i have a wedding cake to make that i want to use a 12" square bottom and the top two tiers will be round... need advice on the size of the top two stacked round tiers sizes... also what would you suggestion to use to seperate the bottom square from the top two stacked. bride doesn't want the normal 4 post sepersator so what can i use as a center pillar that i can hide with shells/coral to mask the pillar look
thanks
shereen

Before you decide on what size round cakes to use, you need to find out the number of servings that are required (and if it fits your customer's budget).

You could use a 6" x 8", 6" x 9", or 6" x 10" on top of the 12" square, depending on the actual serving goal needed.

I'd suggest using the appropriate size styrofoam cake dummy for the separation since they don't want pillars.

I was going to ask the same thing as CWR - how many servings do you need the cake to be?

the 12" square serves 72. Also, will they be serving the top tier? or will it be saved? Both of these questions will determine the sizes you need.

serving size isn't an issue - friend is the bride and its more of a show piece than anything else. its a beach wedding on top of that (uugghhh) in order for the decor she wants (shells/coral/beachy) i have to use a 12" square bottom to accomidate the decor. i was thinking a 10" & 6" round on top. hadn't thought of mocking it up in styrofoam (done it many times before but had a brain blank)
now to figure out the center pillar thing to lft the rounds off the bottom with out breaking my bank. the thing we do for friends!
thanks
shereen

what do you mean by dummy? the styrofoam plates with a single pillar between?

shereen

No... I thought they didn't want pillars. A styrofoam cake dummy is an artificial cake form. They typically come in 3" high or 4" high sizes, or you can have them custom made/cut at some places (like if you only want 1" high, etc.). You could also try to cut one down yourself using a hot wire styro cutter.

oh.. the top two stacked rounds are to be lifted off the bottom square - but the trick is to find a center pillar to support the top (she doesn't want the type of pillars you can see.) without breaking my bank. she wants it to look like coral with shells around it.

There's no trick... buy a dummy (they're cheap), and stick chocolate or gumpaste seashells onto it.