I am new at this site, and I do need a couple of pointers, if you guys wouldn't mind giving a hand. First, I would like to say that I am very glad that I have found you and how much I am learning from you guys on daily basis (just hope that my hubby doesn't figure out how much time I spend here) 
My baby brother is getting married in October this year and besides organizing the whole wedding, having to be present at the ceremony, I am making the cake too. (yeah, tell me about it, I must be crazy), but it has to be done.
Now to the point: I am planning to make 12" 9" & 6" round, stacked, (50 people, no other desert) - will that be enough? Since most of the guests do not fancy wilton buttercream, I would like to avoid it at all cost, but I might have little choice, since I will have to bake the cake Thursday, decorate Friday, and take it to site and stack early morning Saturday. Reception starts at 6:00 pm. Would I dare to put SMBC on that cake, and what kind of filling would you recommend? Fondant is also out of question, because, as I said, some discriminating taste there 
Thanx in advance for suggestions and sorry for the lenght of text.
YT, DD
are you saying you don't want to use buttercream or just not wilton buttercream? (can't say about Wilton's recipe - I don't use that one, but the buttercream I use would hold up just fine).
fondant can taste good - Wilton's stuff is nasty (imho) but I've tasted some that is good.
since you have the time, it may be worth your while to experiement withdifferent recipes/brands/etc of both buttercream and fondant.
and if the bride and groom like the taste, no one else's opinion should matter!
As long as the cake will be inside ice it with anything you choose.
12" serves 50 people.
Actually, you could make the 9" a dummy layer if you like. Or extra cake.
6" would be the anniversary layer and boxed up if you wish.
I use Choco-pan fondant, and I have no complaints I served the Dark chocolate one I made last weekend, and no fondant came back on the plates.
Yes, you are crazy. But I'm sure it will turn out AOK. 
Rose levy Birenbaum has plenty in her book The Cake Bible. One is the Mousseline Buttercream. Dede Wilson has a few in her book as well. You can go to Rose's Blog, Real Baking with Rose and get a few pointers there.
Definitely look around for buttercream recipes. As much as wilton would like you to believe they are the only game in town, there are lots of yummy recipes out there. You might also want to avoid using SMBC since that is a bit of an unfamiliar animal to most palates too.
I use a French Buttercream - I've also used the SMBC and love them both. I've found that everyone loved the SMBC although I prefer a flavor other than vanilla - I like a little extra depth to it.
I would definitely use it - especially since it's going to be October. You can keep the cake out at a cool room temp and it will be fine. I do not use the Wilton BC for anything.
I agree with leta on the cake size. As far as filling is concerned, that's your choice. Just be sure that if you leave the cake out, the filling is shelf stable or else you will need to refrigerate it. 
I'm sure you'll do fine!
Forgot to add-if you do go with the SMBC make sure you get your egg whites to a safe temp, I believe it's 160 degrees ( i know there is much debate about potential for harm or lack thereof from egg whites but I am very cautious when feeding anyone other that myself-and I'm pretty cautious with me too!lol)
If a 12 inch cake serves 50???? They sure must be small pieces. I would think if you are making cake and want to serve 50 people and there will be no other desserts, I think I would make the whole cake cake with no dummies. I just can't see 50 people eating only a 12 inch cake. Not the 50 people I know!!!
Here is a recipe I got from a cake class I took and I always have people tell me they like it:
2 C. Crisco (or 1 1/2 C. Crisco w/ 1/2 C. butter)
1 tsp. butter flavoring (if no real butter is used)
1 tsp. vanilla
water (depends on consistency needed, but I used about 1/4 C.)
2 lbs. p. sugar
I think this is similar to several recipes out there but I (and most that have had it) say it tastes better than Wilton because it's not as sweet.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Thank you so much for responding so fast. Thank you for the blog, I will research it in a more detail later.
I tried different buttercreams, but none of them apeal to me, dodibug. Maybe I didn't fish out the right one? Not completely averse to it, just would like to go with something tastier if there is a choice, if you know what I mean. Buttercream is just too much in sweetness department and too little in taste department. At the same time, I can't afford to do anything too complicated because of so many things that will be going on at the time.
So, according to you guys, I should be ok going with SMBC even though cake will sit out of the fridge somewhere from 10:00 am til 9:00 pm when cake will be cut? Also, I will be doing lots of roses. (Ruffles and roses where ruffles meet) Should royal icing roses be ok on SMBC? I mean, will they bleed or anything? Will doctored-up cake mix hold up stacked construction? Thank you in advance-already starting to feel some of the stress over this going away.
As long as the room is room temp or below, you should be alright. If it gets warm though, your icing will melt. I've never used royal roses on SMBC though.
I used stacked construction with a doctored cake mix and was fine. I even covered the cakes with MMF too. No problems there, just make sure they are well supported. I recently used the plastic dowels and LOVED them in it. Make sure you use a center dowel too. Cut it an inch shorter than the entire height of the cake and sharpen the end...then hammer all the way down into the bottom cake board. When you get to the point of almost burying the dowel, take another dowel and use that to finish hammering it in (stack the dowel on top of the one inside the cake and hammer the top one gently...this way you don't have a hammer print on the top of your cake).
I often use a recipe shared by pinkbunny (on this site) for a marshmallow buttercream that is a little lighter and not quite as sweet. My customers who don't like regular buttercream all love it. It's in the recipe section, here's a link:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipes_rate-2110-5.html
It doesn't crust, but it does smooth very nicely with a hot spatula.
(edited to fix typo)
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