Hi All,

I need to give a quote for a wedding cake but am not sure of the support system used in this cake, and want to include it in the cost:

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1472434

Can I buy this or make it? Where is the best place to buy it from?

I would also like to know how I work out how many roses are needed, if I tell her to order fresh.

The cake will be either a 6, 8, 10" or a 8, 10, 12"

Thanks for your help!
Sharon

Most likely it's just longer dowels. Or SPS (SPS insructions and what it is is a sticky at top of How Do I forum)

Flowers-measure a flower. Figure out how many are needed for your particular project. You might have jumbo roses where you are. Or teeny tiny roses.

To me it looks like two plates on top with pillars in between.

Something like this cake pictured here:
http://www.wilton.com/idea/Black-White-Classic

You can get 7" or 9" push-through pillars for that, too. More secure than a plate system since they go through the entire lower tier. http://www.cakedeco.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_prod.html?p_prodid=3633&p_catid=&page=2

Couldn't it also be done with a plate on top of the first tier, then a smaller styrofoam dummy that the flower stems are pushed into, then another plate for the next tier?

Thanks, I thought it was probably pillars.

Does the sps system have special square plates?

Wrt the flowers, if I'm telling her to tell her florist to bring roses, how many do I tell her to bring?
Do you all just give an estimate, and if so, how do you estimate?

Thanks!

Thank you, I did read that!

I am not providing the roses though, and I don't yet have the stand, so if I want to give her a quote, I need to tell her:
The cake costs X
The stand for this cake will cost X
You'll need about X number of flowers from your florist.

Do you measure flowers for every cake? What if it's an assortment? What if you're not handling the flowers?

generally I tell the bride to show the pic to the florist and let the florist figure out how many flowers, they are the flower experts afterall right?

this has worked for me so far! the florists generally have a good idea how large the flowers will be and usually order extra just in case too.

well, generally I give the BTB all that info w/ the photo......how much space between tiers and how large each tier is, I wouldn't expect the florist to just guess from the photo........my experience has just been that when I say to the bride............you need tiny little sweetheart roses because there is only a 1" difference for the ledge of the cake and you want petals scattered down and then I show up and the bride has 6 humongous at least 5" across roses with ginormous petals that I have to sit and cut with cuticle scissors (good thing I had them in my cake stuff that I brought) so they look like mini petals and you wind up with a cake that looks like this!!! With a bride demanding the $400 spent on the cake back because it was so hideous!!
(Can you tell I'm over the flower thing lol)

lol........I try to guesstimate too but it's much easier when you know what you're working with as far as the size of the flower, and generally the florist has a much better idea of what the actually size will be based on the time of year and type of flower!

That sucks K, that really sucks.

the funny thing is that top cake is a 6" square and those roses were plucked clean of most of the petals to make them THAT small LOL

I was literally agast when I saw the roses, not only huge but totally wilted and nasty looking.

I didn't care for the design of the cake to begin with and that just topped it off!

Honestly, I tell the bride how much air space needs to be filled. 3" tall by 8 running inches on each side, for example. She tells the florist. After that, I stick in whatever flowers the florist brings.

I. am. not. a. florist.

Thanks all.

Where is the best place to order the SPS with square plates? I need overseas delivery, and the wedding is in 3 weeks.

Yes, I know, ridiculous, but it's my cousin and she's hard to pin down :

Thanks for the help!

Well, BakeryCrafts.com if you can order wholesale, GSA or Oasis if you have to buy retail.

But we're collectively mad at Oasis right now.

I found them at Global Sugar Art.

Thanks!