Looked at about 5 diff. serving charts.....and seems this would be close?? And some even say this won't be enough!! I get everywhere from 38 - 62 servings!!!
Should I go w/a 12" & 8" instead?? Since I'm getting so many variations....kinda nervous going w/ a 10" & 8"...but I only charged her for 50 servings...so I don't want to get much over that number b/c I can't change the price now!!
thanks, christine
First decide on what "chart" you want to go by & stick with it. Use what works for you.
As for choosing the actual serving size.....depend that on certain things, such as: will there be a dinner/buffet served; or is this an event where EVERYONE will eat the cake?
Whatever chart you decide to go with, just tell your customers what the serving size is that you make.
HTH!
Good Luck!!
thanks, guys
mmdd....I have a bad habit of checking all of them....just to see what they say!! I actually normally go w/the wilton one for party and Earlene's for wedding...but wilton is one of them that said the servings weren't enough!! It said 48...which is close...but I usually think Wilton servings are on the small side anyway...that's why I was questioning it!!
I think the Wilton guide is definitely on the small side. Depending on the event, that may not be enough for 50 people. I hope someone with more experience can offer more help!!
Angie
should probably just go the 12"...just to be on the safe side!! Esp. since I'm questioning it!!
If I were you, I'd go with the 8 and 12 inch rather than the 10 if it'll make you sleep easier at night. I know that you hate to sink more $ into the cakes though! For me, the way I estimate servings, my 8 in. serves 8-12 and my 10 in serves 16-20. But that's just me 
) --
If you decide to go with the 8 and 12, you could call her afterwards and ask if she had a lot leftover... so you'll know for next time. Good luck! And by the way, your cakes are great!
Christine,
I'd go with the 8" and 10". I always provide a 'cake cutting guide' with my round cakes that explains how to cut a tiered cake, and what size the servings should be. I explain that this is the standard that the price was based on, and this guide will help them get the most from their cake. I haven't had anyone complain yet.
redred..you had said that earlene's was reliable. i have to say that i was thoroughly confused by the list of different options of servings for the same size pan. there seemed to be her servings, bride servings and groom servings. Which do you go by?
Thanks so much! This topic makes me crazy confused too!!!! pinkbunny...i, too have looked at all of them and am not helping myself by doing so!! 
mmdd...i like your suggestion of picking one and sticking with it!
redred..you had said that earlene's was reliable. i have to say that i was thoroughly confused by the list of different options of servings for the same size pan. there seemed to be her servings, bride servings and groom servings. Which do you go by?
What I did was cut out a circle of, say, 12" diameter from newspaper and drew lines on it where I would cut each slice, then counted the slices. I found that the total serves I got was similar to Earlenes, and not Wilton's.
On that basis, I think Earlenes is more reliable, but probably would still want to satisfy myself by doing the newspaper thing for other sizes.
Column C is the number of serves for that one pan individually. "Brides servings" are the total serves if the top tier is not cut. Grooms servings use up the whole cake. The brides and grooms servings numbers refer to the column on the extreme right hand side. Example, for 50 serves, Earlene's says 12" and 6" (if both cakes are cut).
Another alternative I calculated using Earlene's, is from column C that 8" round pan yields 15 serves, 11" pan yields 35 serves, making 50 in total.
(Having said that, I notice that some of the brides and grooms serving totals in Earlene's are inconsistent in that they don't add up to the servings quoted for the pans individually.)
Sorry if the above is incoherent!
AAAAAAaaaahhhhh!! Now I get it!!! Thanks, redred!!!
That's exactly what I needed explained...the column at the end was all of the cakes used to find what the bride and groom servings were. That's why I was so confused!!!! 
But yes...I found some inconsistencies, too. But now I am much more confident in reading her chart!
Aaaaahhhh..big sigh....
Just to put my 2 cents in - I just did a wedding this weekend and wound up serving the cake. We started with the 12" and we easily got almost 50 servings out of that one cake. It was a 2 layer and 4" high. You tend to forget how big the cake is until it's totally decorated. I would stick with the 8" and 10", as long as the cakes are 4" high.
well, just wanted to let everyone know...I went w/the 12" & 8"....I had to bake on sun. night. And this was for a wedding shower cake, not a wedding....so I wasn't sure about using Earlene's for 'party' sized servings??? Should have probably specified this in the first post!!
But let me tell you the cake is HUGE!!! My tiers ended up being about 5" high each!!! I'm delivering it around 12. But I think I'll give her a call tomrrow and find out how much they had left.
thanks everyone, seems pricing and servings are some of the biggest 'pains' of the decorating world!!! 
I'll post it tonight!!! turned out wonderful...one of the few ALL BC cakes I've done!!! I hate working w/just BC!!
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