I'm a newbie in cake decorating, and I would probably order a sheet cake. I know that noone is going to mess up cutting the darn thing!
I like the look of the tiered and want to learn to make them myself, but unless you have someone there who knows how to take them apart - sure as shootin' it's gonna get messed up!
That is exactly why I did my sister's wedding cake, because she couldn't find anyone to do basketweave, BASKETWEAVE for crying out loud!! The one lady that she wanted to do her cake was taking some time off and wasn't doing cakes at that time so I told her that I would do it for her. In her defense, I had never done a wedding cake before and I hadn't done any cakes in several years, which is why she didn't ask me in the first place.
One bakery flat out told her that they didn't do any type of special designs like that. 
That is exactly why I did my sister's wedding cake, because she couldn't find anyone to do basketweave, BASKETWEAVE for crying out loud!! The one lady that she wanted to do her cake was taking some time off and wasn't doing cakes at that time so I told her that I would do it for her. In her defense, I had never done a wedding cake before and I hadn't done any cakes in several years, which is why she didn't ask me in the first place.
One bakery flat out told her that they didn't do any type of special designs like that.
Basketweave is a special design???? This is taught in the 2nd Wilton course and frankly doesn't really take any longer to do than an iced smooth buttercream since you don't have to work so hard to get the smooth surface. I think some bakeries
( not all) are just churning out cakes and as CoutureCake said don't want to take the time to be creative. How are the customers suppose to know what possibilities there are if they aren't exposed to them!
Ok, y'all are gonna not like me for this, but I'm one of those "boring" customers. I personally (when I DO have a cake for me!) like white cake with choc icing. Period. I have zero interest in eating something weird or strange, so a suggestion of lemon amaretta chocolate with boisenberry liqueaur (sp?) covered with fancy dancy figurines that we're not going to eat is going to send me down the road to another baker. I dont' want a cake that looks pretty but no one will eat. I dont' want figurines and fondant that I '....can peel off and throw away' (then why did I pay for it?). I want the cake I want. I'm not here (as a customer) for your artistic expression. I'm here to spend my money getting the cake I want.
As a decorator, I do a lot of sheet cakes. I don't insult my customers by telling them to go to Walmart (although if they tell me "I can get it cheaper at Walmart", I just look at them and say, "Yep. You sure can!") They buy my cakes because they taste better. Yep .... plain 'ole white cake with BC icing and lots of BC flowers. They cost more than Walmart. They taste better than Walmart.
I also understand the frustration. During the 80's, I seem to have made the same wedding cake every single solitary weekend!! It was the era of extravagance .... big houses, big cars, big hair, big wedding cakes. 3 tiers on top of a fountain with 4 bridges connecting satellite cakes. I was so sick of doing that cake I could puke! I was afraid people would think it was the only cake I knew how to do. But it was the BRIDE'S wedding and she wanted THAT cake!
I recently rec'd an email from a bride with a "concern" that my cakes on my website ".....all look the same except decorated different." (huh?) I sent a very nice email back, thanking her for her feedback and explained that I make the cakes the bride orders, and "......I'm sure you would consider me odd or rude if I refused to make a cake the bride wanted just because I'd already made that cake last weekend."
It's the same to US, but it's the only wedding cake this bride is going to have. 100 different people are going to see that cake each time it's created.
Look for the positive. As someone mentioned already, it is your gallery that brought them to you so they are already impressed by your work. And they have selected your talent to create the cake THEY want. There is one wedding cake on my site that, as soon as I posted it, became the most requested cake in the following few weeks. I'm not insulted by that ..... I take that as the highest compliment!!!! And when it's ordered over and over again, I tell each bride, "That cake is becoming my most popular, most requested cake", letting her know that she is selecting a cake that everyone will think is beautiful.
When they give you license to do "oh, whatever you want to do", then I say rub your hands with glee and go at it! Give them your best creation and wait for the word of mouth to just fly for you! But if they are "boring" and want "just a sheet cake", then when you create the best "just a sheet cake" in the world, you will reap the same benefits and rewards!
What's worse than getting a call for a "boring" sheet cake? I dont' know, maybe not getting a call at all?
Just my ever-so-never-humble-opinion! 
Well there you go two sides for every need. From my gallery you will see I have only done one wedding cake. "I am not legal yet and still need to get set-up." So therefore I do not advertise...........
But here is my two cents.......I just started creating cakes in March. I am doing this instead of my ceramics, painting or sculpture.
Eventually I do plan on getting my business up and operating........So here is my math for you......
The average person lives till 72 and I started creating works of sugar art at the age of 50. Now if I calulate out with one wedding cake per week until the age of 72 I would be making 1,144 cakes. That is a VERY SMALL number and I am not going to waste my time on a boring creation.
Hmmmmm, I'm thinking I should send them to indydebi, because we each have our own likes and dislikes working with people and indydebi is a great respector of her clients needs whereas I am a great respector of the art for art sake. And there certainly room enough for both of us in this profession right?
I'm just grateful for the custom! I actually hate it when people come to me with no specific ideas about what they want, saying something like 'just do something girly'. I have no problem with designing my own cakes, but I like a theme to work with! Sheet cakes are boring, but it's all money at the end of the day!
You know, the only thing good with sheetcakes IS that they are easier to cut. I always wonder about those sculpted cakes and stuff - WHO cuts them? And how do they figure out how to cut them? That's my biggest concern.... and I think a lot of people don't want to fool w/ "you need to remove this, and then there's dowel rods - remove those, and then you need to do this and that and cut it this way"...... if it was a simple party, I guess I'd prob. want a sheetcake too - or really I'd just want a simple round cake if it could feed the amount of people I had - simply b/c I prefer round cakes and slices of cake that LOOK like slices of cake.. not the little square boxes of cake you get from a sheetcake. I do understand that part of it - easy cutting and people basically know what size they should cut.
Hmm so our challenge is to find an easy way for people to cut our wonderful cakes and make them the right size, etc. It's about making it easy on the customer I guess 
Thank you all for your opinions! I didn't think I'd get such a large response to this!
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