I have a wedding cake due this Sunday and I can arrive as early as 10am, if I like, but the reception doesn't start till 2 or 3. (I don't have the contract in front of me.) Is that too early? Keep in mind that I haven't done many wedding cakes and I'll be finishing assembling the 4 tier cake there.
It sometimes depends on how much work I have to do at the site; however, most of the time I arrive 2 hours before I expect the guests to arrive. I assume that it will take me an hour to work and then that leaves an hour "just in case" 
!! I don't like to leave it set up and on site any longer than a couple of hours. Sometimes I have to go earlier, but i try not to!
Hey chocomama,
I get there before everyone else and set up the cake. Then I wait until someone in the wedding party arrives to view the cake just in case someone bumps into the table and knocks it over or sticks a finger into it after I leave. That way someone other than myself will have seen the final image.
Might also be a good idea to have that individual sign off that the cake was in tact when you left.
Of course it depends on how much set-up work and how much decorating you have to finish, but I arrive at receptions 1 hour prior to expected start time .... and that includes me and my crew unloading a full van and setting up a buffet. The actual cake set up never takes me more than 15 minutes.....I never deliver assembled and always have touch up / finish up decorating to do.
If there will be no event staff there before noon, will the table even be set up and ready for you, if you were to arrive at noon?
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