My First 4 Tiered Cake...advise Please!!
Decorating By SweetTreatsbyJess Updated 15 Jul 2012 , 11:42pm by CWR41
Good Morning all,
I will be doing my first 4 tiered wedding cake in a few weeks and was wondering if anyone had any advise to offer. It will be square tiers iced in buttercream with rhinestone ribbon. Specifically interested in prep timing, stacking (will be using sps), and delivery but am open for any advise. I am excited but super nervous!!!
Thanks in advance,
Jess
If you are travelling with it fully stacked, make sure you can lift it by yourself! If you have help, it should be ok between two of you. Otherwise, I would suggest taking it in 2 parts and assembling when you get there. You also need to think about the venue where you are taking the cake...how many doors will you need to open and if there are any steps. A foldable cart is pretty useful if you have to park your car a way from the venue door. Good luck!
Just because I can't lift a lot, I would take the bottom two stacked with the rhinestone trim and the other two separately. However if you can lift it you can take as much already stacked as you're comfortable with.
For attaching the rhinestone trim (and I'm sure there will be folks who cringe at this) I use sanitized
T-pins PLUS a note to the cateter left on the table behind the cake that reads, "the trim had been attached with sanitized T-pins. Make sure to remove the trim and 8 T-pins before serving."
Thanks for the replies!! Lots to think about.
So...How do you stack a buttercream cake without your hands getting in the way & making a mess 
always always bring a tool kit with extra bc, spatulas, etc. and...I get nervous stacking cakes so i bring them separately. when i did my only 4 tiered cake i wished i had had a step stool because it got quite high! luckily my husband was with me 
also, if you don't already have it, get a bench scraper...any kind! it will work wonders for your BC!
So...How do you stack a buttercream cake without your hands getting in the way & making a mess
I wrote this in another thread...
One hand on the spatula and one hand underneath the cake (on its own cake circle) supporting the weight.
If you're using SPS, you can lower one side of the tier onto the plate, remove your hand, slide the tier into place across the plate with your spatula, lower the cake the rest of the way, and remove your spatula.
If you aren't using SPS, it helps with positioning if you're placing your tier onto another cake circle (just as you would with a single plate separator). So rather than trying to lower it on top of a buttercream surface (while denting the lower cake, trying to get your hand and spatula out without making a mess, and possibly disturbing the dowels), you're lowering it onto a corrugated cake circle instead that's already stuck in place on the surface of the lower tier. Doubling up on circles is easier than risking damage and causing internal support issues, and you'll still be able to hammer a center dowel through all tiers without a problem.
The entire thread:
"Any tips for stacking? Fingers/spatula in the way":
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=710889&highlight=spatula
I was just planning on them sticking to the buttercream on their own. Hopefully. I'd love to hear other's suggestions as well.
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