A cake friend told me about a method of covering cakes that are to be stacked with a fondant strip that comes up to cover only the area that will be exposed after the next tier is placed but leaving the center without fondant.  I have googled "fondant strips" but am not finding anything.  I am wanting to see how to avoid any wrinkles on the exposed 2" of the top of the cake.  Can anyone direct me to tutorials on this method?

if you have a really big cake this might be the way to go -- just roll out a huge piece of fondant at least 10" wide* and as big as your cake's circumference -- then just lay it around and smooth it out as usual then trim it to fit (across the top) under the circumference of the cake that will sit above it --

to make the join -- just overlay the two ends and cut through both of them at a slight angle -- remove the excess and then smooth the join that then fits perfectly because of only one cut --

* as tall as the tier which usually is 4" and an additional 2" to cover the top edge then 4" to allow for adjusting it and making it smooth-- of course wider if necessary --

i used this method for a very large plateau i made --

i'm not a video guru but there might be one on this --

Sounds like a massive pain in the butt, to me, for a very small savings in product.

You’d lose the benefit of flaring and fitting the fondant because you’d be working “up”, instead of “down” and you’d have a big risk of damaging the upper edge of the cake.

The fondant in the center of the tier, under the one above it, also creates a barrier so that if the tier above sticks, at least the buttercream remains somewhat intact.

I do something similar. I completely cover the cake and then just cut out the circumference of  the next tier above and fill area with buttercream . I don't do it to save product even thought it does. I do it  to so there is more yummy buttercream on the cake and not all fondant.