Oooooooooook, this is a tough one! This is for a wedding cake and the whole wedding has an Asian theme. The bride gave me the first 2 photos to work with. She wants the dragon from the 3rd put on the 2nd cake, BUT she doesn't want round tiers, she wants a sheet cake on the bottom and a round on top like in the 1st photo (from CC - thank you to the artist). AND, she doesn't want fondant but wants BC instead. The cake needs to feed 100 and, thankfully, the wedding isn't till December, but I need to give her a price quote ASAP. Can I even do the painting from the 2nd photo on BC? And is the dragon BC? HEEEEEEEELP! 
I think the original stacked cakes are really pretty, but don't like her ideas, either, Doug. What I thought I'd do is the Chinese characters around the top layer and her topper will go there, too. She hasn't decided if she wants flowers or a bamboo arrangement but I hope whatever she chooses will be simple. The dragon will go on the bottom layer and so will the flowers. I'm not sure how that's going to work yet, but I have time. That's good to know about the dry brush technique, but I'm still worried about doing it on BC. I can just see it getting humid (Texas weather is weird) and the icing getting funky. I have no idea how to do the dragon so that's going to take a lot of practice, esp. since it is very important to the bride and I want it to look great. I have no idea why she wants to change everything and only hope the outcome is good. How would I get this to serve 100? Would I do a 2 layer full sheet cake on the bottom and then what on top? A 10 inch 2 layer round? The cake itself will be white with chocolate mousse filling. But that worries me, too. Since the cake will need to be refridgerated will that cause condensation and mess up the painting? Any ideas as to what I should charge for this? Also, she may want a groom's cake, too. Chocolate with either ganache or chocolate icing. What is a normal size for a groom's cake anyway? THANKS!!!!
The Dragon will look really beautiful on round tier cakes...
The sheet cake idea will ruin the entire look.
You know on those photos of the Cake Show from last months
Washington State cake show, there is one with a Dragon. Similar to this one you posted. 
I would try to talk her down a different road, at least as far as the whole sheet cake thing!! Tell her your concerns, draw her a sketch. I think it seemed kinda cool till the elevated round on a sheet cake. Very weird!! I wonder if she'd do a round stacked onto a square??
If she wants a sheet cake on the bottom, one 12x18 half-sheet will serve 54 (2x2) pieces. If you do two 12x18 layers, with filling, you could easily serve 100 and save the top cake (whatever size you choose to go one the pillars) for the bride and groom. Two layers would give you more room for your dragon around the sides of the sheet, as Doug described, to encircle the cake to protect it. I love that idea, Doug! 
Edit:
And oh yes, I'd charge at least $200.00 for a 2 layer half-sheet and a 2 layer 8" or 10" round.
Wow! The 2nd and 3rd cakes are stunning!
I don't see where the dragon is supposed to go on the sheet cake. It's wrapping around the middle and bottom layers. Where will it wrap on a flat surface? Girl's got some wacky ideas! Hope you figure out a compromise!
I'm a million miles away from getting paid for cake decorating, but if I were you, I wouldn't do it for less than $2/serving.
Good luck!
Oh, Here I go again!!!! No, No, No. $2 is not nearly enough!!! Tell me you are not thinking of charging that? If you charge her a higher price you could always come down a tiny,tiny, bit. How far down can you with a $2 quote. Don't put such a low premium on yourself.
For the elevated cake, make that a two tier, 6 & 10? Wrap the dragon around that.
For the sheet underneath, use the painted design on the sides, the plaque from the 2nd photo, 2nd tier, enlarged on the top of the sheet framed by more painted flowers.
I would charge $300-350.
For the topper, what about gumpaste copies of the painted flowers? Or a standing monogram would be nice, in the traditional red.
