I had made a jack and jill shower cake over the weekend, that came out pretty nice(if I say so myself) It was a stacked 14,10,6 with dowels along with a long center dowel as well. At some point during transport it slide to one side... alot It was alot worse in the back than in the front. I spoke with the bride to be (which was a family friend) and she wanted to try to fix it if we could, so I did the best I could putting it back together, and jimming up the leaning side so it would slide anymore. I was absoulty mortified. But she loved the cake and was like "no one will notice.... dont worry about it... She wanted to keep it as is. I offered her money back and she wouldnt take it. I couldnt believe she was bieng so nice about it. I was at the shower as a guest and people kept comming up to me saying its so beautiful.. blah blah blah I was like are you people blind.... ITS RUINED!!!In the end she called me the next day to tell me that she decided not to go with the High profile bakery she was going with for her wedding cake and that she wanted me to do it.... HOLY CRAP!! can you believe it after that disaster I almost said no..Im so nervous its going to happen again.. I have convinced her to go with fondant this time(which is a bit more sturdy) but Im still scard.. How can I assure that my stacked cake wont tilt.. I'm going to assemble at the venue.. I was thinking about hidden pillars, Has anyone used them before? I want to like crazy glue them together.. Im going to do a 14 round 10 square 8 round 6 square. any tips would be greatly appreaciated.
Sorry I can't help with your question but I looked at your cakes that they are great. Good luck with the wedding cake, I'm sure everything will turn out great.
tnuty...first of all, I haven't said welcome to CC!
And congratulations on your SUCCESSFUL shower cake-remember WE are our worst critics. If you don't get many responses to this question, do a search here on "stacking", "hidden pillar system", etc-there are lots of posts on this subject. If you still need help and/or "support", (pun intended 
, then pm abodessa, pm me if you need any more resources...and you'll do fine!
HTH
Kathy
Ive used the hidden pillars for a 3-d cake before and they were fine. Have you tried using that new cake system they advertise in American Cake Mag? It looks like it would be a lot better than the whole dowel method. The legs thread to your desired height and its suppose to be less messy than the other methods. Im looking into buying them myself. The website is www.cakestands.com.
I usually use the plastic dowel system by Wilton along with wooden dowels for extra support and havent had any problems with sliding or anything. But it does get messy when you go to serve and you have to pull out all these dowels!
have you tried the stress free support system it is definitly worth it. I have never had anything move since I have been using them
I have only used the hidden dowels for all my stacked cakes and have had almost no trouble with them.
Congratulations on the wedding cake order! You know as important as it is for the bride to have the perfect cake it's also important to have the right person make it for her. With you she knows that if anything goes wrong (which it won't!) she can rely on you to fix it! You will do great and if you aren't assembling until you get to the venue then everything will surely be much smoother. We all learn from our mistakes and I'm sure this cake will be extra sturdy. Good luck!
Does anyone have the setup from cakestands.com? I was going to by the stressfree support system, but now I am debating which one to go with.
kerri729 -
What do you use to cut them? Every time I have tried they have cracked and been a mess!
PS -- happy early birthday -- we share the same birthday!!
Here's the link to it:
http://www.weddingcakesupports.com/stress_free_cake_support_system.htm
By the way, I love mine!
Check out Earlene Moore's site and look at her stress fee support system.
http://www.earlenescakes.com/newringsupportset.htm
southerncake: I use a circular saw (small one) to cut them, then use a nail file to shave off any residual plastic pieces.
tnuty: yes the wilton seperator plates.........the little legs fit right into the hidden pillars. I would love to get the stress free system, but don't earn enough on cakes to justify them (yet).
I use a PVC cutter to cut my pillars clean. I always use Coast plates and pillars or Wilton push-in pillars and plates. I prefer Coast, though. Using a 1 1/2" drill bit, I drill a hole into the center of the plates. Cut the pillars to the right height, just at the frosting, none of the weight of the cakes above should rest on the cake(s) below, just the illusion of it. Put the pillars on to the plate to make a "table" and push it into the tier. I use just the little feet on the plate to mark where it will go. After assembly, hammer a trimmed, sharpened dowel down the center for horizontal support.
HTH,
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