I know this question has been asked a few times but I can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for. 

I'm making a cake for a bride who wants to feed 120 people and she wants three tiers. I was thinking of doing 12", 10" and 8" and about 4" high for each tier 

Does anyone know if that will be enough cake for everyone? I'm also assuming that some people won't be eating cake, so i'm hoping there's extra but I don't know if i should then make the cake to be 14", 12" and 10". 

I just did a wedding last weekend that was a 12/10/8 which according to the Wilton serving chart should have served 118 and then we added an extra sheet cake to make up the remaining servings to get to 150.  

Then only thing I will say is that I personally wasn't crazy about having an 8" as the top of the cake. I felt like it looked unfinished. I think it should have been a 6".. or maybe I should have made it 6" high instead of 4" like the other 2 tiers.. 

Hope that helps :) 

Thanks that helps a lot. 

I know what you mean about the 8" being on top. She wants me to put a bouquet of roses on the top of the cake.. do you think it would still look unfinished with the roses on top?

Hmm.... Maybe do just the top 6" high instead of 4, I think it will give the illusion of being the smaller 6" round. Then with the roses on top hopefully it will look more "finished".

I'm always afraid it's not going to be enough or that it's going to look too small. haha it's on a cake stand which will make it look taller.. 

What do you think?

Yes! I do think the cake stand will make a big difference! :)  My bride didn't want a cake stand or flowers! Blah! and her topper was very simple and small.. The cake was beautiful, but it was so plain I hated it lol  

ngallaway, you should also consider that caters, (or the people slicing the cake) will not serve the top tier! They sometimes save it for the couple getting married to take home. I guess that tradition still stands. I say it because it happened to me at a wedding for 110. Luckily, like you said, some people did not have cake, so there was actually a few pieces left over. Maybe ask the bride if she will be interested in keeping the top tier and add a 4th tier just in case.

Wow! i didn't even think about that. All the wedding cakes I've done have just been for the bride and groom to eat and the guests got cupcakes. 

Thanks so much for the advice! 

Also, roughly how many pieces did you have left over from your cake? 

Yes, I was luckily a guest. But I was so exhausted I wanted nothing to do with the cake by the time the cut it LOL, I'm not sure how many. I did 14/10/6 and they cut the cake as the chart above, which is what I used as a guide.

Also, make sure you know your oven and bake your bigger tiers at a lower temp. I say this because if you even over bake a tad bit, it may not be noticeable for the middle pieces, but anyone that eats an end piece (those triangular ones) will notice the dryness. Make sure you use enough simple syrup to keep it moist!