Hi, Im gonna make a wedding cake for my closest friend in..well a quite long time, but i wanna plan it early. We would make a traditional 3-tier cake. However, we didnt like the typical 4'' high cake tiers we ordered for her mom's wedding cuz the whole cake looked rather short and unimpressive.  So we decide, it should be a 3 double-barrel tier cake, each tier will be 8'' tall. It sounds easy, until i realize i cant find a right way to stack it. I dont know if i should put dowels between the double barrel cakes? How many dowels should there be? If this cake is too much, its gonna collapse? Please help >< my cake would be 6-8-10'' or 8-10-12'' 

to clear that up for you, it's not really a three tier cake it's a six tier cake and you need all the plates and dowel every 4-5 inches as usual

best to you

I'd do a mock up first from styrofoam or boxes or something...cakes that tall but that small in diameter might look equally odd.

As to stacking, to build the DB cakes, you build one, dowel, place the second on top on a board cut to fit, then ice.  Since you are going to be stacking other cakes on top, I'd use something more sturdy than cardboard within the DB cakes...a plastic separator plate or a masonite circle.  If you use cardboard, the dowels you put in the upper cake of the DB could push through the cardboard when the next tier is stacked on and not give you enough support.

and it needs to be just exactly the right size too small a little bit so it doesn't show through or get 'pressed' into action when smoothing icing/fondant if you're doing all that

i think the double tiered cakes might look better with a 3" difference between tiers if all of them are doubled -- it could look very rocket ship like jeff was thinking if you're not careful -- you'll have a cake more than twice as tall as the base and this doubling your servings too -- you could do a short middle tier too for contrast

*post 4 is in reference to the plate or board in the middle of the same size double tiers--

sorry about the boldened type -- it's this dang uncooperative tablet no no no no not pilot error :)

I think three double tiers does look equally "boring". I would rather do a 10" or 12" (4-5" tall) with a double 8" (4"high) on top and then some spectacular topper. 

Or 12" (4") - 9" (8") - 6" (4") or something like that. ..