A friend of mine has asked me to help her out with a cake for party that will celebrate 6 birthdays. I suggested 6 small cakes but she would prefer one larger cake (stacked is ok but it really only needs to feed 30).
Has anyone ever made a cake where you mixed and matched themes? Here is what I have to go on. I'd love some help with ideas please!
Thank you!

Boy Age 4 CARS 2
Girl Age 14 Green Day (the band)
Grandmother Age 99 - She is originally from Puerto Rico so I would say island oriented?
Boy Age ? Pittsburgh Steelers
Grown Man Age ? - technology and traveling
Grown Woman Age ? - nothing to go on with this one

I saw a cake where it was in half (one side a man turning 40, the other side a sister turning 50 I think) so why not make them each a "slice" of cake with their theme on that slice? (I'd just do flowers on the grown woman's slice) It could be a large round cake decorated in 6 wedges.

I think a 10" would feed 30 people. You could get quite fun with colours etc.

Wow! For the cars cake u d have to purchase a figurine from a licensed vendor ( it s illegal to do characters on cake and sell them: copyright violation).
Can u do a small three tiered cake, like 10 inches, 8 inches and 4-6 inches pans?
On the top tier design related to the Pittsburg steelers with the cars 2 purchased topper.
On the middle tier, design related to green day in puerto rican famous place.
On the bottom tier design related to technology meeting traveling and a little girly suitcase or traveling bag ( w girly items) to include the grown woman.

I really like the idea of the "wedges" style... If you have a hex pan that would even give you a flat side to work with...

I will have to keep this idea in mind next time I have something like this to do...

The wedges cake idea sounds awesome! Much simpler than my idea!

The only time I've made a cake like this was for 6 children. I made a 12" square & marked the 6 portions out like a jigsaw. I then put each child's design on the 'jigsaw pieces'.

ONE cake for six people sounds like a cheapskate doing the ordering. Six small cakes on one large board would respect the individuals, and the board can also be decorated to tie all these people together.

Thanks so much for the ideas everyone! I'm going to try the hexagon pan in "wedges".

LOL - I think she likes the idea of it all looking mish-moshy. We'll see

Hi Hula! A few years ago when my husband turned 30, I couldn't decide on any one theme, so I made "comic book" vignettes to go around the side of the cake, depicting some of his favorite things. And on top I did "holy s@!? You're 30!
Maybe something like this where each square represents each person... You could add that to the hexagon idea then on top put a thought bubble with happy birthday in it?

Hope it turns out great!!

That sounds cool! Do you have a pic?

Sure do... I have more on my home computer, but this one gives you an idea. If you'd like more ill add them.

Very cool!
Your writing skills are great!

Thanks Hula! For years I wrote in chocolate on the plates at the four seasons, trust me it did not start off that way

BakingIrene, I totally agree with you. Off the subject, I had a lady request a 1/2 sheet for her 2 kids birthday. She wanted 1/2 for 1 and 1/2 for the other. Different themes AND and edible image picture of each kid on thier side. I quoted her for 2 individual 1/4 sheets and she had a fit! Cheapskate!

I just did a split cake (in my profile) you could do three tiers split so everyone gets half a tier. Just a thought

Angie, your cake is darling! Thanks for sharing.

hula1974~~I made a buttercream hexagon cake for an elementary school teacher. It is the perfect way to have 6 distinct panels for each birthday. This cake was made using the Wilton 12"x2" hexagon pan. I used three, 2" high layers. The finished cake was 12" x 6". The Wilton wedding serving chart says that a 12" hexagon pan that is 4"-6" tall serves 40. (The cake will not serve 40 if you cut a wedge as shown in my photos below.)

Using the 6" height provides a nice square shape for each hexagon. If you only make it 4" tall, the shapes will be rectangular.

I used a 16" ceramic tile from Home Depot as my base. I covered the tile with fondant and put a 1/4" ribbon around the edge. I also put foam "feet" on the scratchy bottom part of the tile so it would not scratch any surfaces.

Here are different views of the same cake:

http://christinascakes.shutterfly.com/pictures/311
http://christinascakes.shutterfly.com/pictures/311#313
http://christinascakes.shutterfly.com/pictures/311#314
http://christinascakes.shutterfly.com/pictures/311#312
http://christinascakes.shutterfly.com/pictures/311#310

I had this same dilemma having to do a family cake for 12 people. I did the Hex cakes, and it worked great. The hard part was trying to find a unifying color as I didn't want a white background. I chose green...