I just got off the phone with a lady who wants a wedding cake for Aug 14th. She wants a 3 tiered cake (serving 2 saving 1) to feed 70 people. Her colors are champaigne and black. Her budget is only $200.

I told her I'll call her back (I was in the middle of trying to control a leak from my upstairs neighbor) I would love to do this wedding cake; it's my first one. I nedd a design that's easy but a WOW factor. I'm about to go through the galleries for inspirations but if anyone has anything in their favorites please share. All styles are welcomed; colors don't have to match, I'm just interested in the design. I'll find out soon what's her style and theme; I just want to be prepared for anything she might tell me. Thanks, looking forward to your response!

I think this cake is simple but oh so pretty.

Do a round 10"/8"/6" white buttercream, large black flower on the middle tier or black fondant buttons all the way down one side. Or wrap each tier in a pretty champagne bow. I would limit her choices for designs and flavors.

Lovebuttercream, that cake is is so nice.

DeeDelightful, thanks for the advice. I forgot to ask what size pans to use. How many does those pans feed?

I found out that they want a chocolate cake with bc icing. The design is up to me; they don't have a theme or a style. She said all their interested in is that it's good and moist and it's different. So please everyone keep the inspiration coming.

Here's the chart for how many servings come from which pans. http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm

If they're keeping the top tier, you can't count that in the number of servings.

Here is another chart... shows serving sizes a little more generous than Wilton and it shows if you don't use the top tier.

http://www.baking911.com/cakes/numberofservings_guide.htm

a 10"/8"/6" will serve right at 100 people, but it gives you the 3 tiers, the top can be saved and still serve 70+ people. Okay, great, they made it easy for you with the flavor choice. I'd definitely try the WASC variation for a chocolate cake. It's simple, makes a lot of batter, delicious, moist and cost efficient. You MIGHT have to double it or do a full WASC recipe and a 1/2 WASC recipe. I would definitely give her some sparkle here and there with luster dust. Look in the gallery under Black and White. There are some gorgeous cakes in there.

I would SO do the cake in the picture that Lovebuttercream posted! Good luck, do post pics when you are done!

I love this one and it looks hard but really not bad at all and makes a definite statement...The one with multiple pics, I like the top right one with maybe just cream or champagne dusted flowers.

This is one that I am doing for my sister's wedding next week. It will be my first wedding cake. I'm so happy it is a really easy one, and the great thing is, this is the one my sister actually picked out. Her colors are black and red. So I'm doing a white fondant covered cake with black fondant ribbon around the bottom of the tiers and red roses. I think its great for my first time!

check out the wedding cake i just made . You could easily do something like this on the cheap esp if you make your own fondant !!!! This was only two layers but I was gonna add a third but I was having fondant problems so I left the bottom layer off as it was a picnic party and I sliced that and threw it on the table with the other desserts!

Also, the only reason I added the lace ...which is super easy, was to cover the imperfections in my fondant ! A trick I learned from a teacher. The roses are cheap to make, just a little time consuming but you could make those way ahead of time. I started weeks prior. Just place them in a safe place so nobody messes them up !

as for 200.00 bucks not sure if thats doable, depens on wether of not you want to make some money Or just want to do it to get one under your belt, which was my case.

Good luck , Colleen .