As for price, $300 is their absolute limit, and that would have to include the groom's cake, although they said that cake isn't totally necessary. They said they didn't want to worry about running out of cake and that's why they thought a groom's cake would be good, but I told her just to be sure that the person cutting the cake (the reception is going to be at their home) knows not to cut huge pieces and they will have plenty. I totally forgot about the cake that they will keep when I got wrapped up in this one. Ugh. I just sent the bride an email asking why she wanted a sheet cake so badly since she loved the simplicity of the white cake. Hopefully, she'll change her mind and we can go back to stacked round cakes and make everyone happy that way!
I wonder if she thinks it'll be easier to cut and serve a sheetcake. You know, now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen an Asian inspired cake that was square or a sheet cake - maybe it's a feng shui thing (no sharp corners)?
good luck on the cake! sure to be one-of-a-kind! 
Well, I heard back from the bride and she said she has never liked the look of stacked wedding cakes b/c they are "too girly and frilly" for her. Um, OK. She did say I could leave off the Chinese characters if it would be too much. I dunno. I still need to come up with a price for her. Someone said not to charge less than $300 and that is the bride's max. I'd like to come under that, esp. if I'm not going to do a groom's cake but I have no idea how to figure this all out so it doesn't seem like I'm just pulling a figure out of a hat. The cake has to feed 100 and I need to be sure there's a cake for them to keep, too, right? Wouldn't it just figure that THIS is my first paid wedding order???
I made my daughter's wedding cake, and because the in-laws were Asian I tried to honor the Asian symbols that mean so much to them. I used the top of a cake (East meets West) I viewed on Scott Clark Woolley's web site- www.cakesbydesign.cc/- as a springboard for my gum paste flowers. The gum paste bamboo and flowers looked great. I made a dragon cake as a groom's cake and drew the dragon and phoenix on that cake with silver and gold dust mixed with vodka. It was very elegant, considering a dragon is often a little "over the top" to me. Take a look at his web-site and you may get some ideas that might go nicely with the first two cakes. I do love that second cake!!
For the elevated cake, make that a two tier, 6 & 10? Wrap the dragon around that.
For the sheet underneath, use the painted design on the sides, the plaque from the 2nd photo, 2nd tier, enlarged on the top of the sheet framed by more painted flowers.
I would charge $300-350.
For the topper, what about gumpaste copies of the painted flowers? Or a standing monogram would be nice, in the traditional red.
I agree, do a two tier on top to wrap the dragon around as well as the plaque for the sheet.
As far as the topper, instead of a monogram - how about using chinese translation for "love" you can find the translation here http://www.formosa-translation.com/chinese/l/ll148.html
Would I do double layers on the 6 and 10 inch cakes on the top or just single layers? 2 layers would be too heavy, right? Plus, they don't need that much cake, esp. if I do a 2 layer full sheet cake on the bottom. They could keep the 6 inch cake, right? (Do you charge extra for that?) The bride actually sent me the characters she'd like painted on the cake but she also said if I thought that all of her ideas combined would look like a mess that I could leave some things out. So, I told her that for $300 I would do everything she wanted, including a chocolate groom's cake and if she didn't want the groom's cake (she wasn't sure about it) the price would be $250 and if she just wanted the dragon and the fondant cherry blossoms (no painting) to take $50 off. Is that reasonable? I feel like I'm just pulling numbers out of the air but $300 was their absolute limit. Am I really far off here?
More help needed! I'm meeting with the couple tomorrow and I'm bringing a sketch with me. To cut costs, they have decided that they really just want the dragon and the cherry blossoms (no painting). The dragon will go around the 10 and 6 inch round cakes and the blossoms on the sheet cake but the sheet cake needs something else. What could I do?
As far as the topper, instead of a monogram - how about using chinese translation for "love" you can find the translation here http://www.formosa-translation.com/chinese/l/ll148.html[/quote]
One thing with that translation they could either be mandarin or cantonese. Both being somewhat close words will differ. Like the word for grandmother gets more complicated because there are two names for the mothers side and the fathers side. Also even dialect can change from village to village also-Just something to keep in mind.
she like a lot of brides asume that a sheet cake is alot cheaper then doing stacked rounds. explain t her that when adding all the elements ect.. it would come out pretty much the same price. i bet she goes for the 2 or 3rd cake.
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