going to begin and end with this in case someone tries to tell you different....then I'll be back for more advice.
SPS. You. Must. Have. This. Go to How Do I forum, look up SPS instructions by Leahs.
Easiest way....assemble it in two or three sections. Last time, I put the 16 and 14 together, the 12, 10, and 8, and had the six by itself. Put it all together once I got there. Perfectly even, no leaning, no center dowel, no crappy pieces of wood anywhere.
How anyone relies on so many little sticks all possibly cut slightly uneven to hold up a massive tower such as these cakes, is beyond me.
I 2nd that!! SPS all the way!!
BTW, Jamie your avatar is hilarious!!
Thanks soooo much, I just read those instructions and that definitely is the way to go for me. I couldn't imagine the cake not moving or leaning with just the dowels in it, or having it get crooked or something. Perfect, I will get the sps system, any suggestions for best place to get them???
Thanks soooo much, I just read those instructions and that definitely is the way to go for me. I couldn't imagine the cake not moving or leaning with just the dowels in it, or having it get crooked or something. Perfect, I will get the sps system, any suggestions for best place to get them???
I order them from [mod edited for content] a lot, from Oasis, from Global Sugar Art. Cost is relatively the same across the board. I would love to say I order exclusively from GSA, but they have been out of stock on stuff I wanted the last two times. 
mod edited for content.)
Oh, and the spaces between the letters...necessary. Just put them back together.
I consider myself somewhat of an expert on these now...((ahem)) (patting myself on the back)
Ok...self promoting over.Firstly, and don't let ANYONE tell you any differently. In fact I'm going to begin and end with this in case someone tries to tell you different....then I'll be back for more advice.
SPS. You. Must. Have. This. Go to How Do I forum, look up SPS instructions by Leahs.
I agree with both of your posts! You can SIT on SPS. Try doing that with a bunch of wooden dowels! Why anyone trusts those is beyond me....and the person cutting the cake WILL THANK YOU.
I LOVE your pic! hahahahaha!
Hee hee.
OMYGAWD!!!! OK, Jamie, you're gonna have to change that or I can't come to the forums anymore. I saw that and immediately started laughing so hard I cried and my husband's looking at me like I've just popped out an alien baby or something. So I call him over to look at the picture and HE starts laughing and says,"'Is that really HER?" I'm in agony here laughing so hard!!!
I agree with both of your posts! You can SIT on SPS. Try doing that with a bunch of wooden dowels!
Um...OWCH! 
I ordered from Oasis 1 time! Their shipping sucks. It took over 2 weeks to receive my items. They did not arrive in time for my cake order! GSA has never let me down. I ordered a few items this past Sunday and they were here on Tuesday! I love Sugarcraft too.
I may have to give Oasis another try. They have really good pricing on their SPS.
CC is probably going to lynch me for this....... but I HATE HATE HATE SPS. I just made my first 5 tier wedding cake and used SPS on the very bottom cake. I iced my cake to the perfect height and when I pushed it into the cake it blew the sides out! 
It is nearly impossible to get your cake the right height. I wouldn't use SPS again unless I was going to plan on having a ribbon to hide the giant gap that I would have between the tiers. Good luck whatever you decide to do. If you do use SPS, I recommend doing a practice cake to get used to it. 
CC is probably going to lynch me for this....... but I HATE HATE HATE SPS. I just made my first 5 tier wedding cake and used SPS on the very bottom cake. I iced my cake to the perfect height and when I pushed it into the cake it blew the sides out! It is nearly impossible to get your cake the right height. I wouldn't use SPS again unless I was going to plan on having a ribbon to hide the giant gap that I would have between the tiers. Good luck whatever you decide to do. If you do use SPS, I recommend doing a practice cake to get used to it.
SPS is incredibly easy to use, and if it ever fails, I'm sorry to say please don't take this wrong way, it will be due to operator error. If it blew your sides out, you pushed to hard too fast. If the sides blew out, there was something wrong with your assembly with the cake. I absolutely recommend practicing first. It is not hard at all to get to the height requirement and never ever need to hide anything with a border. Need a good ruler, and need to take your time. I will never trust thousand dollar cakes to anything other than SPS ever. It's worth it in the end.
I agree with both of your posts! You can SIT on SPS. Try doing that with a bunch of wooden dowels!
Um...OWCH!
hahahaha! never thought of um, that! hahaha!
I have numerious SPS stories...this morning was another success story. We had 5-6 inches of snow last night followed by a bunch of freezing rain.sleet, etc. The roads are full of big ice chunks and digs and just a rocky, funky ride. Had to deliver a 3 tier wedding cake, with the van rocking and rolling all the way there. No problems. DO THAT with your freakin dowels!!!
If you have a biz license, you can order directly from Bakery Crafts for a lot less money....
CC is probably going to lynch me for this....... but I HATE HATE HATE SPS. I just made my first 5 tier wedding cake and used SPS on the very bottom cake. I iced my cake to the perfect height and when I pushed it into the cake it blew the sides out! It is nearly impossible to get your cake the right height. I wouldn't use SPS again unless I was going to plan on having a ribbon to hide the giant gap that I would have between the tiers. Good luck whatever you decide to do. If you do use SPS, I recommend doing a practice cake to get used to it.
It sounds like your dowels were too short and you were trying to push the plate in beyond the top...so the air in the cake forced out to the sides. I suggest you use a measuring device first, and cut your dowels from the 8 inch long dowels they sell, instead of using the 4 inch long ones...
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